North Wyke
North Wyke is an historic manor in the parish of South Tawton, Devon. The surviving grade I listed[1] manor house, the original Devonshire seat of the Wyke (alias de Wray) family from the early 13th century to 1714,[2] retains its basic mediaeval form, but was "improved and reconstructed"[3] by Rev. William Wykes-Finch (d.1920) in 1904, historian and descendant (via a female line) of the Wyke family, to the design of G.H. Fellowes Prynne.
History
North Wyke was long a possession of the Wyke family (alias Wykes, Wycke, Wick, Wicks, Weeke, etc.), which during the reign of King Richard II (1377-1399) changed its surname from "de Wray" to the name of its seat, "Wyke".[7] Worthy (1896) suggested this family, Latinized to de Wigornia ("from Worcester"), was descended from a certain William de Wigornia, a younger son 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.[8]
The manor of South Tawton was anciently a possession of the Beaumont family.[9] The effigy of John Wykes (1520-1591) of North Wyke, known locally as "Old Warrior Wykes",[10] survives in South Tawton Church, showing a recumbent figure dressed in full armour, under a low tester with three low Ionic columns.[11] He married Mary Giffard, a daughter of Sir Roger Giffard (d.1547) of Brightley, Chittlehampton, Devon.[12] In the chapel a corbel survives sculpted with the arms of Wykes and Giffard.[13]
The Westcountry author and historian Sabine Baring-Gould (d.1924) in his "Book of Dartmoor" (1907), relates the tale of "Wicked Richard Weekes" who died in 1670, and was involved in an escapade concerning fraudulent wills and mortgages.[14]
Eventually the estate was broken up into two farms, and the house divided into two. Shortly before 1907 it was repurchased by Rev. William Wykes-Finch (d.1920), descended from the Wyke family in a female line,[15] and as reported by Sabine Baring-Gould in 1907 "the house is being restored in excellent taste". Wykes-Finch's son died in 1922 shortly after his father, and a cousin inherited the estate.[16] It was sold in 1928 to Edwin Stanbury for £5,000. In 1939 it was sold to Mr Luxton, and in 1945 was sold to Captain N. Watson, who in 1955 sold it for about £30,000 to Fisons Ltd the fertiliser manufacturer, who established there a fertiliser research station. The house became offices and a hostel for visiting workers while the old stables became laboratories. In 1981 the Crown Estate Commissioners bought North Wyke and let it to the Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research.[17]
Further reading
- Lauder, Rosemary & Atkins, William, A Tale of Two Rivers: North Wyke, 1986
- History and Heraldry of North Wyke, guide formerly available at the house.
Sources
- Wykes-Finch, Rev. W., MA, JP, 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
- Worthy, Charles, Devonshire Wills: Wykes of North Wyke, 1896
- Pole, Sir William (d.1635), Collections Towards a Description of the County of Devon, Sir John-William de la Pole (ed.), London, 1791, p.427, "Northwike".
- Risdon, Tristram (d.1640), Survey of Devon, 1811 edition, London, 1811, with 1810 Additions, p.290, "North Week".
- Baring-Gould, Sabine, "A Book of Dartmoor", 1907, pp.151-155
- Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, pp.825-7, pedigree of "Wykes of Northwyke"
References
- ↑ http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-94949-north-wyke-south-tawton-devon#.WGMOUX25Qqc
- ↑ Pevsner, p.605
- ↑ Pevsner, p.605
- ↑ Risdon, Tristram (d.1640), Survey of Devon, 1811 edition, London, 1811, with 1810 Additions, p.290
- ↑ 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
- ↑ Worthy
- ↑ Vivian, p.825, "took the name of his house".
- ↑ Worthy, Charles, Devonshire Wills: Wykes of North Wyke, 1896
- ↑ Worthy; Risdon, p.290
- ↑ Worthy
- ↑ Pevsner, Nikolaus & Cherry, Bridget, The Buildings of England: Devon, London, 2004, p.752
- ↑ 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
- ↑ Baring-Gould, p.151
- ↑ Baring-Gould, Book of Dartmoor, 1907, pp.151-155
- ↑ Baring-Gould, Sabine
- ↑ "The History of North Wyke"
- ↑ "The History of North Wyke"
Coordinates: 50°46′10″N 3°54′05″W / 50.7695°N 3.9013°W