Winscott, Peters Marland

Winscott House, Peters Marland, built in 1865 by John Curzon Moore-Stevens Esq., demolished after 1931

Entrance gates and lodge of the demolished Winscott House, Peters Marland, built 1865, demolished after 1931. Looking towards the SW. Situated 1 mile east of Peters Marland Church at Winscott Cross

Winscott was an historic manor in the parish of Peters Marland, north Devon, England.

Winscott House was built or re-built in 1865 and was demolished after 1931. It should not be confused with Winscott in the nearby parish of St Giles in the Wood, the historic residence of the Devon historian Tristram Risdon (d.1640).^[1] Winscott was a seat of the Stevens family also of Velstone, in the parish of Buckland Brewer and Cross, in the parish of Little Torrington, the latter existing today as a large Georgian mansion about 2 miles south of Great Torrington. Richard Stevens (d.1776) of Winscott was MP for Callington in Cornwall between 1761 and 1768, a pocket borough controlled by the Rolle family of Heanton Satchville in the parish of Petrockstowe (adjoining Peters Marland on the south-east). He was the chief agent in charge of the extensive Devon and Cornwall estates of Lady Orford, née Margaret Rolle (1708/9-1781), suo jure Baroness Clinton, daughter and sole heiress of Samuel Rolle (1646–1719) of Heanton Satchville, Petrockstowe. Her family was descended from the youngest son of George Rolle (d.1552), of Stevenstone, the founder of that family in Devon, but was not far behind the senior line seated at Stevenstone in terms of wealth and influence. She was married aged fifteen to Robert Walpole, 2nd Earl of Orford (d.1751), son of Robert Walpole (d.1745) the first prime minister. The marriage was not a happy one and Margaret left England to live in Florence, Italy, where she died. Thus she required the services of Richard Stevens as her agent in England. His daughter Elizabeth Stevens (d.1792) married firstly Robert Awse of Horwood House, Frithelstock,^[2] and secondly in 1782, John Clevland of Tapely, MP for Barnstaple 1766-1802.^[3]

In 1850 Winscott was the residence of John Curzon Moore-Stevens Esq., the Archdeacon's son.^[4] In 1865, following his father's death, he rebuilt it at a cost of over £7,000^[5] to the design of William White (1825-1900), FSA, with yellow brick from the nearby Marland clay works. He also rebuilt the nave and chancel of St Peter's Church, Peters Marland, in 1865, also to the designs of William White.^[6] The new house was approximately 100 ft square. It was demolished shortly after 1931.^[7]

Descent

Domesday Book

The manor of "Winescote" was one of thirty-one manors, including "Mirland" (Peters Marland) and "Tuchbere" (Twigbeare), held by Roald Dubbed as listed in the Domesday Book of 1086, at which time he held it in demesne. It paid tax for one virgate of land, and had land for 3 ploughs.^[8]

Stevens

Stevens mural monument in St Peter's Church, Peters Marland, reset into wall of 1865 nave, inscribed: In memory of Elizabeth the wife of Richard Stevens, Esqr., who died March 14th 1760 aged 53. And of the said Richard Stevens Esqr. who died July 15th 1776 aged 74. Also of their sons and daughters whose names are above inscribed: Christiana Maria Stevens died February 5th 1755 aged 16; Hugh Stevens died March 31st 1755 aged 31; Richard Stevens died December 20th 1762 aged 29; Henry Stevens died August 10th 1764 aged 19. The arms of Stevens shown on a cartouche are: Per chevron azure and gules, in chief two falcons rising belled or

Arms of Stevens of Winscott, Peters Marland, from 1776 mural monument to Richard Stevens (d.1776) and his wife Elizabeth (d.1760) in St Peter's Church, Peters Marland. The arms shown are: Per chevron azure and gules, in chief two falcons rising belled or. These appear to be a difference of the arms of the senior line of Stevens of Cross, Little Torrington: Per chevron argent and gules, in chief two falcons rising proper belled or, as is visible in Little Torrington Church

