St George’s Church
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHURCH BUILDING
In the Ermington hundred of early times most of the population appears to have depended upon Plympton Priory for its religious services. Only distant areas had churches: locally there were the churches of St. Mary, Modbury, and Newton Ferrers. The Geld Roll of 1084 records that the church of St. Mary, Modbury, held one hide (ancient measurement of land of about 120 acres) of land free of geld, a form of tax. A simple church stood on this site, remains of which still exist in the lower two-thirds of the walls near the west tower.
A stone which was reused on the outside of the east wall of the south transept may be a Norman fragment.
The architecture of the church was considerably affected by the introduction of a small Benedictine priory which was built adjacent to the church in the early part of the twelfth century. In the latter half of the thirteenth century, the church of St. Mary was greatly extended in an easterly direction. The nave remained the parish church, while the monks carried out their regular services in the chancel or in their own chapel of St. George. From this time until 1348, when the Black Death brought all construction work to a standstill everywhere, there was much building progress.
By then the three-bay arcades of the nave with north and south aisles, the transepts, chancel, south porch, tower and its broach spire, were all in place. The head of a window with a pointed arch can be traced above the present window in the south transept. The nave roof was barrel-shaped, while the narrow aisle roofs were flat. The line of the former south aisle can be seen where the inner wall of the south porch extends into the church, and also outside, as indicated in the wall at the southwest corner which still has its corbel table.
The area of the original chancel has been obscured by the fifteenth-century building work east of the crossing, notably the granite arches and piers and additions of north and south chapels. The site of the former screen is indicated by the rood staircase on the north side of the church, this is compatible with the position of the high arch revealed during recent repair works above the chancel arch. We can visualize an older shorter chancel once extending eastwards form this point, having no side chapels, and transepts with solid walls on their east side.
Local tradition remembers the doorway in the north transept as the “Prior’s Doorway”, the most elaborately decorated of the fifteenth-century doorways on the north side of the church.
By 1438 the priory buildings were in a bad state, and a grant was made to the Prior for their reconstruction. The arches of the nave arcades were altered, although they rest on old piers which are at present decorated to resemble squared stones.
In the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries the chancel was enlarged in stages, the chancel arch widened, the granite piers erected and the aisles extended, giving the three-gabled roof typical of Westcountry churches. The old undercroft was closed and a new vestry built under the chancel. Later, medieval tiles were found above the old undercroft. The windows of the chancel are perpendicular, except for the east window, which has been replaced by one in the style known as Gothic revival.
There is a stairway which once led to the top of the rood screen. Galleries were erected in 1716. Those at the side were for the use of the troop of cavalry which occupied the Barracks at Modbury in the eighteenth century and throughout the Napoleonic wars. The west gallery was used by the bellringers, the school children and the church musicians. The galleries were removed when the church was restored and reseated in 1848.
The Early English south porch has a turret with stairs which once gave access to a parvise, or upper chamber; although this upper chamber no longer exists, the top door and window remain.
The last remnant of the chamber over the porch was taken away in the mid-nineteenth century. The winding staircase within the octagonal turret which led to this room is in perfect order.
MODBURY PRIORY
The history of Modbury church is inseparable from that of the small priory which was established in the early part of the twelfth century. The original church of St. Mary of Modbury and its lands, as mentioned in the 1084 Geld Roll, were given to an abbey in Normandy: a deed of c.1140 states that Roger de Valletort ‘confirmed the gift which Radulf, his paternal uncle, and Rainald, his father, made to the Abbey and the monks of Modbury concerning the church of Modbury and all things pertaining to that same church. The patronage passed by marriage from the Valletorts through the Okestons to the Champernownes.
The priory, normally consisting of a prior and two monks was a cell of the Benedictine Abbey of St. Pierre-sur-Dives. Its main function was to administer the lands and revenues belonging to Modbury church, and to send the proceeds to the mother-house. Such priories came to be known as ‘alien’ priories. Local landowners gave gifts of money and land, timber for building, and permission to construct a sluice for the priory mill at Swanbridge. In 1275 the prior was granted the water from a spring now known as Silver Well. The monks diverted it to the priory through a series of channels and culverts.
