Tetcott

Tetcott
Tetcott
	Holy Cross Church, Tetcott, Devon, viewed from south. Behind the church is Tetcott Manor House.
	Tetcott Location within Devon
Population	110 (2001 census)
Civil parish	Tetcott;
District	Torridge;
Shire county	Devon;
Region	South West;
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
	List of places UK England Devon 50°44′N 4°22′W / 50.733°N 4.367°W

Tetcott is a civil parish, small settlement and former manor (once the home of the Arscotts of Tetcott) in Devon, England. The parish lies about five miles south of the town of Holsworthy and is bordered on the north by the parish of Clawton, on the east by a small part of Ashwater, and on the south by Luffincott. It forms part of the local government district of Torridge, and its western boundary is the River Tamar which forms the Cornish border.^[2] In 2001 its population was 110, half that of a century earlier (220 in 1901).^[3]

The settlement of Tetcott itself consists almost solely of the manor house and parish church of Holy Cross,^[4] but there are other hamlets in the parish, the largest of which is Lana about half a mile to the south-east.^[5]

Parish church

The parish church was dedicated by the Bishop of Waterford in 1338 or 1339. Before the Reformation it was dedicated to the Trinity. In 1740 the parish feast day was said to have been 3 May (the date of the Invention of the True Cross) probably leading, according to Nicholas Orme, to its present dedication to "Holy Cross", the first record of which dates from 1742.^[6]

The present-day church has a Norman font and partly dates from the 13th century with some 16th-century additions, mainly the tower.^[1]^[7] The church was restored in 1890.^[1] It has one bell, though three are recorded in an inventory of 1553. A local tradition says that the treble bell at North Tamerton, across the River Tamar, came from Tetcott church and John Taylor the bell-founder having recast North Tamerton's ring of five in the early 19th century sold the treble to Tetcott so that the parishioners at North Tamerton could hear it across the valley and decide to acquire it.^[8]

The south transept of the church, known as the Arscott Chapel, contains an ornate pew for the family and notable pew railings dating from around 1700.^[1]^[7] There are also four memorials to members of that family, the most elaborate to John Arscott (died 1675), who was Sheriff of Devon, and his wife.^[9] The others are noted below.

Arscott of Tetcott

Arms of Arscott: *Per chevron azure and ermine in chief two buck's heads cabossed or*^[10]

John Arscott (died 1788), the last of the Arscotts of Tetcott. Portrait by James Northcote. National Trust, collection of Saltram House, Devon

W. G. Hoskins described the Arscotts as one of the ancient families of freeholders that rose to the ranks of the squirearchy over a period of 300 years or so by the steady accumulation of property, mostly through marriage.^[11] Originating at Arscott (now known as South Arscott, north of the town of Holsworthy),^[12]^[13] a junior branch of the family moved to Tetcott in about 1550.^[7]

Arthur Arscott (1554–1618) built a new manor house at Tetcott in 1603,^[14] which survives today in expanded form. A new and larger house was built adjacent to it by his descendants during the reign of Queen Anne (1702–1714).^[a] At this time new outbuildings were built in brick, unusual in Devon,^[7] some of which survive. The Queen Anne style house was demolished in 1831.^[1]