Christiana Maria Rolle (1710-1780), wife of Henry Stevens (1689-1748) of Cross and Smythacott. Portrait by Thomas Hudson, Great Torrington townhall

Richard II Stevens (1702-1776)

Richard II Stevens (1702-1776) of Winscott, was MP for the Rolle family's pocket borough of Callington in Cornwall between 1761 and 1768. His mural monument exists in Peters Marland Church. He was one of the two sons of Richard I Stevens by his wife Elizabeth, and his brother was Henry Stevens (1689-1748) of Cross, in the parish of Little Torrington. Richard II Stevens (d.1776) married Elizabeth (1707-1760), of unknown family, by whom he had three sons who pre-deceased him without progeny and two daughters who were also without progeny. His daughter Elizabeth Stevens (1727-1792) married firstly Robert Awse of Horwood House in the parish of Frithelstock, and secondly John II Clevland (1734-1817), seven times MP for Barnstaple, of Tapeley near Bideford. Winscott passed after Cleveland's death to the descendants of Richard's elder brother, Henry Stevens (d.1748), of Cross, thus re-uniting the three Stevens estates.

Ancestry of Stevens

No entry for the Stevens family exists in the 1620 Heraldic Visitation of Devon, and thus the family's pedigree is not officially recorded, and the family must be assumed not to have been counted amongst the gentry of Devon at that time, or to have settled in the county after that date. The same arms as used by the Devon family were however recorded as adopted in 1606 by a Gloucestershire family called "Stephens",^[9] of Chavenage House, Eastington, which family rose to considerable prominence during the Civil War as Parliamentarians.

• William Stevens (d.1648) of Great Torrington, apparently a younger son of the Stevens family of Chavenage House.^[10]
• Henry Stevens de Velstone, son and heir of William Stevens of Great Torrington. The earliest known seat of the Stevens family in Devon was Vielstone, now a farmhouse in 2013 used as a care home, in the parish of Buckland Brewer (of which the Rolle family of Stevenstone were lords of the manor) about five miles south-west of Great Torrington.^[11] He married Judith Stevens (d.1676), daughter of John Hancock of Combe Martin, as is recorded on the ornate mural monument to Judith Stevens (d.1676) on the east wall of the south aisle of Great Torrington parish church. Clearly the Stevens family were even then of some high standing in view of the prominent positioning of the monument in this large and important church. One of their sons, John Stevens (d.1674) predeceased his father, as is revealed by his grave-slab under his father's mural monument in Great Torrington Church. Henry appears to have had two sisters, both listed passim in the Visitation of Devon as "daughter of William Stevens of Great Torrington":
  • Susannah Stevens (d.1694/5), who married firstly Alexander Rolle (d.1660) of Tawstock, a younger son of a junior line of the Rolles of Stevenstone. She married secondly in 1664, as his third wife, Sir John Chichester (1598-1669) of Hall, in the parish of Bishops Tawton, and had issue from both marriages.^[12]
  • Mary Stevens (d.1669), buried at St Giles in the Wood, married in 1639 Henry Rolle of Beam (1605-1647), near Great Torrington, who in 1642 inherited from his infant cousin Denys Rolle (1638-1642) the Stevenstone estates. The marriage was childless and his heir was his cousin Sir John Rolle (d.1706), KB.^[13]
• Richard I Stevens, son of Henry Stevens de Velstone. He married a certain Elizabeth, and had two sons:
  • Henry Stevens (1689-1748) of Cross, in the parish of Little Torrington, described in his will as "of Smithcott" in the parish of Frithelstock, but who built the existing mansion of Cross between 1744 and 1748.^[14] He married Christiana Maria Rolle (1710-1780), a daughter of John Rolle (1679-1730), MP, of Stevenstone, in the nearby parish of St Giles in the Wood, and sister of Henry Rolle, 1st Baron Rolle (1708-1750). Portraits of Christiana and of her brothers John Rolle Walter (1712-1779), and Denys Rolle (d.1797), successively owners of the Stevenstone estates, were painted by Thomas Hudson and were given in the early 1900s by Lord Clinton to the Great Torrington Town Lands and Poors Charity. They are on public display in Great Torrington townhall. The Rolles of Stevenstone were the largest landowners on Devon. Henry Stevens's heir was his son Henry Stevens (1739-1802), who married Sarah Bridget Marwood (who married secondly John Inglett Fortescue of Buckland Filleigh), but who died without progeny leaving as heir his sister Christiana Stevens (1743-1828) who had married in 1779 Rev. Thomas Moore (1740-1802), vicar of Bishops Tawton.
  • Richard Stevens (1702-1776), MP, of Winscott (see above).