During the time of the priory religious worship at Modbury involved two communities and two ecclesiastical buildings. The parishioners attended services in the church of St. Mary, and were cared for by a vicar. Elsewhere in the churchyard, perhaps linked to the parish church, was the priory chapel of St. George. The parishioners were only allowed to enter this to present their offerings on St. George’s Day. The priory was also responsible for the upkeep of the chancel of the parish church.
In 1188-90 the Bishop of Exeter, John the Chanter, allowed the monks to have a chaplain. He was to be maintained wholly by them, and they were responsible for his living arrangements.
The first reference to a vicar is in Modbury Charter No. 11 dated 1250, in which Yves of Modbury, gives a burgage in the town to the priory. This property could be the site of the Church House, which later became the Bell Inn, now No. 3 Broad Street. It was not until 1269 following the edict of Bishop Bronescombe, that the living of the vicar was regularised, as set out in Modbury Charter No. 14:
… By assigning to him (the vicar) all the greater and lesser tithes of the vill of Leigh, and besides, a third part of the proceeds and incomes of the greater and lesser tithes of the whole parish, with the exception of the greater and lesser tithes of the vill of Pencoyt – also with the exception of the offerings of St. George’s Day, also the offerings and wax candles from the churching of women. And with the exception of the mill and the prior’s consecrated ground which he cultivates with his own hands – provided that the same vicar possesses as habitation a certain croft next to the prior’s garden towards the west containing seven and a half acres, and for this he pays annually 7 shillings to the said prior and is responsible for all the ordinary burdens of the church that are due and customary.
In 1331 a declaration by John Grandisson, Bishop of Exeter, pronounced the Abbots of St. Pierre-sur-Dives ‘the rightful possessors of the parish church, saving always the bishop’s right of appointing the vicar’, following nomination by the prior.
Domestic chapels associated with the church at the time of the priory were St. Leonard’s at Little Modbury, St. Margaret’s at Penquit, and St. Mary’s at Ludbrook. In the church itself were the transept chapel of St. Peter and, in the south part of the building, a chantry chapel or chapels, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. John the Baptist.
MEDIEVAL STRIFE
There were many disagreements between the Vicar and the Prior, as can be seen in the Priory records now at Eton College. On July 23, 1289, an ordinance was made regarding the keys and opening of the door of the chapel of St. George, as follows: ‘that the door be opened only on Mass and Feast days and on these days and on no others, in the presence of wardens to be appointed by the said Prior and Vicar there at the time, the lesser tithes to be brought in by the parishioners into the same chapel according to the custom practised until now, but on other days, because of the integrity of a monastic order and in order that in this part of the matter all sinister suspicion of wrong doing may be avoided, we instruct that it be always closed unless the patron be present, and for him out of respect for his patronage we wish the same door to be opened by the Prior’s and Vicar’s keys whenever he wishes to enter the same chapel to worship. Nevertheless with the proviso that on the aforesaid Mass and Feast days, when mass is being celebrated or the word of the Lord is being preached in the parish church of the Blessed Mary, where parishioners come together to hear divine service, there be no way open into the chapel for those parishioners, so that then they may be free to focus more carefully on the service in the parish church itself and attend’.
This ordinance also states ‘all doors around the church to have two separate locks, each having different wards: one key with the Vicar, one with the Prior’.
In 1336 an order was issued prohibiting the burial of any bodies on the north side of Modbury church. It appears that the parishioners were purposely annoying the prior by polluting the air under his windows while burying their dead. Another recorded argument concerned John de Michel, Prior, and William Dalton, Vicar, as to whose duty it was to strew the church floor with straw. Thomas, Bishop of Exeter, awarded a third part of the duty to the vicar, and two-thirds to the prior.
During the Hundred Years War the alien priories were often seized into the hands of the king, who then claimed the revenues. Queen Joan, the King’s consort, was awarded the revenues in 1409. The arguments continued until the time of the last prior, William Benselyn, who protested against molestation afte4r being given a licence by the vicar to hold divine service in the Chapel of St. Margaret, Penquit.
At the time of the suppression of alien priories, 1441, Modbury Priory was granted to Eton College by Henry VI, although William Benselyn stayed as lessee for life. He lived on until at least 1479. The Provost and Fellows became the patrons and presented the vicars until 1967. The College is still responsible for the ancient day of keeping the chancel end of the church ‘water and wind proof’.
