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South Tawton

Coordinates: 50°44′N 3°54′W / 50.73°N 3.9°W / 50.73; -3.9
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South Tawton
St Andrew's Church
South Tawton is located in Devon
South Tawton
South Tawton
Location within Devon
Population1,683 [1]
OS grid referenceSX653945
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townOkehampton
Postcode districtEX20
Dialling code01837
PoliceDevon and Cornwall
FireDevon and Somerset
AmbulanceSouth Western
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Devon
50°44′N 3°54′W / 50.73°N 3.9°W / 50.73; -3.9

South Tawton is a village, parish and former manor on the north edge of Dartmoor, Devon, England. An electoral ward bearing the same name exists. At the 2011 census the population was 1,683.[2]

Cross Tree, South Tawton

In front of the church is a "Crosstree", a feature dating from the Tudor period.

Inscription: Cross Tree. a tree has stood here since the days of Queen Elizabeth I, the wall and seat were rebuilt to commemorate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953





Historic estates

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Located in the parish of South Tawton are various historic estates including:

North Wyke

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Arms of Wykes of North Wyke and of Cocktree, both in the parish of South Tawton:[3] Ermine, three battle-axes sable.[4] The similarity of these arms to those born by the prominent Wrey family later of Tawstock Court, North Devon, is suggested by Worthy (1896) to prove that they are "collateral kinsfolk of the Wykes".[5]

North Wyke was long a possession of the Wykes family. Worthy (1896) suggested this family, Latinized to de Wigornia ("from Worcester"), was descended from a certain William de Wigornia, a younger sons of Robert de Beaumont, Count of Meulan (c. 1142-1204) and de jure Earl of Worcester, by his marriage with Maud FitzRoy, daughter of Reginald de Dunstanville, 1st Earl of Cornwall.[6] The manor of South Tawton was anciently a possession of the Beaumont family.[7] The effigy of John Wykes (1520-1591) of North Wyke, known locally as "Old Warrior Wykes",[5] survives in South Tawton Church, showing a recumbent figure dressed in full armour, under a low tester with three low Ionic columns.[8] He married Mary Giffard, a daughter of Sir Roger Giffard (d. 1547) of Brightley, Chittlehampton, Devon.[9]

South Zeal

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The Burgoyne Monument in St Andrew's Church South Tawton. This slate and stone tablet on the wall of the South Chapel is dated 1651 and is in memory of Robert Burgoyne, his wife and their family. Those who are commemorated include a child in a cradle and an infant in a shroud. The arms of Burgoyne are: Azure, a talbot argent (as shown on the monument to Thomas Chafe (d. 1648) in the church at St Giles in the Wood, Devon, who married a Burgoyne

The manor house of the Burgoyne family of South Zeal survives as the Oxenham Arms Public House, on the main street of the village of South Zeal, which is within the parish of South Tawton.[10] A mural monument to Robert Burgoyne, dated 1651, survives in St Andrew's Church, South Tawton.[11]

Climate

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Since 1990, the highest recorded temperature was 27 °C (81 °F) in June 2017 and the lowest was -6 °C (21 °F) in March 2018.

Climate data for North Wyke 177m amsl (1981–2010) (extremes 1990–present)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 12
(54)
12
(54)
14
(57)
20
(68)
23
(73)
27
(81)
26
(79)
24
(75)
21
(70)
19
(66)
15
(59)
13
(55)
27
(81)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 7.7
(45.9)
7.7
(45.9)
9.8
(49.6)
12.1
(53.8)
15.2
(59.4)
18.0
(64.4)
19.9
(67.8)
19.8
(67.6)
17.5
(63.5)
13.9
(57.0)
10.5
(50.9)
8.1
(46.6)
13.4
(56.0)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 2.5
(36.5)
2.1
(35.8)
3.6
(38.5)
4.4
(39.9)
7.2
(45.0)
9.8
(49.6)
12.0
(53.6)
12.1
(53.8)
10.2
(50.4)
7.9
(46.2)
5.1
(41.2)
3.0
(37.4)
6.7
(44.0)
Record low °C (°F) −4
(25)
−5
(23)
−6
(21)
−2
(28)
2
(36)
6
(43)
8
(46)
7
(45)
3
(37)
3
(37)
0
(32)
0
(32)
−6
(21)
Average rainfall mm (inches) 121.0
(4.76)
89.3
(3.52)
85.6
(3.37)
66.7
(2.63)
70.0
(2.76)
55.9
(2.20)
58.8
(2.31)
64.4
(2.54)
74.2
(2.92)
118.8
(4.68)
118.6
(4.67)
130.0
(5.12)
1,053.3
(41.48)
Average rainy days (≥ 1.0 mm) 15.9 12.5 13.7 11.3 10.7 9.0 10.2 10.3 10.7 15.7 16.3 15.5 151.8
Average relative humidity (%) 84.7 82.2 78.8 75.3 74.7 74.5 74.0 74.2 77.9 82.4 85.9 86.5 79.3
Mean monthly sunshine hours 53.3 71.5 102.6 161.6 185.8 189.7 185.8 165.7 140.1 97.7 66.2 51.0 1,471
Source 1: Met Office[12]
Source 2: MSN[13]

Appearance in media

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South Tawton features in Landscapes of England DVD Series 2, Ep 6. by W.G. Hoskins. He observes that while South Tawton failed as a borough it spawned the nearby settlement of South Zeal which flourished being directly on the main route from London to Lands End.[14]

Further reading

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  • Roy & Ursula Radford (2000). South Tawton & South Zeal with Sticklepath. Halsgrove. ISBN 1-55212-606-4.
  • Patrick Shaw (1995). South Tawton Parish Council, The First Fifty Years. South Tawton & Dist. Hist. Group.
  • Tony Clark (2002). South Tawton Church House - Options to Secure its Future.
  • Wykes-Finch, Rev. W., "The Ancient Family of Wyke of North Wyke, Co. Devon", published in Transactions of the Devonshire Association for the Advancement of Science, Literature, and Art, 1903, Vol. 35, pp. 360–425 SEE HERE

References

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  1. ^ Services, Good Stuff IT. "South Tawton - UK Census Data 2011". UK Census Data. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  2. ^ "Ward population 2011". Retrieved 17 February 2015.
  3. ^ Risdon, Tristram (d. 1640), Survey of Devon; 1811 edition, London, 1811, with 1810 Additions, p. 290
  4. ^ Vivian, p.825; Pole, Sir William (d. 1635), Collections Towards a Description of the County of Devon, Sir John-William de la Pole (ed.), London, 1791, p.508
  5. ^ a b Worthy
  6. ^ Worthy, Charles (1896). "Devonshire Wills: Wykes of North Wyke". Wykes.org.
  7. ^ Worthy; Risdon, p. 290
  8. ^ Pevsner, Nikolaus & Cherry, Bridget, The Buildings of England: Devon. London, 2004, p. 752
  9. ^ Vivian, Lt.Col. J. L., (ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620. Exeter, 1895, p 825, pedigree of Wykes of NorthWyke; p. 400, pedigree of Giffard
  10. ^ Pole, p.244
  11. ^ Pevsner, p.752
  12. ^ "North Wyke Climate Period: 1981–2010". Met Office. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
  13. ^ "Records and Averages". Msn.com. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  14. ^ "Landscape of Ancient Peace". Landscapes of England. Series 2. Episode 6. 14 June 1978. BBC Two.
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