It is a vicarage, valued in the King’s Books at £10. 8s. 6d. The patronage in the Bishop of Exeter.
In the year 1291, the 20th of Edward the 1st, this church was valued at £13. 6s. 8d. having since been appropriated to the hospital of Bridgewater in Somersetshire.
THE EDITOR.
At the general dissolution, the tithes of this parish were valued at £5. 6s. 9½d. being a part of the ecclesiastical possessions of the hospital of St. John at Bridgewater.
The great tithes now belong to the family of Trefusis, through those of Walpole and Rolle.
This parish forms the north-eastern extremity of the county, and gives origin to the river Tamar, (Ta-more, the great water,) which flows to the south coast, there forming the superb harbour of Plymouth. The portion of Morewinstow adjoining to the Irish channel, partakes of the rugged grandeur common to this district. The church stands near the cliff, commanding a fine view of the sea. The building is large, containing several fine specimens of
gothic architecture. It is also decorated by monuments to the Kempthornes, Waddons, &c. Mr. Lysons states, that the principal villages in this parish are Coumbe, Crosstown, Eastcot, Gooseham, Hallabeer, Woolford, and Woolley.
He also states, that Stanbury, a seat and manor in this parish, belonged to a family of the same name, and gave birth to Richard Stanbury, Bishop of Hereford, who died in 1471. But Mr. Lysons seems to have fallen into an error respecting the Christian name of this individual, and also as to the year of his decease.
John Stanbury was confessor to King Henry the 6th, and made by him the first Provost of the College, which that unfortunate king founded at Eton in the 19th year of his reign, 1440-41. He was made Bishop of Bangor, May 4th, 1448, and translated from thence to Hereford, on the 7th of February, 1453, and died May the 11th, 1474. Little more seems to be known of this prelate, although he must have been a man of learning and of much consideration in his time, and one who may fairly be reckoned among the distinguished persons of the county. The property of the Stanburys passed to the family of Mannings, and has been subdivided among heiresses. The great tithes of this manor, and of some other lands in the parish, have been endowed on the vicarage.
Tonacombe belonged to a family said to have changed their name from Lea to Kempthorne, although the reason of their doing so is not known. The family resided there during several descents, till it passed by an heiress about a hundred and fifty years ago to the Waddons. It has again passed by a female descent, and is now the property of William Waddon Martyn, esq.