LOOKING AROUND THE CHURCH
On entering the church and looking up the nave towards the chancel the immediate impression is of light and space at the east end. This is due largely to the elegance of the slender granite columns and the wider arcades of the crossing and chancel in contrast to the narrower nave with its somewhat stocky masonry piers. The effect is augmented by the light from the clear glass of the windows of the chancel aisles and transepts and complimented by the barrel ceilings.
MEMORIALS
High up at the eastern end of the nave is a most striking memorial. It shows seven figures – a father with two sons kneeling and, behind them, the wife supported by three daughters, all kneeling. The inscription above the figures reads ‘
“Anne y wife of Nich: Downey daughter of Thom: Bradley of Lincolne Esqe. Died 1639.”
There are two monuments to the Swete family of Traine. One, a recently repainted mural monument in the north aisle is to John, son of John Swete of Traine and Loveday his wife. He was of Exeter College, Oxford and died 22 August 1690 aged 25 years. The other is to Rev. John Swete, late of Traine, who died 2 August 1695.
Traine was conveyed in 1262 by the Abbey of St. Pierre-sur-Dives, the motherhouse of the Modbury Priory, to William de Arboribus. In the second half of the fifteenth century it was owned by the Scoos family, from whom it was inherited by the Swetes in about 1520.
In the north transept, the Orcheton aisle, there is a canopied recess within a square frame dated from the fourteenth century, decorated with heads and foliage. Supporting the arch are two demi-figure grotesques, and lying on the slab within are two mutilated figures. The male figure is that of a knight, and the lady is shown wearing flowing robes; their head-coverings suggest they are late thirteenth century. They are believed to represent members of the Prideaux family. At the back of the recess, which was restored by Mr Prideaux-Brune of Prideaux Place, Padstow, is a small quatrefoil window which contains the Prideaux arms.
The ancient Modbury seat of this family was Orcheton. Early in the thirteenth century Geoffry de Pridyas was married to Isabella, daughter and heir of John de Orcharton, and so began a long Prideaux family connection with Orcheton: fifteen generations in all. One of the family, Roger Prideyas, was Sheriffe of Devon in 1271, 1272 and 1273, a position also attained by his great-grandson, Sir Roger Prideaux, Knight in 1340. Another Sir Roger de Pridias was a Knight of the Shire of Devon in 1331, and Sir John Prideaux was a Knight of the Shire in 1383 and 1387.
The well carved, but somewhat defaced alabaster figure of Sir John Champernowne, 1457-1503 lies in a canopied recess in the south transept. His Yorkist sympathies can be deduced from the white roses carved in the collar and sword belt. He was knighted at the marriage of Prince Arthur to Catherine of Aragon, and spent much of his time at his Oxfordshire manor of Aston Rowant, probably in order to be near the royal court. However he wished to be buried at Modbury, which had been the family seat since 1323.
The feet of this figure are broken off, reputedly by Cromwell’s soldiers who ‘stabled their horses in the church and destroyed everything on which they could lay their hands’.
Outside the canopied recesses are two stone coffin covers. One records the burials of Agnes and Jane Willing; the other is decorated with a cross on steps, known as a calvary, a style which was popular in the thirteeth century.
The effigy in the other south transept recess has never been identified, though it must commemorate one who had important associations with Modbury church in medieval times, perhaps a patron. The head-covering indicates that this is the effigy of a knight who lived before 1300.
The slate memorial which now stands against the wall of the south chancel aisle commemorates Philip Champernowne who died in 1684 and his daughter, Margaret who died in 1715. The motto “Duriora Virtus” can be translated as “strength through endurance”. The coat of arms is based on that devised by Sir Richard Champernowne in about 1606 in pursuit of a claim against the estate of the Blount family. The Champernowne crest of an ostrich holding a horseshoe ahs on either side a “sun in splendour, charged with an eye”. This was one of the crests of the Blounts. The heraldic ostrich has a unique reputation for ingesting metallic objects, and this was probably taken from the crest of the Ferrers of Bere Ferrers. The shield is badly erodes as a result of the slate being set in the floor but twenty quarterings can be made out.