Moore-Stevens

Thomas Moore-Stevens (1782-1832)

Thomas Moore-Stevens (1782-1832), of Vielston, Buckland Brewer, later of Cross, was the son of Rev. Thomas Moore (1740-1802), vicar of Bishops Tawton by his wife (whom he had married in 1779) Christiana Stevens (1743-1828), sister of Henry Stevens (1739-1802). He succeeded to Cross and other property under an entail, and to Winscott under the will of Elizabeth Clevland,^[15] daughter and heir of Richard Stevens of Winscott and wife of John II Clevland (1734–1817), of Tapeley. He adopted the name and arms of Stevens, by royal licence dated 12 July 1817, on the death of John Clevland (1734-1817), 2nd husband of Elizabeth Stevens, as a condition of her will.^[16] He was of Winscott, BA Balliol College, Oxford, 1803, a barrister of the Middle Temple, and Recorder of Exeter, as recorded on his mural monument in Little Torrington Church.^[17] He married in 1821 Sophia Le Marchant (1798-1860),^[18] younger daughter of Rev. Joshua Le Marchant of Guernsey,^[19] and had two daughters, Sophia and Louisa, who married Frederick Haworth of Kensington, Middlesex. Sophia Stevens's diaries between the years 1817-1836 are held at the North Devon Record Office in Barnstaple (ref:A 251), but a large gap exists around the time of her husband's death.^[20] He was the presumptive heir and next-of-kin to John Rolle, 1st Baron Rolle (d.1842), (of the second creation of that title)^[21] his mother Christiana Stevens (d.1828) having been first cousin of John, Lord Rolle, who had only sisters and no children of his own. Lord Rolle however disposed of his property elsewhere under his will. Thomas Stevens died by suicide, as is recorded in the death notices in the 1832 Annual Register:^[22]

"14 Jan. At his seat, Cross, near Torrington, Thomas Stevens, Esq. recorder of Exeter, Barnstaple, and Torrington, and a major in the North Devon regiment of Yeomanry cavalry. Educated for the bar, he early displayed talents of a superior order, and in 1826 he was elected by the chamber of Exeter to fill the honourable and responsible office of recorder of that city. On Monday, January 9, Mr. Stevens sat in the court of quarter sessions in Barnstaple; and on Tuesday, at the quarter sessions in South Molton; and, on each of those days, he complained of indisposition in his head. A tumultuous assemblage of people at Torrington on the following days, called forth his active exertions both as a magistrate and an officer, and probably increased the excitement which disease had previously begotten in his mind. On Friday evening he wrote a letter to a gentleman, which bore strong indications of great mental agitation. In this perturbed state he retired to his room on the evening of Friday. In the morning (...) was heard from the dressing room, which induced Mrs. Stevens to hasten thither; and, on entering she caught her husband in her arms, deluged in blood flowing in torrents from a wound inflicted in his throat, which caused his death within a very short period".

It must be assumed that the Stevens inheritance was in tail-male as Thomas's heir was his younger brother the Revd John Moore-Stevens (d. 1865)

