A brief history of Wringworthy

There has been a settlement at Wringworthy since Saxon times at least, and the original moorland has been continuously improved for agriculture and pasture over the centuries. Its old Saxon name was WERING GUERĐA or WERING HEORĐA.

The existing farmhouse dates back to the 16^th Century. In 1952 it was listed Grade II* on account of its architectural significance. The stone outbuildings in which the three holiday-let cottages have been developed are Grade II listed. Giles Cottage, a detached barn beside the house, is of medieval fabric and is thought to have been at one time connected to the house and used as a service wing. The U-shaped group of agricultural buildings surrounding the courtyard, now containing Ida and Lena Cottages, was constructed in the early 19th century on the lines of a ‘model farm’, in line with principles promoted by the fifth Duke of Bedford (d.1802) and his nephew, the seventh Duke (d.1861). Later in the 19th century the yard was enlarged to the east with the construction of a threshing barn powered by a water mill.

Historically, Wringworthy’s main assets were the River Burn, providing an endless supply of water, and its location on the old Exeter road which, from the early Middle Ages onwards, linked Tavistock to the City of Exeter across the moor. This was key to the wealth of the owners of Wringworthy whose produce (e.g. cereals, cider, sheep and fleeces) could easily be transported to markets.

From Tavistock, the old road to Exeter, also known as the King’s Way, passed through Wilminstone and reached Wringworthy, where a stone bridge crossed the River Burn to the south of the house, and then went up hill towards Mary Tavy and the moor to the north or east to Harford Bridge over the River Tavy towards Peter Tavy. Wringworthy bridge was destroyed during a violent storm in Christmas 1841 and a new road was built to the east of the property, where it is today, leaving Wringworthy peacefully in the narrow valley of the River Burn.

The oldest source mentioning Wringworthy is the Exeter Domesday Book, associated with the countrywide Domesday Survey commissioned by William the Conqueror (r. 1066) and completed in 1086. The purpose of this unparalleled survey was to list all property holdings across England, with the names of the lords and an assessment of their productive assets (land area, workers, livestock), and revenues.

The Exeter Domesday Book tells us that:

• At the time of the conquest, the three Saxon manors of Warne, Burntown and Wringworthy near the village of Mary Tavy, in the Hundred of Lifton, were free holdings held by theigns (freemen) named Aelfric, Alwin and Aldwulf, and were of a lesser significance (size and revenues) than the Manor of Mary Tavy;
• When the Normans reorganised the boundaries after 1066, the three theigns chose to be included in the newly created Parish of Tavy Saint Mary. It is an indication that Wringworthy, Burntown or Warne, were not large enough holdings to form a township (villae) in their own right as opposed to Mary Tavy;
• By 1086, most of the manors of the Hundred of Lifton had been granted to Juhel of Totnes, a knight from Brittany, who, as tenant-in-chief (direct vassal of the King), leased the three free holdings together with that of Mary Tavy to a sub-tenant, a fellow Norman invader named Nigel (Norman-French: Niel or Néel). As a warrior much esteemed by the Conqueror, Juhel of Totnes received in excess of 100 manors in the south-west of England. In comparison, Nigel, clearly of a lesser rank, is associated with only a dozen;
• Finally, the survey confirms that Wringworthy was a holding very similar to those found in most areas of England in the late 11^th century. It was part of a very ancient pattern of isolated farms, hamlets and tiny villages interspersed with fields and scattered over most of the cultivable land in the Kingdom. Typically settlements would move or be abandoned or reclaimed overtime in a slow pace almost unchanged since the Iron Age. Wringworthy’s prime location in a sheltered valley with a small river hints at ancient origins, likely pre-dating the Saxon settlements.

Since Saxon times until today Wringworthy has remained a freehold property. Wringworthy’s line of ownership is not entirely clear. It is likely the property was kept in the descent of Nigel or that of Juhel of Totnes for some time before it was either sold and/or transferred through marriage into the ownership of local families, leading in 1500 to William Cake, from when the line of owners can be traced to today. He was a member of a family from Tavistock whose oldest member (that can be traced) is Galfridus (Geoffrey) Cake recorded in 1286. It is likely that William was the grandson of Roger Cake, Mayor (Prepositi) of Tavistock in 1465.

William Cake was neither the lord of the manor of Mary Tavy, nor was he part of the prominent landed gentry, although his family obviously had a position of some significance in the area. His son John, however, appears as gentleman in 1615, seemingly the first family member to be so titled. It is likely that the Cakes’ rank and influence benefitted from the unstable ownership of the manor of Mary Tavy which saw three families succeed from 1500 to 1700. In fact it is interesting to observe that the Cakes were increasingly taking the front role in Mary Tavy, and were generally referred to as the Cakes of Mary Tavy, and even squires of Mary Tavy although the manorship was in other hands. Wringworthy was their home and reflects the social position of the family. A recent archaeological survey confirms this narrative: “the house is of medieval date (ca. 1500), and may have been conceived as a small gentry mansion. The house appears to have remained a prestigious mansion into the late 17^th century”. This corresponds to the probable arrival of the Cakes at Wringworthy around 1500 and the (re)construction of the front part of the house as we see it today.