The Champernowne family originally came from Normandy, and inherited the Modbury estate in 1323. Later marriages added further possessions, and by early 15th century there was also a London establishment. The Champernownes supported the yorkist cause in the War of the Roses, but they were influential, nevertheless, in the court of Henry VIII, and were involved in the upbringing of Princess Elizabeth. During the reign of Queen Elizabeth, Katherine Champernowne, married to Otho Gilbert, was the mother of Sir Humphrey Gilbert, who founded the first colony in Newfoundland, and the mother of Sir Walter Raleigh by her second husband.
The family lived at Modbury House, which must have been a splendid mansion during the Tudor period, after being fortified by Richard Champernowne in 1334. Later, the hose was severely damaged during the Civil War in both the battles of Modbury.
The south chancel chapel and the south transept together form Modbury House aisle.
In the vestry upon the wall is the cover of a former tombchest. “Here lieth Master Oliver Hill Esquire who died the 26t day of December in the year of Christ 1573”. At that time it was recumbent and bears the date 1661 upside down, probably engraved when the slab was placed against the wall. The inscription takes the form of an alliterative poem:
“O wandering wights, whose way lies now to pass by this same tomb,
Let stay your steps, survey this verse and think on time to come;
Inclosed in chest his carcase lies that erst inclosed a mind,
Unto his appointed rest that’s fled, whose like were hard to find.
Emongst the mazy multitude of mortal men that be,
Regarding righteousness so much or lothing vice as he;
Having a will in all respect to make his word his deed,
In friendship’s facts no man more frank to aid his friend in need;
Learn you to leave your lawless lusts and fancies fond to fly,
Learn by his godly life to live and quiet death to die.
Of ancestors he did descend that famous were for skill,
For judgment just, for will, for wealth, their glory growth yet still;
Such hap had Hill such to succeed and prices’ praise possess,
His pains in court and toil in wars deserved indeed no less.
It’s hard for men to leave their lusts possessing worldly pelf,
Lo yet, did Hill renounce them quite and quite forsake himself;
Long looking for a better life by faith in Christ to take,
Each reader too I wish the like by death exchange to make.
Sithe riches fade and form and strength and honour eke and lust,
‘Twere best by life a place provide ere thou return to dust;
O mortal man that canst not ‘scape death’s dreadful darting stings,
Nor certain knowst concerning life where certain end do brings.”
There is an acrostic here, the first letter of each line forming the words Oliver Hill of Shilleston.
A reminder of the importance of the wool trade in Modbury is a marble floor slab in the chancel commemorating Humphrey Shinner, a mercer, in 1695. His widow, Temperance Garland, died the following year.
On the wall of the south chancel aisle is a funeral hatchment. Hatchments, until fairly late in the nineteenth century, were displayed at first floor level over porch or doorway on the walls of the house of a dead man or woman. The hatchment symbolised status and achievement, and was a funeral custom started in Jacobean times. After six months or a year the hatchment would be transferred to the parish church.
If the left half of the ground is black, and the other half white, the hatchment was for a wife; if the reverse, it denoted a married man. Single people had wholly black grounds with various differences. The Modbury hatchment is probably early 19th century and is believed to commemorate the death of a female descendant of the Hele family.
The motto “Deo adjuvante vincam” (I shall conquer with God helping) is seen below the arms: Quarterly I and IV Bigbury (Azure an eagle displayed Or) over all an Escutcheon (Gules a bend lozengy Ermine) for Hele; II and III Quarterly I and iv (Argent a lion rampant Gules), ii and iii Azure – all impaling Gules a bend lozengy Ermine (Hele).
In the south transept is a pointed trefoil-headed piscine with a scalloped bowl and a drain. Its purpose is to receive the water in which the priest washes the sacred vessels used at Mass, and its position denotes that there was once an altar nearby.
THE SPIRE
The spire similar to the thirteenth century example at Sheviock, is 134’ in height. It is a broach, one that does not rise from within parapets, instead the four-sided tower turns into an octagonal spire by way of four small structures called squinches. Although one record shows that the upper portion of the spire was rebuilt after being struck by lightning in 1621, its style is no later than fourteenth century. It must have been a prominent landmark by the year 1328, at which time it was recorded that the boundary of Plympton stannary was defined as ‘a wedge of land adjoining Plymouth in the west, and on the east by a line from Crockern Tor, through Modbury steeple to Burgh Island’.
