Tamerton Foliot is a village and former civil parish situated in the north of Plymouth, in the Plymouth district, in the ceremonial county of Devon, England. It also lends its name to the ecclesiastical parish of the same name.
The village has a population of around 2,300 (2001 census) and has three pubs, one Methodist chapel (which closed in 2008) and the Anglican parish church of StMary's. This dates from the 12thcentury, and is thought to be on the site of an earlier building perhaps founded by StIndract. It has been much extended since, with the 78-foot (24m)perpendicular style tower added around 1440 and most of the rest of the fabric renewed in the 19thcentury. There is a peal of six bells.
In 1931 the civil parish had a population of 1232.[1] On 1 April 1951 the parish was abolished and merged with Plymouth and Bickleigh.[2]
Copleston Oak
"Fatal Oak", oil painting circa 1900 by "S.G.M.", depicting the Copleston Oak next to St Mary's Church, Tamerton Foliot
Just outside the eastern boundary of the churchyard stands an ancient hollow oak tree called the Copleston Oak believed to date from the 17th century. It is named after a Lord of the Manor, perhaps Christopher Copleston (1524–1586) or according to Prince (d. 1723) John IV Copleston (1546/9 – 1608),[3] whose monument is inside the church, who supposedly stabbed his godson to death outside the church following a dispute.
Descent of the manor
Gorges effigies, St Mary's Church19th-century drawing of Gorges effigies, showing now lost armorial on knight's jupon
Foliot
The Foliot part of the village's name derives from the Foliot family, John Foliot being a half-brother of William the Conqueror and recipient of large amounts of land for services rendered during the Norman conquest. Some of these historical family names such as Bampfield Way and Copleston were used as street names in the new Southway Estate not far from the Village of Tamerton Foliot.
Gorges
The manor then passed into the hands of the Gorges family, one of whose members. In 1262, Ralph de Gorges had 2-1/2 knight fees in Tamerton Foliot, holding it under Baldwin de Redvers, Earl of Devon. William Gorges died without male heirs in 1294, at the time holding Tamerton of Hugh de Courtney with the fees of Petristavi, Midelton and Horsewell. His heir was his brother Thomas. Thomas Gorges, born about 1264, died in 1304. John de Gorges, born about 1299.[4]
Quarterings on Copleston funerary monument, St. Mary's Church. The blue whirlpool of Gorges is visible as the 9th. "quarter"
One member of the family has a recumbent stone effigy in St Mary's Church. The effigies have been much damaged in the various fires which the church has suffered, most recently in 1981, when the roof of the north aisle fell over this area. The effigies are variously believed to be William de Gorges (d. 1346) or according to Raymond Gorges who wrote a history of the Gorges family in 1944,[5] John Gorges of Warleigh House, lord of the manor of Tamerton Foliot, who flourished in the early 15th century. Formerly the Gorges heraldic canting arms of the Gurges, which is Latin for "whirlpool" could be seen on the front of the jupon of the knight in the form of 3 concentric annulets.[6] No trace remains today. The armorial was borne in 2 forms, as 3 concentric annulets or as a whorl, blazoned thus: "Argent, a gurges azure". It was thus a blue device on a white background. The whorl form can be seen as one of the quarterings on the escutcheon on the funerary monument to John Copleston, Esquire (d. 1608).