His descendant, another William Cake, gentleman, probably born around 1690, appears on the list of the freeholders of Mary Tavy between 1707 and 1734. He was generally referred to as the ‘squire of Mary Tavy’. His name is engraved as warden of Mary Tavy church on the first bell of the new set hung in 1720. By 1741 he was residing in Tavistock although he was still registered as freeholder for his property of Wringworthy, which by then was tenanted. His main trade was fellmongering (dealer of sheep skins used for tanning) and he was appointed Portreeve (Mayor) of Tavistock in 1747. He died around 1750. He had married Elizabeth Drake of Buckland Monachorum in 1719. This is perhaps an indication of his social status, as she was a great-great-niece of Admiral Sir Francis Drake, Kt (1541-1596) and the first cousin of Sir Francis Drake, 3^rd Baronet (1642-1718), MP for Devon. She is thought to have died at Wringworthy in 1738 and been buried at Mary Tavy. William and Elizabeth’s daughter, Prudence Catherine, born after 1720, was alive in 1759 and is the last known member of this family to have owned Wringworthy.

In 1772 it would appear that Wringworthy was sold to a wealthy land owner, John Moore Knighton, gentleman, of Grenofen House (in Whitchurch Parish) near Tavistock. His family originated in Bere Ferrers. His nephew was Sir William Knighton, baronet, (1776-1836), a Navy surgeon who rose to prominence to become Keeper of the Privy Purse and unofficial private secretary of King George IV. John Moore Knighton died ca.1810 and his widow and three daughters moved to the manor of Treleigh in Cornwall, and from that point, the family gradually sold off their properties in the area of Tavistock, thus leading to the sale of Wringworthy to the Carpenter family in October 1815.

John Phillips Carpenter (1790-1846) purchased Wringworthy on 27 October 1815. He was a prominent and wealthy figure in Tavistock, living at Mount Tavy, a refined Georgian house overlooking the town, built by his grandfather in 1786. His family originated from Launceston, Cornwall, where it was of long standing and had produced several Mayors starting with his ancestor Thomas Carpenter in 1591, and had prospered through iron casting and mining. In addition to being a land owner, Carpenter was also an active investor in local industries such as metal casting in Tavistock, and mining (e.g. Pedn-an-Drea United Mines in Redruth, Cornwall; Wheal Carpenter and Wheal Grace in Sydenham Damerel in Devon). A former officer in the King’s dragoon guards, he had served in Spain in 1812 and 1813 during the Napoleonic wars. His son, John Grainger Carpenter-Garnier (1839–1926), JP for Hampshire and Deputy Lieutenant for Devon, was a Conservative politician. In 1873 he was elected MP for South Devon, succeeding Samuel Trehawke Kekewich (1796-1873), and held the seat until 1884. He eventually sold off his properties in Devon (e.g. Wringworthy in 1885 and Mount Tavy House in 1886) and finally retired to Hampshire. He died at the age of 87 at Fareham in 1926.

The tithe apportionment of 1845-47 shows that the Carpenter family owned five farms in Mary Tavy, comprising nearly 500 acres. In addition to Wringworthy, they owned Lower Kingsett, Burntown, Wortha and Eddymead farms. Wringworthy had been leased to Christopher Willing (d. before 1836) by the former owners, the Moore-Knighton family, in the early 1800’s. The lease was passed on to Willing’s son, John, tenant in 1845, and onwards to his grandson Thomas, tenant in 1878. The tenancy was terminated when Carpenter-Garnier decided to sell in 1885.

John Edmund Giles (1826-1906)

By private contract on 2 October 1885, John Carpenter-Garnier sold Wringworthy, then comprising 115 acres, to John Edmunds Giles, the current owner’s ancestor, for £8,000. He entered into a mortgage for £1,200 for the acquisition from Mr. William Rowe Northway, of the Bedford Hotel in Tavistock. His family originated in the area of Tavistock. In 1697, his ancestor, Abraham Giles of Sternlake Farm in Walkhampton near Yelverton, married into the prominent Atwill family of Welltown. The Atwells’ wealth derived from the local tin industry. In the late 1500s and early 1600s Richard Atwill became the principal tin producer in the Tavistock area, the freeholder of Welltown and achieved gentry status.

Wringworthy remained in the hands of John Edmunds’ descendants until 1963 when the farm was sold at auction by his great-grandson. In 2012, a great-great-granddaughter of John Edmund Giles bought back the farm, by then comprising 72 acres.

The Giles after WWII (Wringworthy - Main Yard)