THE OLD WEATHERCOCK
The old copper weathercock is to be found at the far west end of the south aisle, beyond the porch. Pricked on the ‘tail feathers’ are the names R. Paige, S. Wroth, Churchwardens 1790, and on the reverse G. Paddon. N. Preston. The Paddons were clockmakers in Modbury, and made this weathercock of hand-beaten copper and riveted brass. It was replaced in 1884 by the present weathercock, which was regilded to celebrate its centenary year.
THE STOUP
The stoup for holy water is contemporary with parts of the south porch. Its position inside the south door shows the original width of the aisle.
THE OLD CLOCK
The old church clock is mentioned in the Churchwardens’ accounts:
1666 One hower glass 1s. 3d
1704 New clock bought of Ambrose Hawkins of Exeter £18.0s.0d
1733 Two cwts. of lead for weight for clock at 16s.6d per cwt. £1.13s.0d
1903 For winding clock 12 months (30 hours) £1.10s.0d
A letter from the Rev. J Scott, Vicar of Newton St. Cyres, gives the history of our old church clock.
The clock is extremely interesting. It was made by Ambrose Hawkins of Exeter in 1705, and bears his name engraved in the top front rail of the frame, thus – ‘Ambrose Hawkins de Exon. Fecit 1705’. The frame is wrought iron with brass wheels. It is a typical early 18th century turret-clock, somewhat bigger than most, with neat mouldings and scroll finials on the corner posts. What is specially interesting about it is that Ambrose Hawkins also made a clock for St. Saviour’s Dartmouth in 1705, and this one is virtually identical with it. The dimensions are the same within less than half an inch, and the arrangement of the wheels and mechanism is all just the same. The Dartmouth clock, however has the name of the Mayor engraved on it as well as the maker’s name and date in the same form as here.
One might guess that Hawkins, having a contract to make the Dartmouth clock, made another at the same time as a speculation, and subsequently sold it to Modbury: hence the absence of the names of the churchwardens on the Modbury clock, and hence also the reason why Hawkins had to come back the following year to modify the clock at Modbury and make it go for 24 hours; evidently he had not designed it specifically for the tower, or he would have designed the trains to suit the distance available for the fall of the weights.
THE EAST WINDOW
There are several memorials to the Rev. Nutcombe Oxenham who was Vicar of Modbury from 1834 to 1859, also a Prebendary of Exeter Cathedral for 25 years. These include the sedilia and the Victorian Gothic east window. The subjects depicted in the main window lights are St Augustine; Moses separating the Israelite and the Egyptian; the Last Supper; Our Lord preaching; St. George, the patron saint. The window which preceded this one is illustrated in the painting of the church by Miss Charlotte Stackhouse c 1830, which hangs at the west end of the nave.
THE PULPIT
Panels from the former rood screen, some carved with flamboyant tracery, have been incorporated in the pulpit, and assembled in a style which is characteristic of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
THE GREEN MAN
Among the roof bosses of the nave, most of them decorated with shields or leaves, is a representation of the Green Man. In common with similar heads of the of the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries, foliage grows out of his eyes, ears and nostrils. Facial expressions vary from one example to another: sometimes sad, sometimes angry, and sometimes genial and happy, as this Green Man is portrayed. He represents nature and the cyclical pattern of the natural world, and was a favourite subject of medieval woodcarvers.
THE BELLS
Modbury bells have been described by a good authority as one of the two best rings of six in Devon. The bells were cast in 1806 by Thomas Bilbie at Cullompton. Their first ringing was thus described by Philip Light, one of the Churchwardens:
1806 December 21st. Modbury Bells was runged this day at Cullompton being six bells and thought to be a good Peal of Bells, rung in the presence of Robert Horswell Re Paige, Phillip Light and William Horswell when all four dined with Mr Brutton Vicar of Cullompton that day being Sunday and the shortest day in the year and was entertained by the said Vicar had Rump of Beef roasted and a Shoulder of Pork for dinner with wine and other liquors after to make use of.