Copleston
Arms of Copleston: Argent, a chevron engrailed gules between three leopard's faces azure
In this tything is Coplestone, which hath given name to a numerous family who for their fair possessions, their port (sic) (report?) and the respect they lived in, were intitled "the Great Coplestones" besides dignified with the name of "Whit Spurrs", some time a title of great note and in these western parts of much esteem. Of this name are many branches sprung who flourished in this county
The Devon historian Sir William Pole (d. 1635) stated the honour accorded to this family as "Silver Spurr", similar to Risdon's appellation, and added that it was connected to the fact that although they were a great county family which had married well, unusually no member of the family had ever been knighted. For his great revenue one member of the family, Raphe Copleston (d. 1491),[8] was called 'The Great Copleston'.[9] The principal junior branches of the Copleston family were seated at the Devon manors or estates of: Bowden, Instow, Upton Pyne, Kingdon, Woodland, Weare Giffard, Eggesford[10] and Bicton. Copleston House was stated by Prince (d. 1723) to be "all in ruines".[11] The present Copplestone House, situated about 1/2 mile south-east of Copplestone Cross, was rebuilt after 1787 in the Georgian style by Robert Madge, who had purchased the estate at that date. It is thought to be on a different site to the old mansion of the Copleston family, but does incorporate some of the older fabric.[12] The descent of Copleston of Tamerton Foliot was as follows:
Philip Copleston (fl.1472)
Philip Copleston of Copleston, Sheriff of Devon in 1472. He married Anne Bonville, daughter and heiress of John Bonville (1417–1494)[13] of Shute, nephew of the great William Bonville, 1st Baron Bonville (1392–1461) of Shute. As Pole stated: "By this match of Bonvile's daughter the estate of Copleston was greatly augmented."[14] Anne Bonville was heiress, from her maternal grandmother Leva Gorges, to the manor of Tamerton Foliot[15] and her father John Bonville was, through his mother, the grandson and heir of Martin Ferrers.[16]
Raphe Copleston (d. 1491)
Raphe Copleston (d. 1491) (son), according to Vivian (1895) called "The Great Copleston",[17] on account of his great revenues.[9] He married Ellen Arundell, daughter of Sir John Arundell of Lanherne, St. Mawgan-in-Pyder, Cornwall, from a leading Cornish family. In the Subsidy of 1434 his estate was assessed at £100 and he served in the honourable position of Justice of the Peace in 1451.[18]
John III Copleston (1475–1550)
John III Copleston (1475–1550) (son) of Copleston, "The Great Copleston" according to Prince (d. 1723).[19] He was co-heir of his great-grandfather John Bonville.[17] His monument survives in Colebrooke Church. He married twice, firstly to Margaret St Ledger, daughter and co-heiress of Bartholomew St Ledger, which marriage was childless; secondly he married Katherine Bridges, daughter of Raphe Bridges.
Christopher Copleston (1524–1586)
Christopher Copleston (1524–1586) (son by his father's second marriage) of Copleston, Sheriff of Devon in 1560.[18] He married twice: firstly to Mary Courtenay, daughter of George Courtenay (who predeceased his father Sir William III Courtenay (1477–1535) "The Great"[20] of Powderham), which marriage was childless; secondly he married Jone Paulet, daughter of Sir Hugh Paulet (bef. 1510 – 1573) of Hinton St George, Somerset, Governor of Jersey.
John IV Copleston (1546/9 – 1608)
Monument to John Copleston (d. 1608) and his wife Susanna Pollard. St Mary's Church, Tamerton Foliot, north wall of chancel
John IV Copleston (1546/9 – 1608) (second son and heir, by father's second marriage) of Copleston, who married Susan Pollard, a daughter of Lewis II Pollard (d. bef. 1569) of King's Nympton, Recorder of Exeter and Sergeant-at-Law, grandson of Sir Lewis I Pollard (c. 1465 – 1526), Justice of the Common Pleas.[21] The couple's monument, erected in 1617 and repaired in 1894, survives in St Mary's Church, Tamerton Foliot,[22] inscribed in Latin as follows:
Johanni Coplestono Armigero huius manerie domino viro cum generis antiqui tum verae virtutis laude nobilitato: qui postquam aetatis suae annum LIX attigisset Warleiae suaviter in Christo obdormirvit, November 9, 1608. Susanna uxor amantissima quae quinque filios et totidem filias peperit in spe resurrectionis bene merenti pie posuit, September 4, 1617. ("To John Copleston, Esquire, lord of this manor, a man famed as greatly for true virtue as noble descent, who after he had reached his 59th year went to sleep gently in Christ at Warleigh, November 9, 1608. Susanna his most beloved wife who brought forth five sons and as many daughters placed this piously in well deserved hope of resurrection, September 4, 1617.")