Descent

John Arscott (died 1558) of Tetcott, was the fourth son of John Arscott (died 1541) of Arscott by his wife Margery Floyer, daughter of Richard Floyer.^[10]^[b] John married Elizabeth Walter, daughter of John Walter of Broxbourne, Hertfordshire.^[10] His eldest son and heir was:
Arthur Arscott (1554–1618), of Tetcott, who married Mary Langsford, daughter of John Langsford of Thursleton.^[17] His eldest son and heir was:
Edmund Arscott (1588–1656), of Tetcott, who married Mary Walrond (died 1652), daughter of William Walrond (died 1627)^[18] of Bradfield, Uffculme.
John Arscott (1613–1675), Sheriff of Devon at his death.^[19] He married Gertrude Calmady (died 1699),^[c] but died childless leaving as his heir to Tetcott his nephew:
John Arscott (died 1708), of Tetcott^[d] who married as his second wife Prudence, of unrecorded family. His third son was Dennis Arscott (1685–1721) of Ethy, Cornwall, Sheriff of Cornwall,^[17] whose daughter, Jane Arscott (born 1678) married Sir John Molesworth, 3rd Baronet (1668–1723) in 1699, leaving descendants who eventually inherited Tetcott in 1788 (see below). A mural monument exists in Tetcott Church to John Arscott and his two wives. By Prudence John Arscott had a son and heir:
Arthur Arscott (1683–1763), of Tetcott, who married Elizabeth Trefusis (died 1714), daughter of Francis Trefusis of Trefusis in the parish of Mylor, Cornwall, which family in 1794 succeeded as Barons Clinton.^[22] His mural monument exists in Tetcott Church. His eldest son and heir was:
John Arscott (1719–1788), of Tetcott, who died without having been legally married and without issue. In the style of a mediaeval lord, he kept as a member of his household a dwarf jester named Black John.^[7] The eccentric ways of him and his household were described in Footprints of Former Men in Cornwall (1870) by Robert Stephen Hawker, and also in Devonshire Characters and Strange Events (1908) by Sabine Baring-Gould. In this unusual respect he resembled his contemporary Devonian John Fulford (1736–1780) of Great Fulford, known as "Squire John", also one of the last in England to employ a full-time fool "dressed in the motley".^[23] His mural monument survives in Tetcott Church. His heir was his cousin Sir William Molesworth, 6th Baronet^[24] (1758–1798) of Pencarrow in Cornwall.

Molesworth of Tetcott

Following the Arscotts, Tetcott was inherited by their distant cousins^[15] the family of Molesworth, later Molesworth-St Aubyn, of Pencarrow, Cornwall,^[1] who continue there until the present day.^[25]^[26] The 7th and 15th Molesworth-St Aubyn baronets had as a first-name "Arscott". In 1831, whilst retaining the original manor house used some time later as a farmhouse,^[25] they demolished the adjacent Queen Anne mansion,^[15] an act much resented by the local population, and built in its place a "Gothic cottage"^[27] to serve as a hunting lodge.^[28] This was burned down, apparently by disgruntled locals five years later.^[28]

In 1925,^[15] as a secondary residence to Pencarrow,^[26] the family moved into the original manor house, formerly let as a farmhouse, which survives today.^[15] It is a long two-storey building built of rubble stone.^[1] Above the round arch of the central two-storey porch^[1] was reset, in the 20th century, the 1603 datestone taken from Tetcott Mill.^[15]

Tetcott hunt

The last of the Arscotts had been a keen hunter, and kennelled his pack of hounds at Tetcott. Later the sporting rights were acquired by Vincent Calmady who in about 1872 formed a pack of otter-hounds. In 1879 he recommenced fox-hunting on the Tetcott country, and the current South Tetcott Hunt and Tetcott Hunt continue today.

HMS Tetcott a Type II British Hunt class destroyer was built for the Royal Navy during World War II, named after the hunt.

