[which appears from the Tax. Benef. above, to be the original name of the parish, and to have since had the name of the saint prefixed to it] from the manor of Uthno.
In the 3d of Henry IV. the heir of Mark de Walesbreu held two parts of a fee here, for Veno there is plainly a mistake for Uthno: since which time it has had the same lords as Whalesborough; the present lord of this manor being Sir John Trevelyan of Nettlecomb in Somersetshire, bart. as heir to that family.
THE EDITOR.
The church and the tower of this parish are small, but distinguished for their simple and neat appearance. They are situated with the church town in a valley opening to the sea. In the church is a plain memorial of Mr. Henry Davies, great-uncle to the editor, who died in 1737. Two of his relations, Mr. Davies father and son, were successive rectors of this parish, through the bounty of the Trevelyan family.
And it may be a matter of some curiosity to insert the oath administered a century ago to clergymen taking on themselves the office of Dean Rural, or Decanus Episcopus. The oath is now omitted, but the office itself has been uniformly preserved throughout the Diocese of Exeter, and this useful institution is revived in various parts of the kingdom.
The copy was found by the editor at Tredrea, his place in Cornwall, among other old papers.
TENOR JURAMENTI
Decani Episcopi, in Comitatu Cornubiæ et Diœcesi Exoniensi.
YOU GEORGE DAVIES shall swear, That you will well and truly execute the Office of DEAN RURAL,
within your Deanery, for the Year ensuing. You shall diligently, in the year, visit all Churches and Chapels within your Deanery; and also all Parsonage and Vicarage Houses. You shall make true Presentments of such Defaults, as you shall find therein; as also the defect of Books, Ornaments, Utensils, and other Furniture belonging to each Church. You shall observe the Manners and Conversation of your Brethren the Clergy; whom (if obnoxious) You shall admonish; and, if thereupon they shall not reform, You shall detect, and present them to The Ordinary; that they may be proceeded against according to Law. You shall, either by yourself or deputy, faithfully execute, or cause to be executed, all such processes and mandates, as shall be sent you from your Ordinary, and make true Returns of the same.