Murder of godson
As related by Prince, John IV Copleston murdered his godson, possibly an illegitimate son, which "most unfortunate occurrence in this place of Tamerton...in all probability hastened the extinction of the name and family here and at Copleston also".[11] The godson had been sent abroad for his education and when he returned home to England overheard his godfather's private conversation and reported it amongst his circle of friends, which action soon found its way by gossip back to his godfather, whose indignation was "exceedingly enkindled" and who exclaimed: "Must boys observe and discant on the actions of men and of their betters?", and thenceforth resolved and sought all opportunities to be revenged upon him. The two next met at Tamerton Foliot church during the Sunday service, and the youth fled before the end of the service, having noticed his godfather's angry look. Having received a message from his godfather that his anger was over and that he could return to church, the youth appeared at church the next week at the usual time. However Copleston's rage was not over, and although the youth had again fled before the end of the service, Copleston followed him and threw a dagger into his back, which killed him instantly. Copleston fled, and implored all his influential friends at the royal court to procure him a pardon from Queen Elizabeth, which eventually he received, but not without having had to pay a large fine which necessitated the sale of thirteen of his manors in Cornwall. This story is related by Prince, who heard it from a gentleman who was a neighbour of the Coplestons.[11]
Amias Copleston (1581/2 – 1621)
Amias Copleston (1581/2 – 1621) (son) of Copleston. He was buried at Tamerton Foliot, the manor his ancestors had inherited by marriage to Anne Bonville. He resided at the former Gorges seat of Warleigh within that manor, and thus possibly had abandoned ancient Copleston as the family's principal seat. He married Gertrude Chichester (d. 1621), second daughter of Sir John Chichester (d. 1586), Sheriff of Devon in 1576,[23] son and heir of Sir John Chichester (1519/20 – 1569) of Raleigh,[24] from a leading family in North Devon.
John V Copleston (1609–1632)
John V Copleston (1609–1632) (son), who died aged 23 without progeny and was buried at Tamerton Foliot. He was the last of the family of Copleston of Copleston and Risdon wrote of him: "The heir male of this house was a hopeful young gentleman, lately dying issueless, who left his lands unto his two sisters, married into the families of Bampfield and Elford".[25] By these heirs the manor of Copleston was sold in 1659.[26] His two sisters and co-heiresses were:
Elizabeth Copleston (born 1608), the elder sister, who married (as his 1st of 4 wives) John Elford (1603–1678) of Sheepstor, near Buckland Monachorum in Devon, whose ruined manor house survives on the shore of Burrator Reservoir.[27] Elizabeth had no male issue, only four daughters, including:[28]
Gertrude Elford, who married Roger Wollocombe of Combe
Elizabeth Elford, who married Edmund Fortescue of London
Barbara Elford, who married Arthur Fortescue (1622–1693)[29] of Penwarne, Cornwall, and of Filleigh, Devon, ancestor of Earl Fortescue
The manor of Copleston descended into the families of Wollocombe and Fortescue.[30]
Sir John Bampfylde, 1st Baronet (c. 1610 – April 1650) of Poltimore and North Molton in Devon, inherited the manor of Tamerton Foliot by his marriage to Gertrude Coplestone (d. 1658), a daughter of Amias Coplestone (1582–1621) of Copleston and Tamerton Foliot and a co-heiress to her brother John V Coplestone (1609-1632). His eldest son and heir was Sir Coplestone Bampfylde, 2nd Baronet (c. 1633 – 1692), whose second son was Coplestone Bampfylde (1659–1669), a precocious scholar who died young aged 10 and whose monument survives on the south side of the chancel in St Mary's Church, Tamerton Foliot. His effigy is shown with hand on a book wearing a gown and band with a large bushy wig.[33] Below are elaborate inscriptions in Latin and Greek.
Radcliffe
In 1741 the manor of Tamerton Foliot was sold by Sir Richard Bampfylde, 4th Baronet (1722–1767) to Walter Radcliffe, Esq., son of Walter Radcliffe, Esq., of Frankland, Sheriff of Devon in 1696, and ancestor of the Rev. Walter Radcliffe, the proprietor in 1822, who then resided at Warleigh, the ancient seat of the lords of the manor.[34]
Warleigh is a Tudor manor house close by on the east bank of the River Tavy, formerly the home of John Copleston, Esquire (d. 1608). It is grade II listed. It is now situated within Bickleigh parish.
The original Warleigh House was built sometime between 1135 and 1154 by Sampson Foliot, whose manor of Tamerton for evermore became known as Tamerton Foliot. The family continued to own the estate until 1253, when it passed to the Gorges, who were, in any case, descended from Sampson Foliot. In 1435 other descendants, the Bonvilles, took over and they were followed by the Coplestones sometime around 1472, the Bampfyldes in 1631 and finally the Radcliffes in 1741.