Notes

^ Hoskins states it was "enlarged and remodelled",^[7] contrary to Devon Perspectives which states the two houses were on separate sites.^[15]
^ John of Tetcott's eldest brother was John Arscott (died 1563) of Arscott who founded the Arscotts of Dunsland in the parish of Bradford, having married Phillipa Battyn, the Dunsland heiress. The 17th-century mansion Dunsland House was purchased by the National Trust in 1954 and burnt down and was demolished in 1967.^[16]
^ She was the daughter of Sir Shilston Calmady (1585–1645) of Langdon, Wembury, who was killed during the Civil War near Ford Abbey^[20] and was buried in the nearby church at Membury where exists his monument.^[21]
^ Son of William Arscott (born 1617, living in 1675) by unknown wife.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Pevsner, p.802
^ "Map of Devon Parishes" (PDF). Devon County Council. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
^ Harris, Helen (2004). A Handbook of Devon Parishes. Tiverton: Halsgrove. p. 168. ISBN 1-84114-314-6.
^ Hoskins, pp.492–3
^ OS Explorer Map 112 (2011) ISBN 978-0-319-23711-3. Lana is at grid ref SX339962.
^ Orme, Nicholas (1996). English Church Dedications. University of Exeter Press. p. 208. ISBN 0-85989-516-5.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Hoskins, p.493.
^ Scott, John; Mack, Frank; Clarke, James (2007). Towers & Bells of Devon. Volume Two. Exeter: The Mint Press. p. 387. ISBN 978-1-90335645-6.
^ Stabb, John (c. 1916) [published 1908–1916]. Some Old Devon Churches. London: Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent, & Co. Ltd. p. 229.
^ ^a ^b ^c Vivian 1895, p. 16
^ Hoskins, p.79. He includes the Acland, Furse, Monk, and Edgcumbe families and a "whole host" of others in this description.
^ Hoskins, p.411. He says the family started here in the time of Henry III.
^ Day, W. I. Leeson (1934). Parochial Histories of Devonshire, No 2 – Holsworthy. The Devonshire Association. pp. 2 (map facing), 29.
^ Hoskins, p.493; Pevsner (p.802) states however that the 1603 datestone was removed from Tetcott Mill and affixed to the present house in the 20th century
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Tetcott". Devon Perspectives. Retrieved 17 May 2009.
^ Lauder, Rosemary, Vanished Houses of North Devon, Tiverton, 2005, pp.34, 29
^ ^a ^b Vivian 1895, p. 21
^ Vivian 1895, p. 21, Arscott; p.769, Walrond
^ Vivian 1895, p. 21; at his death as recorded on his monument in Tetcott Church
^ Vivian 1895, p. 130, Calmady of Calmady
^ Pevsner, p.567
^ Debrett's Peerage, 1968, pp.264–5, Baron Clinton
^ "About". Great Fulford. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
^ Per mural monument, Tetcott Church
^ ^a ^b "Jester Walk" itinerary, Tetcott
^ ^a ^b Debrett's Peerage, 1968, p.709, Molesworth-St. Aubyn baronets, seats: Pencarrow & Tetcott, Holsworthy
^ Hawker 1903, p. 259
^ ^a ^b Luke 1880

Sources

Hawker, Robert Stephen (1903). Footprints of Former Men in Far Cornwall.
Hoskins, W.G., A New Survey of England: Devon, London, 1959 (first published 1954)
Lauder, Rosemary (2005). Vanished Houses of North Devon, chapter on Tetcott Manor. Tiverton. pp. 39–41.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Luke, W.H. (1880). J. Arscott of Tetcote, Esq., and his Jester, Black John. Plymouth.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Pevsner, Nikolaus & Cherry, Bridget, The Buildings of England: Devon, London, 2004
Vivian, Lt.Col. J. L. (1895). The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620. Retrieved 23 January 2021.

External links

Media related to Tetcott at Wikimedia Commons

Tetcott Barton and Manor Cottage – Heritage Explorer

[16] Hoskins states it was "enlarged and remodelled",^[7] contrary to Devon Perspectives which states the two houses were on separate sites.^[15]

[18] John of Tetcott's eldest brother was John Arscott (died 1563) of Arscott who founded the Arscotts of Dunsland in the parish of Bradford, having married Phillipa Battyn, the Dunsland heiress. The 17th-century mansion Dunsland House was purchased by the National Trust in 1954 and burnt down and was demolished in 1967.^[16]

[24] She was the daughter of Sir Shilston Calmady (1585–1645) of Langdon, Wembury, who was killed during the Civil War near Ford Abbey^[20] and was buried in the nearby church at Membury where exists his monument.^[21]

[25] Son of William Arscott (born 1617, living in 1675) by unknown wife.

[P802-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Pevsner, p.802

[2] "Map of Devon Parishes" (PDF). Devon County Council. Retrieved 20 June 2013.

[H-3] Harris, Helen (2004). A Handbook of Devon Parishes. Tiverton: Halsgrove. p. 168. ISBN 1-84114-314-6.

[4] Hoskins, pp.492–3

[5] OS Explorer Map 112 (2011) ISBN 978-0-319-23711-3. Lana is at grid ref SX339962.

[6] Orme, Nicholas (1996). English Church Dedications. University of Exeter Press. p. 208. ISBN 0-85989-516-5.

[H493-7] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Hoskins, p.493.

[8] Scott, John; Mack, Frank; Clarke, James (2007). Towers & Bells of Devon. Volume Two. Exeter: The Mint Press. p. 387. ISBN 978-1-90335645-6.

[9] Stabb, John (c. 1916) [published 1908–1916]. Some Old Devon Churches. London: Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent, & Co. Ltd. p. 229.