Ancestry of Moore-Stevens

As indicated by the Moore arms shown on the chancel floor of Peters Marland Church (1865), Thomas Moore (1740-1802) was of the Moore family, Earls of Mount Cashell, of Cashel, County Tipperary, Ireland, and Barons Kilworth, of Moore Park, Kilworth, County Cork. He may have been the brother of Rev. George Moore (d.1807), Canon Residentiary of Exeter, Archdeacon of Cornwall and vicar of Heavitree.^[23] Christiana Stevens was also the heir of her cousin Elizabeth Cleveland (née Stevens) (1727-1792), the only surviving child and daughter of Richard Stevens (d.1776) of Winscott. Their eldest son was Thomas Moore-Stevens (1782-1832), of Vielston, Buckland Brewer, later of Cross. He succeeded to Cross and other property under an entail, and to Winscott under the will of Elizabeth Clevland,^[24] daughter and heir of Richard Stevens of Winscott and wife of John II Clevland (1734–1817), of Tapeley, MP for Barnstaple in seven parliaments and Director of Greenwich Hospital.^[25] He adopted the name and arms of Stevens, by royal licence dated 12 July 1817, on the death of John Clevland (1734-1817), 2nd husband of Elizabeth Stevens, as a condition of her will.^[26] He was of Winscott, BA Balliol College, Oxford, 1803, a barrister of the Middle Temple, and Recorder of Exeter, as recorded on his mural monument in Little Torrington Church.^[27] He married in 1821 Sophia Le Marchant (1798-1860),^[28] younger daughter of Rev. Joshua Le Marchant of Guernsey,^[29] and had two daughters, Sophia and Louisa, who married Frederick Haworth of Kensington, Middlesex. Sophia Stevens's diaries between the years 1817-1836 are held at the North Devon Record Office in Barnstaple (ref:A 251), but a large gap exists around the time of her husband's death.^[30] He was the presumptive heir and next-of-kin to John Rolle, 1st Baron Rolle (d.1842), (of the second creation of that title)^[31] his mother Christiana Stevens (d.1828) having been first cousin of John, Lord Rolle, who had only sisters and no children of his own. Lord Rolle however disposed of his property elsewhere under his will. Thomas Stevens died by suicide, as is recorded in the death notices in the 1832 Annual Register:^[32]

"14 Jan. At his seat, Cross, near Torrington, Thomas Stevens, Esq. recorder of Exeter, Barnstaple, and Torrington, and a major in the North Devon regiment of Yeomanry cavalry. Educated for the bar, he early displayed talents of a superior order, and in 1826 he was elected by the chamber of Exeter to fill the honourable and responsible office of recorder of that city. On Monday, January 9, Mr. Stevens sat in the court of quarter sessions in Barnstaple; and on Tuesday, at the quarter sessions in South Molton; and, on each of those days, he complained of indisposition in his head. A tumultuous assemblage of people at Torrington on the following days, called forth his active exertions both as a magistrate and an officer, and probably increased the excitement which disease had previously begotten in his mind. On Friday evening he wrote a letter to a gentleman, which bore strong indications of great mental agitation. In this perturbed state he retired to his room on the evening of Friday. In the morning (...) was heard from the dressing room, which induced Mrs. Stevens to hasten thither; and, on entering she caught her husband in her arms, deluged in blood flowing in torrents from a wound inflicted in his throat, which caused his death within a very short period".

It must be assumed that the Stevens inheritance was in tail-male as Thomas's heir was his younger brother the Revd John Moore-Stevens (d. 1865), appointed in 1822 Vicar of Otterton by Lord Rolle^[33] (whose main seat was then at nearby Bicton House and whose father Dennis Rolle (d.1797) had purchased the adjoining manor of Otterton.) John (by then Archdeacon of Exeter) also adopted the additional surname of Stevens (the king's royal licence to that effect, dated 17 July 1832, was gazetted on 24 July 1832.)^[34] He would also have assumed himself to have become, after his brother's death, the presumptive heir and next-of-kin to Lord Rolle. He married Anne Eleanor Roberts, daughter of Rev. William Roberts, fellow and vice-provost of Eton College. An inscribed white marble tablet exists to the memory of his wife and himself in Exeter Cathedral.^[35]

Arms of Moore-Stevens

Heraldic tiles dated 1865 on floor of chancel, St Peter's Church, one of four similar groups of four, with legend Pro patria et Fide (For country and faith). The arms of Stevens in the 1st and 4th quarters seem to show in the chief inverted tinctures. The arms in the 2nd and 3rd quarters are of Moore