As of 2012 Warleigh House is a Bed & Breakfast.
Civil War
Tamerton Foliot was one of the quarters of Prince Maurice, the brother of Prince Rupert, when he besieged Plymouth from October to December 1643, during the Civil War. The Prince fell ill with camp fever[35] in mid-November 1643 and withdrew from the siege to recover.
Today
Tamerton Foliot today forms the northern border of Plymouth. The area suffered from flooding in November 2012[36] following torrential rain which made parts of the area "impassable".
↑ Prince, John, (1643–1723) The Worthies of Devon, 1810 edition, p. 237; For identification as John IV see Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p. 225, pedigree of Copleston.
↑ Gorges, Raymond & Brown, Frederick, Rev., FSA. The Story of a Family through Eleven Centuries, Illustrated by Portraits and Pedigrees: Being a History of the Family of Gorges. Boston, USA, (Merrymount Press privately published), 1944.
↑ As shown in the drawing published in Hamilton Rogers, W., Ancient Sepulchral and Monumental Sculpture of Devon.
↑ Risdon, Tristram (d. 1640), Survey of Devon, 1811 edition, London, 1811, with 1810 Additions, p. 97.
↑ Vivian, Lt.Col. J. L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p. 224, pedigree of Copleston of Copleston.
1 2 Pole, Sir William (d. 1635), Collections Towards a Description of the County of Devon, Sir John-William de la Pole (ed.), London, 1791, p. 225.
↑ Pedigrees of foregoing branches given in Vivian, 1895, pp. 226–233.
Yealmpton is a village and civil parish in the English county of Devon. It is located in the South Hams on the A379 Plymouth to Kingsbridge road and is about 8 miles (13 km) from Plymouth. Its name derives from the River Yealm that flows through the village. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 1,923, falling to 1,677 at the 2011 census. There is an electoral ward of the same name. The population of this ward in 2011 was 2,049.
Colebrooke is a village and parish in Devon, England about 8 km west of Crediton. The main point of interest is the church and the connection to Henry Kingsley's novel The Recollections of Geoffry Hamlyn. Also Uncle Tom Cobley, of the folk song, signed his will at Pascoe House, but is buried 4 miles west at Spreyton. The champion Devon wrestler, Abraham Cann was born and buried here. He won the all-comers wrestling crown in London.
Sir Richard Warwick Bampfylde, 4th Baronet of Poltimore, North Molton, Warleigh, Tamerton Foliot and Copplestone in Devon and of Hardington in Somerset, England, was Member of Parliament for Exeter (1743–47) and for Devonshire (1747–76).
Bowden is a historic estate in the parish of Yealmpton in Devon, England. From the 15th century until 1748 the manor house was for eight generations the seat of a junior branch of the Copleston family of Copplestone. The manor house was largely rebuilt in the 19th century and, together with some of its outbuildings, now serves as a farmhouse.
Tristram Risdon was an English antiquarian and topographer, and the author of Survey of the County of Devon. He was able to devote most of his life to writing this work. After he completed it in about 1632 it circulated around interested people in several manuscript copies for almost 80 years before it was first published by Edmund Curll in a very inferior form. A full version was not published until 1811. Risdon also collected information about genealogy and heraldry in a note-book; this was edited and published in 1897.
Sir Coplestone Bampfylde, 2nd Bt., DL, JP of Poltimore and North Molton and Warleigh, Tamerton Foliot, in Devon, was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1659 and 1689.
Sir John Bampfylde, 1st Baronet of Poltimore and North Molton and Tamerton Foliot, all in Devon, was an English lawyer and politician. He was one of Devonshire's Parliamentarian leaders during the Civil War.
The Gorges family was a gentry family established in the southwest of England.
Blackborough is a hamlet and former manor in the parish of Kentisbeare, Devon, England. It is situated within the Mid Devon district. The nearest substantial town is Cullompton, approximately 4.7 miles (7.6 km) to the south-west. Within Blackborough are situated the large mansion of Blackborough House also notable are Hayne Farm and the Old Smithy. The former neo-Gothic Early English style parish church of All Saints, built in 1838 by George Wyndham, 4th Earl of Egremont, lord of the manor, who also built Blackborough House was demolished in 1994, having become structurally unsafe. The churchyard however is still maintained and the ecclesiastical parish and parochial church council still exist.