Today, after tuning at John Taylor’s Loughborough foundry in 1938, the bells weigh:
1st bell 748 lbs C#
2nd bell 822 lbs B
3rd bell 849 lbs A
4th bell 1042 lbs G
5th bell 1346 lbs F#
6th bell 2007 lbs E
The cost of the new bells in 1806 was £276.0.3. Thomas Bilbie used the metal of five bells formerly in the tower, which were almost useless, some being split or cracked, with the addition of 1179 lbs. of bell metal at 180d per lb. These five bells had been cost by Thomas Pennington in 1621. He also had used the metal of existing bells, four in number. Of the origin of these four, nothing is known. Perhaps they were as old as the tower itself which was built before 1328.
The inscriptions on the bells in 1806 were:
- Unius animus est onus ombibus 1624
- Fili dei Miserere mei T.P. 1621
- Thomas Coyte and John Kelland C.W.P. 1760*
- Ad ecclesiam vivos convoco ad sepulcra mortuos
- Let our voys sound forth the praise of God Richard Champernowne Knight Thomas Pennington the 12thMarch 1621 Haec quinque compana fabricavit.
- this bell was recast 1760
We once were four but death did us confound Art made five in concordant musick sound God grant our founder stil may so afre That nought disturb their harmony.
An old rhyme quoted by George Andrews Cawse in his book, Modbury 1860 reads:
Hark to Modbury bells,
How they do quiver.
Better than Ermington’
Down by the river.
The bells today are regularly rung by a lively team of ringers for church services. During the Commonwealth period, after the Civil War, bell ringing for church services was banned, although the ringers were allowed to ring for their own pleasure. An extract from a copy of “The Ringing World” reveals their use in a wider field:
A disagreement between the Vicar and bellringers occurred in May 1885 in Modbury, Devon. The Vicar, Rev. G.C. Green, demanded the return of the belfry key from Mr Berring, who had been captain of the ringers for 27 years, because the ringers refused to ring for services on Sunday although they were present in the belfry. It transpired that the ringers had requested permission to ring for the arrival of the local Conservative candidate who was, incidentally, a generous contributor to their funds. They added that they would also ring for the Liberal candidate when he arrived the following week. The Vicar refused, saying that he would not let the bells be rung for any type of political demonstration. The ringers were upset and instead of ringing they chimed for 3 services the following Sunday. They maintained that, according to their rules, they could either chime or ring as they wished. They claimed that they had the majority of villagers behind them, whilst the Vicar said that the influential inhabitants supported him. The latter won, of course, and the bells remained silent.
THE THREE FONTS
The marble font of eighteenth century design is the one now used for baptisms, and is the one illustrated.
At the west end of the south aisle stands the font moved from the Brownston chapel of ease when services were discontinued there. For the Easter Day services at Brownston this font was filled to the brim with eggs, a marvellous sight.
The font now sited outside the church, at the south east corner was recently recovered from a Torbay garden. Its octagonal shape and shield design point to a late fifteenth century date. It was used for baptisms at Modbury church until it was replaced in the eighteenth century.
THE ORGAN
The organ in Modbury Church dates from 1873 and was built by Foster and Andrews of Hull. It is a splendid instrument, with two manuals, pedal organ and some excellent stops. The organ is tracker action and has retained its original mechanism.
In 1928 the organ was restored and removed from the Lady Chapel to its present position. An electric blower was installed in 1945. Further restoration took place in 1957, when the keyboards were replaced. The pedal organ was made pneumatic at this time. The organ was restored again in 1980 in memory of Miss Betty Coyte at a cost of £7,000, after which a recital was given by John Bowden organist of St. Andrew’s, Plymouth. For 40 years until 1916 Alfred Davis, a distinguished blind organist, played the organ. Recent notable occasions include recitals given in 1975 by Dr Allan Wicks, C.B.E., Organist and Master of the choristers at Canterbury Cathedral, and by Paul Morgan, sub-organist of Exeter Cathedral, during the 1984 Garnishing Festival.
THE CHURCH HOUSE
The Church House was in Broad Street. Church houses were maintained by the churchwardens, and were meeting places where parishioners could partake of strong beer brewed from gifts of malt. Some of the costs of parish churches were met by these Church Ales, which were forerunners of the church fete or bazaar. The Puritans objected to the merrymaking, dancing, bowling and shoorting which could occur in them, and within a hundred years most of them had disappeared. Usually they became alehouses, as was the case in Modbury.
