{"id":4240,"date":"2016-10-20T15:43:08","date_gmt":"2016-10-20T14:43:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/launcestonthen.co.uk\/?page_id=4240"},"modified":"2019-06-19T12:09:38","modified_gmt":"2019-06-19T11:09:38","slug":"werrington","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/launcestonthen.co.uk\/index.php\/the-parishes\/werrington\/","title":{"rendered":"Werrington."},"content":{"rendered":"

.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

\"Werrington
St. Martins Church, Werrington c.1900.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Werrington is a civil parish and former manor now in Cornwall, England, formerly before 1974 boundary changes, within the county of Devon. It is situated 1 mile to the west of the River Tamar<\/a>, the traditional boundary between Devon and Cornwall, and 2 miles north of Launceston.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

The churches of Werrington and St Giles<\/a>, had the status of chapelries in the Middle Ages; the impropriators of the churches of North Petherwin<\/a> (Tavistock Abbey) and St Stephen’s<\/a> by Launceston (Launceston Priory<\/a>). A settlement of the dispute was made in 1500 in favour of the priory which undertook the cost of a resident chaplain to serve both Werrington and St Giles. The original site of the parish church of St Martin was in Werrington Park but it was re-built much to the disgust of parishioners, in 1742 on a new site in the Gothic style; the tower is from the old church. The front in the earliest Gothic Revival style suggests that the architect could have been William Kent. There are two fonts: one is plain and Norman and the other contemporary with the rebuilding. There is a peal of eight bells.<\/p>\n

Transcriptions\u00a0of\u00a0Memorial\u00a0Inscriptions\u00a0by\u00a0Glenda\u00a0Mattes<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

One memorial in the Church depicts how fragile life once was in the parish during the mid 19th Century where George and Ann Benoy losing five of their children to a cholera epidemic in 1842:<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Benoy\u00a0children\u00a0who\u00a0died\u00a0in\u00a0a\u00a0cholera\u00a0epidemic\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

William\u00a0Benoy\u00a0who\u00a0died\u00a0August\u00a028th\u00a01842,\u00a0aged\u00a014\u00a0years\u00a0 Thomas\u00a0Benoy\u00a0who\u00a0died\u00a0September\u00a01st\u00a01842,\u00a0aged\u00a08\u00a0years\u00a0 Thomazin\u00a0Benoy\u00a0who\u00a0died\u00a0September\u00a02nd\u00a01842,\u00a0aged\u00a011\u00a0years\u00a0 Jane\u00a0Benoy\u00a0who\u00a0died\u00a0September\u00a03rd\u00a01842,\u00a0aged\u00a016\u00a0years\u00a0 John\u00a0Benoy\u00a0who\u00a0died\u00a0September\u00a04th\u00a01842,\u00a0aged\u00a04\u00a0years\u00a0 The\u00a0children\u00a0of\u00a0George\u00a0and\u00a0Ann\u00a0Benoy\u00a0of\u00a0this\u00a0parish\u00a0 No\u00a0more\u00a0with\u00a0tears\u00a0will\u00a0we\u00a0our\u00a0loss\u00a0deplore\u00a0\u00a0 But\u00a0bow\u00a0to\u00a0God\u00a0his\u00a0sovereign\u00a0will\u00a0adore\u00a0 Be\u00a0this\u00a0our\u00a0prayer\u00a0our\u00a0lips\u00a0our\u00a0hearts\u00a0all\u00a0one\u00a0 Almighty\u00a0Father\u00a0let\u00a0thy\u00a0will\u00a0be\u00a0done.\u00a0 This\u00a0stone\u00a0was\u00a0erected\u00a0by\u00a0William\u00a0Colwill\u00a0in\u00a0remembrance\u00a0of\u00a0his\u00a0sister\u2019s\u00a0children\u00a0 November\u00a01842\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

Werrington School was built and owned by the Duke of Northumberland and originally opened on October 2nd 1848 for boys only. They paid a penny to sixpence a week for their education. In the first year there were thirty four pupils on the register.\u00a0\u00a0 By 1873 the building had been enlarged and two schools were operating, one for boys and one for girls.\u00a0\u00a0 The cost of running the schools was met by subscriptions from the local landowners and occupiers. By 1876 the two schools had merged and became a board school.<\/p>\n