The arms of Moore are given by Fox-Davies as follows: Sable, a swan wings elevated argent beaked and membered or within a bordure engrailed quarterly of the last and second Crests: 1. A falcon or belled and wings elevated azure, gorged with a collar gemel to the last, charged on the breast with an ermine-spot sable and on each wing with an estoile gold (Stevens); 2. In front of a fern-bush proper, a falcon wings elevated argent preying on a coney sable (Moore).^[36] These are the arms of the Moore family, Earls of Mount Cashell, of Cashel, County Tipperary, and of Baron Kilworth, of Moore Park, Kilworth, County Cork, given by Skey as Sable, a swan statant argent beaked and membered or within a bordure engrailed of the last; Crest— A goshawk wings addorsed argent preying on a coney sable.^[37]

John Curzon Moore-Stevens (b. 1818)

John Curzon Moore-Stevens (b. 1818), JP, DL, MP for North Devon, High Sheriff of Devon 1870,^[38] was the son and heir of Thomas Moore-Stevens (1782-1832). He rebuilt Winscott in 1865, immediately folling his inheritance. He had been brought up in the expectation of becoming the heir of John Rolle, 1st Baron Rolle (1750-1842), of Stevenstone,^[39] who died childless and was his great-grandmother's nephew. However, Lord Rolle instead left his fortune to Hon. Mark Trefusis, who changed his name to Mark Rolle (d.1907), the nephew of his second wife Louisa Trefusis, a daughter of Baron Clinton. He married in 1850 Elizabeth Anne Johnson, daughter of Rev. Peter Johnson.^[40] He served as a JP on the Quarter Sessions Court of Devon, and Winscott House was built with its own "Magistrate's Room" with a separate entrance. He was especially reactionary and old-fashioned and at the Mid-Summer sessions of 1882 had declared his object was "to get rid of traction-engines altogether".^[41] On the abolition of the Quarter-Sessions in 1889 he was the only former JP to have been defeated by a non-magistrate in the elections for councillors to the new replacement governing body of the Devon County Council.^[42] In 1850 most of the land within the parish of Peters Marland belonged to Rev. John Moore-Stevens (d.1865), Archdeacon of Exeter, of Winscott House, with much also belonging to G. Oldham, Esq., of Twigbear.^[43]

Richard Arthur Moore-Stevens (1854-1931)

Col. Richard Arthur Moore-Stevens (1854-1931), son and heir of John Curzon Moore-Stevens (b. 1818). He served in the 3rd Battalion Devon Regiment,^[44] and was a strong believer in the Anglican faith. He moved to Bellenden House, Exeter,^[45] and shut up Winscott House in 1920.^[46] He married in 1886 his third cousin May Clare Sophy Haworth (d.1930), daughter of Frederick Haworth of Kensington,^[47] Middlesex by his wife Louisa Moore-Stevens, daughter of Thomas Moore-Stevens (d.1832). They had three children: John (b. 1900), Ralph (b. 1904) and Joyce.^[48] He disinherited his son for marrying a Roman Catholic. After his death in 1931 Winscott House was sold.

Sale of estate

Following the death of Richard Arthur Moore-Stevens (1854-1931) the estate of Winscott was sold. A timber merchant purchased the grounds and felled the trees, whilst the building firm of Chambers of Winkleigh purchased the house, which eventually was demolished without a trace surviving above ground. Some materials were used to construct a new village hall. A few specimen trees survive, but all traces of the orchard, terraces, tennis court and walled garden have vanished. The imposing entrance gates and lodge survive.

Further reading

Colby, Frederic Thomas, Pedigree of the family of Stevens of Vielstone, Cross, and Winscott. Published by W. Pollard, Exeter, 1891. Frederic Colby (1827-1899), born in Plymouth of an old Great Torrington family (whose history he wrote) was the husband of Louisa Margaret Anne Guille, into which family Sophia Moore-Stevens (d.1892) had married.^[49]

Sources

• Lauder, Rosemary, Vanished Houses of North Devon, Tiverton, 2005, pp. 54–5

References