The Church House became the Bell Inn when the bell which hung above the Yarn Market was transferred there at the time of the demolition of the market. At the beginning of the nineteenth century it was let, with its garden, on a lease of three lives at a rent of 13s.4d per annum. At the expiration of the lease it was sold for £500.
THE OLD VICARAGE
The following description of the Vicarage and Glebe comes from Devon Parishes by Fursdon:
Modbury 1680. Terrear of ye Gleab land and houses. There is of meadow grounds two acres, of arable four acres, an orchard containing half an acre, two gardens, in all about seven acres of ground, all wch. Inviron ye house (which) hath a Hall with a windscot at ye upper end thereof, a parlour, a kitching, a dairy, two sellers, a buttery, nine chambers, two closets. Also there is a large barn covered with shindle stones, a stable, a pound house, two wood houses. Towards ye reparation of wch. I have layd out a hundred and fitie pounds to wch. I subscribe myself
John Frodsham, vicar, John Foxworthy, William Pottell, churchwardens.
HARVEST HOME AT THE VICARAGE
Excerpts from ‘Memories of a Modbury Man’ by Rev. Charles E Green, 1867-1950
There was a large and good choir at the Church, and practically every man in it played a brass instrument and some of them a stringed instrument also. The service was always in the afternoon, and the men brought their instruments into Church with them. There was a special preacher and a large congregation, many nonconformists attending on that occasion. Then after the conclusion of the service, the congregation remained in their places while the band collected their instruments, and formed up outside, and we all finally marched behind them down to the Vicarage, friends of the band carrying their stringed instruments. I remember now the tune to which we marched – it was always the same – called ‘Woodland echoes’, and we used to sing words to it:
You talk about your music, the sweetest song to me,
Is to hear the little birds asinging on the tree.
When we arrived at the Vicarage, the brass instruments were put away, the strings produced, and the music stands set up, and we danced! We did dance. The lawn was on a slope, and we polka-d or mazurka-d ~ I don’t know whether that is the way to spell it ~ down the hill as hard as we could go and then, holding hands, ran up to the top again, and da capo. Then on the level at the bottom we would have country dances, Swedish, Sir Roger, etc., etc., until tea-time.
Tea was at long tables set out on the gravel in front of the house, and had to be taken by sections, so some of us went on dancing while the first section had their tea, and so on until the band came to have theirs.
Those who did not want to dance found plenty to do and to see and to talk about, and all managed to enjoy themselves; and those who did dance went at it again after tea until nine o’clock, when the strings were put away, the brass instruments produced once more, and ‘God save the Queen’ announced that another Harvest Home was ended.
ST GEORGE
George, Martyr and Patron Saint of England, may have been a soldier who suffered at Lydda in Palestine. He died circa A.D. 303, and has been known in this country since the 7th to 8th centuries, taking on new dimensions for England during the Crusades. A vision of SS George and Demetrius appeared at the siege of Antioch on the first crusade. Later Richard I placed himself and his army under the protection of George, who became the special patron of soldiers. His patronage extends not only to soldiers, but also to knights, archers, armourers and husbandmen. In England over 160 ancient churches and several new ones are dedicated to him.
The first mention of Modbury Church having a connection with St George is in the Cartulary of Modbury Priory when, within the dates 1163-71, Radulf de Valletort grants and confirms the charter of his father, Roger de Valletort, ‘concerning the church of the Blessed George the Martyr of Modbury and all things belonging to that church’.
Modbury Fair, previously known as St. George’s Fair, has been revived, but adheres to the old calendar and is held in the first week of May, whereas the Church celebrates its patronal festival on April 23rd.
The following story of St. George and the dragon became popular in the west when The Golden Legend was translated and printed by Caxton:
The dragon, a local pest which terrorized the whole country, poisoned with its breath all who approached it. Every day it was appeased by an offering of two sheep, but when these grew scarce a human victim, chosen by lot, was to be sacrificed instead. The lot had fallen upon the king’s daughter, who went to her fate dressed as a bride. But George attached the dragon, pierced it with his lance and led it captive with the girdle of the princess. George told the people not to be afraid: if they would believe in Jesus Christ and be baptized he would rid them of this monster. The king and people agreed: George killed the dragon and 15,000 men were baptized. George would take no reward, but asked the king to maintain churches and show compassion to the poor.