[V16-10] Vivian 1895, p. 16

[11] Hoskins, p.79. He includes the Acland, Furse, Monk, and Edgcumbe families and a "whole host" of others in this description.

[12] Hoskins, p.411. He says the family started here in the time of Henry III.

[13] Day, W. I. Leeson (1934). Parochial Histories of Devonshire, No 2 – Holsworthy. The Devonshire Association. pp. 2 (map facing), 29.

[14] Hoskins, p.493; Pevsner (p.802) states however that the 1603 datestone was removed from Tetcott Mill and affixed to the present house in the 20th century

[DP-15] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Tetcott". Devon Perspectives. Retrieved 17 May 2009.

[17] Lauder, Rosemary, Vanished Houses of North Devon, Tiverton, 2005, pp.34, 29

[V21-19] Vivian 1895, p. 21

[20] Vivian 1895, p. 21, Arscott; p.769, Walrond

[21] Vivian 1895, p. 21; at his death as recorded on his monument in Tetcott Church

[22] Vivian 1895, p. 130, Calmady of Calmady

[23] Pevsner, p.567

[26] Debrett's Peerage, 1968, pp.264–5, Baron Clinton

[27] "About". Great Fulford. Retrieved 23 January 2021.

[28] Per mural monument, Tetcott Church

[W48-29] "Jester Walk" itinerary, Tetcott

[D709-30] Debrett's Peerage, 1968, p.709, Molesworth-St. Aubyn baronets, seats: Pencarrow & Tetcott, Holsworthy