Sir Francis Drake, 3rd Baronet (1642–1718), of Buckland Abbey in the parish of Buckland Monachorum and of Meavy, both in Devon, England, was elected seven times as a Member of Parliament for Tavistock in Devon, in 1673, 1679, 1681, 1689, 1690, 1696 and 1698.
Way is a historic estate in the parish of St Giles in the Wood, Devon. It is situated about 2 miles (3.2 km) north-east of the village of St Giles in the Wood and about 4 miles (6.4 km) north-east of the town of Great Torrington. It was described by Hoskins (1959) as "the fons et origo of the mighty tribe of Pollard" and had been acquired by them from the de la Way family at some time before 1242.
Newnham Park is an historic estate in the civil parish of Sparkwell, Devon, UK. It was known as Loughtor until about 1700 when the ancient Strode family, long seated at Newnham, about 1 mile south-east of the manor house of Loughtor, abandoned Newnham and moved their residence to Loughtor where they built a new mansion house which they renamed "Newnham Park". In 2014 the mansion house with an estate of about 1,550 acres is still owned by a descendant of the Courtenay and Strode families which held the estate from the 15th century, and which were well established in the county of Devon long before that time. In 2014 part of the estate is operated as a commercial clay-pigeon shooting ground.
Langley was a historic estate in the parish of Yarnscombe, Devon, situated one mile north-east of the village of Yarnscombe. It was long the seat of a junior branch of the Pollard family of Way in the parish of St Giles in the Wood, Devon, 3 miles to the south.
Bableigh is an historic estate in the parish of Parkham in North Devon, England. It is separated from the village of Parkham by the Bableigh Brook. It was the earliest recorded seat of the Risdon family in Devonshire, from which was descended the Devon historian Tristram Risdon.
The Manor of Poltimore is a former manor in Devon, England. The manor house known as Poltimore House survives in its 18th-century remodelled form, but has been dilapidated for several decades. A charity named the "Poltimore House Trust" has been established for the purpose of its restoration. The manor was situated within the historic Wonford Hundred and was largely coterminous with the parish of Poltimore and contained the village of Poltimore, 4 miles (6.4 km) north-east of the historic centre of the City of Exeter. It should not be confused with the eponymous Devon estate of Poltimore in the parish of Farway, 16 miles (26 km) east of Exeter. Poltimore was the principal seat of the Bampfylde family from c. 1300 to 1920.
Warleigh is a historic estate within the parish of Bickleigh in Devon, about 6 miles from Plymouth. Warleigh House, the manor house of the manor of Tamerton Foliot is situated one mile west of that village on the south-east bank of the River Tavy where it joins the River Tamar. It was remodelled in about 1830 in the Gothic style by John Foulston and has been listed Grade II* on the National Heritage List for England since 1960.
Lyneham in the parish of Yealmpton in Devon, is an historic estate. The surviving grand mansion house known as Lyneham House is a grade I listed building. It was built c.1699-1703 by Sir Courtenay Croker, MP for Plympton Morice in 1699. A drawing of Lyneham House dated 1716 by Edmund Prideaux (1693–1745) of Prideaux Place, Padstow, Cornwall, survives at Prideaux Place. It shows formal gardens in front with flanking pavilions and an orangery.
Richard Crocker of Devon, England, was a Member of Parliament for Tavistock in Devon in 1335. His descendants were the prominent Crocker family of Crocker's Hele in the parish of Meeth, Devon, later seated at Lyneham in the parish of Yealmpton, Devon until 1740.
William Crocker, living during the reign of King Edward III (1327-1377), of Crocker's Hele in the parish of Meeth, Devon, was a Member of Parliament. His descendants were the prominent Crocker family seated at Lyneham in the parish of Yealmpton, Devon until 1740. William Crocker is the earliest member of the family recorded in the Heraldic Visitations of Devon, although one of his ancestors is known to have been Richard Crocker (fl.1335) of Devon, England, a Member of Parliament for Tavistock in Devon in 1335.
Sir John Chichester lord of the manor of Raleigh in the parish of Pilton, near Barnstaple, North Devon, was Sheriff of Devon in 1576/7 and/or in 1585 and died of gaol fever contracted whilst acting as a magistrate at the Lent Black Assizes of Exeter in 1586.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