THE CHURCHYARD
Decorated churchyard slate headstone, in memory of some of the Doleman family, 1760, which is to be found against the wall of the north chancel chapel. Next to it is a memorial to Mr William Collins, the Puritan Minister of the Commonwealth period. Located elsewhere in the churchyard are monuments to clothiers, bankers, land agents, lawyers and physicians, all members of eminent Modbury families.
Together with other Westcountry parish churchyards, Modbury has its fair share of eighteenth and nineteenth century slate headstones. Slate of this quality provides an ideal medium for incised carving and these stones demonstrate well the history of lettering. The stone beside the path to the west of the tower uses an italic script which is unusual at the early date of 1716. They layout is typical with split words and the ‘y’ of Humphery added above. With the advent of the copper plate in the middle of the eighteenth century more and more elaborated initial letters formed the decoration at the head of the stone.
When ‘Whacky’ Davis, the wheelwright, tried to hand the gate he had made, he found it would not fit because of the granite ball on the gatepost. Instead of altering the gate he took his hatched and hacked a slice from the offending right hand ball.
KNOWN PRIORS OF MODBURY
| H. dictus Anglicus | 1140-1143 |
| William | 1143-1166 |
| Durandus | 1180-1200 |
| Laurence | 1190-1215 |
| Ralph | 1213-1225 |
| Geoffrey | -1240 |
| Richard | 1240-1244 |
| William de Courcy | 1260-1274 |
| William de Sagio | 1274 |
| Vincent de Fulchis | 1275-1285 |
| Stephen | 1290 |
| Robert Treward | 1294-1302 |
| William de Nova Mansione | 1305-1321 |
| Nicholas la Barbe | 1321-1324 |
| Gervase | c.1325 |
| William de Warren | 1334 |
| Nicholas | 1339 |
| John de Fovea | Inst.1345 |
| John Galterus | Inst.1349 |
| Robert de Curia | Inst.1351 |
| Philip Furnarii | Inst.1362 |
| Gilbert de Billeyo | |
| John de Michel | Inst.1370 |
| John Roger | Inst.1399 |
| Richard Leycestre | Inst.1407 |
| William Fauchilon | Inst.1416 |
| Adam de Pratellis | Inst.1423 |
| William Benselyn | Inst .1430 |
VICARS OF MODBURY
| Yves | C.1250 |
| Sir Robert | 1331 |
| Nicholas Sampson | 1343 |
| John Moulish | 1369 |
| John Chopard | 1369 |
| Gilbert Quyntvelle | 1375 |
| William Dalton | 1381 |
| Henry Knyghte | 1383 |
| Henry Alkebarowe | 1406 |
| William Browning | 1407 |
| Thomas Baker | 1430 |
| John Smyth | 1474 |
| Richard Blenkinsopp | 1478 |
| Thomas Laury | 1488 |
| Henry Myn | 1493 |
| Thomas Southern | 1517 |
| John Hunte | 1524 |
| Augustine Cross | 1552 |
| Oliver Stonidge | 1554 |
| John Mekyns | 1559 |
| Robert Booth | 1574 |
| Samuel Heiron | 1599 |
| Robert Halsworth | 1617 |
| Henry Bagley | 1633 |
| John Hall | 1660 |
| Thomas Spurway | 1661 |
| John Fordsham | 1668 |
| Thomas Hill | 1686 |
| Edward Batty | 1694 |
| George Baker | 1715 |
| Robert Parr | 1772 |
| William Baker | 1775 |
| James Pett | 1792 |
| William Stackhouse | 1798 |
| George Romney Green | 1834 |
| Nutcombe Oxenham | 1834 |
| George Clark Green | 1859 |
| John Edward Champernown | 1910 |
| Matthew Graham Leadbitter | 1921 |
| Archibald Calder | 1927 |
| Hugh Stanley Read | 1943 |
| Lesley Bloom Hutchings | 1967 |
| William Gordon Howells | 1980 |
| John Spensley Cole | 1987 |
| Robert Campbell Smith | |
| Neil Barker |