[31] Hawker 1903, p. 259

[Luke-32] Luke 1880

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v t e Civil parishes in the ceremonial county of Devon
List of civil parishes in Devon
Exeter^1,2	None
East Devon¹	All Saints Awliscombe Axminster Axmouth Aylesbeare Beer Bicton Brampford Speke Branscombe Broad Clyst Broadhembury Buckerell Budleigh Salterton Chardstock Clyst Honiton Clyst Hydon Clyst St George Clyst St Lawrence Clyst St Mary Colaton Raleigh Colyford Colyton Combe Raleigh Combpyne Rousdon Cotleigh Cranbrook Dalwood Dunkeswell East Budleigh Exmouth Farringdon Farway Feniton Gittisham Hawkchurch Honiton Huxham Kilmington Lands common to Axminster and Kilmington Luppitt Lympstone Membury Monkton Musbury Nether Exe Newton Poppleford and Harpford Northleigh Offwell Otterton Ottery St Mary Payhembury Plymtree Poltimore Rewe Rockbeare Seaton Sheldon Shute Sidmouth Southleigh Sowton Stockland Stoke Canon Talaton Uplyme Upottery Upton Pyne West Hill Whimple Widworthy Woodbury Yarcombe
Mid Devon¹	Bampton Bickleigh Bow Bradninch Brushford Burlescombe Butterleigh Cadbury Cadeleigh Chawleigh Cheriton Bishop Cheriton Fitzpaine Clannaborough Clayhanger Clayhidon Coldridge Colebrooke Copplestone Crediton Crediton Hamlets Cruwys Morchard Cullompton Culmstock Down St Mary Eggesford Halberton Hemyock Hittisleigh Hockworthy Holcombe Rogus Huntsham Kennerleigh Kentisbeare Lapford Loxbeare Morchard Bishop Morebath Newton St Cyres Nymet Rowland Oakford Poughill Puddington Sampford Peverell Sandford Shobrooke Silverton Stockleigh English Stockleigh Pomeroy Stoodleigh Templeton Thelbridge Thorverton Tiverton Uffculme Uplowman Upton Hellions Washfield Washford Pyne Wembworthy Willand Woolfardisworthy Zeal Monachorum
North Devon¹	Arlington Ashford Atherington Barnstaple Berrynarbor Bishop's Nympton Bishop's Tawton Bittadon Bratton Fleming Braunton Brayford Brendon and Countisbury Burrington Challacombe Chittlehamholt Chittlehampton Chulmleigh Combe Martin East and West Buckland East Anstey East Down East Worlington Filleigh Fremington Georgeham George Nympton Goodleigh Heanton Punchardon Horwood, Lovacott and Newton Tracey Ilfracombe Instow Kentisbury King's Nympton Knowstone Landkey Loxhore Lynton and Lynmouth Mariansleigh Martinhoe Marwood Meshaw Molland Mortehoe North Molton Parracombe Pilton West Queen's Nympton Rackenford Romansleigh Rose Ash Satterleigh and Warkleigh Shirwell South Molton Stoke Rivers Swimbridge Tawstock Trentishoe Twitchen West Anstey West Down Westleigh Witheridge
Torridge¹	Abbots Bickington Abbotsham Alverdiscott Alwington Ashreigney Ashwater Beaford Bideford Black Torrington Bradford Bradworthy Bridgerule Broadwoodwidger Buckland Brewer Buckland Filleigh Bulkworthy Clawton Clovelly Cookbury Dolton Dowland East Putford Frithelstock Great Torrington Halwill Hartland High Bickington Hollacombe Holsworthy Holsworthy Hamlets Huish Huntshaw Landcross Langtree Littleham Little Torrington Luffincott Merton Milton Damerel Monkleigh Newton St Petrock Northam Northcott Pancrasweek Parkham Peters Marland Petrockstow Pyworthy Roborough Shebbear Sheepwash St Giles in the Wood St Giles on the Heath Sutcombe Tetcott Thornbury Virginstow Weare Giffard Welcombe West Putford Winkleigh Woolfardisworthy Yarnscombe
West Devon^1,3	Beaworthy Belstone Bere Ferrers Bondleigh Bradstone Bratton Clovelly Brentor Bridestowe Broadwoodkelly Buckland Monachorum Chagford Coryton Dartmoor Forest Drewsteignton Dunterton Exbourne Germansweek Gidleigh Gulworthy Hatherleigh Highampton Horrabridge Iddesleigh Inwardleigh Jacobstowe Kelly Lamerton Lands common to Bridestowe and Sourton Lewtrenchard Lifton Lydford Marystow Mary Tavy Meavy Meeth Milton Abbot Monkokehampton North Tawton Northlew Okehampton Okehampton Hamlets Peter Tavy Sampford Courtenay Sampford Spiney Sheepstor Sourton South Tawton Spreyton Sticklepath Stowford Sydenham Damerel Tavistock Throwleigh Thrushelton Walkhampton Whitchurch
South Hams¹	Ashprington Aveton Gifford Berry Pomeroy Bickleigh Bigbury Blackawton Brixton Buckland-Tout-Saints Charleton Chivelstone Churchstow Cornwood Cornworthy Dartington Dartmouth Dean Prior Diptford Dittisham East Allington East Portlemouth Ermington Frogmore and Sherford Halwell and Moreleigh Harberton Harford Holbeton Holne Ivybridge Kingsbridge Kingston Kingswear Littlehempston Loddiswell Malborough Marldon Modbury Newton and Noss North Huish Rattery Ringmore Salcombe Shaugh Prior Slapton South Brent South Huish South Milton South Pool Sparkwell Staverton Stoke Fleming Stoke Gabriel Stokenham Strete Thurlestone Totnes Ugborough Wembury West Alvington West Buckfastleigh Woodleigh Yealmpton
Teignbridge¹	Abbotskerswell Ashburton Ashcombe Ashton Bickington Bishopsteignton Bovey Tracey Bridford Broadhempston Buckfastleigh Buckland in the Moor Christow Chudleigh Coffinswell Dawlish Denbury and Torbryan Doddiscombsleigh Dunchideock Dunsford Exminster Haccombe with Combe Hennock Holcombe Burnell Ide Ideford Ilsington Ipplepen Kenn Kenton Kingskerswell Kingsteignton Lustleigh Mamhead Manaton Moretonhampstead Newton Abbot North Bovey Ogwell Powderham Shaldon Shillingford St George Starcross Stokeinteignhead Tedburn St Mary Teigngrace Teignmouth Trusham Whitestone Widecombe in the Moor Woodland
Plymouth^2,4	None
Torbay⁴	Brixham⁵
Bold text denotes a parish council referred to as a "town council". Non-metropolitan district of the non-metropolitan county of Devon (administered by Devon County Council). Has city status in the United Kingdom. Has borough status in the United Kingdom. Unitary authority not part of the non-metropolitan county, thus not administered by Devon County Council. The remainder of Torbay is unparished.