\"Werrington
Werrington School c.1900.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Werrington House and Park.<\/h2>\n

Werrington House (below<\/em>) or more importantly the occupiers played a major part in the history of Launceston and its surrounding area.<\/p>\n

\"werrington-house-werrington-launceston\"\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \"werrington-park-photo-courtesy-of-gary-lashbrook\"<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

A summary of the descent of the manor of Werrington was as follows:<\/p>\n

Crown<\/strong>
\nBefore the Norman Conquest of 1066, the manor of Werrington, in the hundred of Black Torrington,was a possession of Gytha of Wessex (died 1098 or 1107<\/em>), the mother of King Harold (d.1066<\/em>). In the Domesday Book of 1086 it is recorded as Ulvredintone. Tavistock Abbey
\nIn about 1066-8 she gave it to Tavistock Abbey, which held it until the Dissolution of the Monasteries.<\/p>\n

Russell<\/strong>
\nAt the Dissolution of the Monasteries Werrington was granted in 1540, together with most of the other possessions of Tavistock Abbey, by King Henry VIII to John Russell, 1st Baron Russell (1485-1555<\/em>)(later 1st Earl of Bedford)<\/em>. Russell sold the manor to Edward Woodward and Henry and Bartholomew Lucas.<\/p>\n

Drake<\/strong>
\nIt was acquired in 1620 by Sir Francis Drake, 1st Baronet (1588-1637<\/em>), of Buckland Monachorum in Devon, nephew of the famous Admiral Sir Francis Drake (d.1596<\/em>). In 1631 he obtained a royal licence to empark lands in Werrington and St. Stephen by Launceston and later rebuilt the manor house. In 1649 Sir Francis Drake, 2nd Baronet (1617-1662) purchased the nearby manor of Launceston and the borough of Newport in the parish of St. Stephen, and moved his main residence to Buckland Monachorum, whereupon he sold Werrington to Sir William Morice.<\/p>\n

Morice.<\/strong>
\nThe estate was sold in 1651to Sir William Morice<\/a> (1602-1676<\/em>), Secretary of State to King Charles II, who also purchased from the Drake family the manor of Launceston. The present mansion, today known as Werrington Park was built by one of his descendants in the 1730’s, possibly to the design of William Kent, which involved the demolition and re-siting of the parish church of St Martin which as previously stated, caused much upset amongst the parishioners. In fact legend has it that a curse was placed upon the Morice family.<\/p>\n

Percy<\/strong>
\nThe manor with 11,000 acres was purchased in 1775 by Hugh Percy, 1st Duke of Northumberland (1714\u20131786<\/em>), who further embellished the interior. He also purchased all the outlying tenements in Newport and much property in the borough of Launceston.<\/p>\n

Various 1864-1882<\/strong>
\nBetween 1864 and 1882 Werrington passed through a succession of brief ownerships. In 1864 Werrington was purchased by Alexander Hey Campbell, a Manchester merchant, MP for Launceston from 1865 to 1868. In 1868 he sold it to William Wentworth Fitzwilliam Dick, of County Wicklow, Ireland, who sold it in 1871 to Col. James Henry Deakin I (1823\u20131880<\/em>), a Manchester merchant, briefly Member of Parliament for Launceston, who was succeeded in that seat by his son James Henry Deakin II (1851\u20131881<\/em>). During this period much of the peripheral lands and properties of the estate were sold off.<\/p>\n

Williams 1862-present<\/strong>
\nThe estate was acquired in 1882 by John Charles Williams (1861-1939<\/em>) of Caerhays Castle, who renovated the house, including a re-modelling of the East Range. The family still hold the guardianship of the Manor and its estate to this day. With Mrs. J. C. Williams in charge, the house was turned over to the Red Cross during the First World War, officially opening on January 5th, 1915 and running throughout the war until its demobilization on March 28th, 1919. This hospital took over from the earlier hospital in the Launceston Town Hall<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Red
Red Cross Hospital, Werrington House which was demobilized on March 28th, 1919.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Werrington Gallery.<\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n