Spitchwick is an historic estate situated within the parish of Widecombe-in-the-Moor , Devon. The present 19th century mansion house known as Spitchwick Manor is situated four miles north-west of Ashburton , the gardens of which are open to the paying public.
82-595: Holne is a village and civil parish on the southeastern slopes of Dartmoor in Devon , England. A community has existed here since at least the 11th century, and today a population of around 250 people is served by a church and a public house , the Church House Inn. The Church of St Mary the Virgin was built circa 1300, and was enlarged early in the 16th century. Around this time a carved and painted rood screen
164-522: A London borough . (Since the new county was beforehand a mixture of metropolitan boroughs , municipal boroughs and urban districts, no extant parish councils were abolished.) In 1974, the Local Government Act 1972 retained rural parishes, but abolished most urban parishes, as well as the urban districts and boroughs which had administered them. Provision was made for smaller urban districts and boroughs to become successor parishes , with
246-515: A Special Expense, to residents of the unparished area to fund those activities. If the district council does not opt to make a Special Expenses charge, there is an element of double taxation of residents of parished areas, because services provided to residents of the unparished area are funded by council tax paid by residents of the whole district, rather than only by residents of the unparished area. Parish councils comprise volunteer councillors who are elected to serve for four years. Decisions of
328-576: A boundary coterminous with an existing urban district or borough or, if divided by a new district boundary, as much as was comprised in a single district. There were 300 such successor parishes established. In urban areas that were considered too large to be single parishes, the parishes were simply abolished, and they became unparished areas . The distinction between types of parish was no longer made; whether parishes continued by virtue of being retained rural parishes or were created as successor parishes, they were all simply termed parishes. The 1972 act allowed
410-595: A change of mind as to location, in his case from Tor Mohun to Haldon. He was at first "struck with the beauty and grandeur of the spot (i.e. of Sandridge) and...then express'd an intention of raising an house on it that should be more worthy than the present of the situation". This then existing house at Sandridge was the former seat of the Gilbert family formerly of Compton Castle in the parish of Marldon . Although Dunning changed his mind and built at Spitchwick instead, after his death in 1783 his widow in 1805 finally built
492-477: A city council (though most cities are not parishes but principal areas, or in England specifically metropolitan boroughs or non-metropolitan districts ). The chairman of a town council will have the title "town mayor" and that of a parish council which is a city will usually have the title of mayor . When a city or town has been abolished as a borough, and it is considered desirable to maintain continuity of
574-462: A city council. According to the Department for Communities and Local Government , in England in 2011 there were 9,946 parishes. Since 1997 around 100 new civil parishes have been created, in some cases by splitting existing civil parishes, but mostly by creating new ones from unparished areas. Parish or town councils have very few statutory duties (things they are required to do by law) but have
656-559: A city was Hereford , whose city council was merged in 1998 to form a unitary Herefordshire . The area of the city of Hereford remained unparished until 2000 when a parish council was created for the city. As another example, the charter trustees for the City of Bath make up the majority of the councillors on Bath and North East Somerset Council. Civil parishes cover 35% of England's population, with one in Greater London and few in
738-440: A civil parish is usually an elected parish council (which can decide to call itself a town, village, community or neighbourhood council, or a city council if the parish has city status). Alternatively, in parishes with small populations (typically fewer than 150 electors) governance may be by a parish meeting which all electors may attend; alternatively, parishes with small populations may be grouped with one or more neighbours under
820-481: A civil parish which has no parish council, the parish meeting may levy a council tax precept for expenditure relating to specific functions, powers and rights which have been conferred on it by legislation. In places where there is no civil parish ( unparished areas ), the administration of the activities normally undertaken by the parish becomes the responsibility of the district or borough council. The district council may make an additional council tax charge, known as
902-586: A common parish council. Wales was also divided into civil parishes until 1974, when they were replaced by communities , which are similar to English parishes in the way they operate. Civil parishes in Scotland were abolished for local government purposes by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929 ; the Scottish equivalent of English civil parishes are the community council areas established by
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#1732797840215984-536: A distant relative of his great-uncle by marriage Edward Gould (d.1675), and who himself inherited the Gould manor of Lew Trenchard , which otherwise would have been part of Dunning's estate, called Spitchwick an "ugly house" and in his largely unflattering biography suggested that Lord Ashburton had "like the cuckoo , kick(ed the Gould family) out of their nest and gather(ed) all their property into his own hands. He made great improvements by planting woodland and enlarged
1066-451: A farm called "Park", to which shortly after his acquisition he had "added a room or two". This was the origin of the mansion house, later known as "Spitchwick Park", which he subsequently built. Lord Ashburton was born at nearby Ashburton , the son of a local attorney of modest yeoman family, and had an eminent career as a lawyer and Member of Parliament , rising to the office of Solicitor-General in 1768. As Solicitor-General he acquired
1148-600: A game of cards in which he had lost "every guinea he had about him", he rode off, put a black mask over his face as a highwayman , waylaid the winner of the game and shot him dead. That Edward Gould was a very distant relative of Dunning's, and Dunning defended him successfully at his ensuing murder trial in about 1768. (Dunning's great-aunt Margaret Dunning (d.1662), whose monumental brass survives in Staverton Church, married (as his first wife) Edward Gould (1637-1675) of Pridhamsleigh, Staverton, who by his second wife
1230-529: A new code. In either case the code must comply with the Nolan Principles of Public Life . A parish can be granted city status by the Crown . As of 2020 , eight parishes in England have city status, each having a long-established Anglican cathedral: Chichester , Ely , Hereford , Lichfield , Ripon , Salisbury , Truro and Wells . The council of an ungrouped parish may pass a resolution giving
1312-431: A new smaller manor, there was a means of making a chapel which, if generating or endowed with enough funds, would generally justify foundation of a parish, with its own parish priest (and in latter centuries vestry ). This consistency was a result of canon law which prized the status quo in issues between local churches and so made boundary changes and sub-division difficult. The consistency of these boundaries until
1394-682: A parish (a "detached part") was in a different county . In other cases, counties surrounded a whole parish meaning it was in an unconnected, "alien" county. These anomalies resulted in a highly localised difference in applicable representatives on the national level , justices of the peace , sheriffs, bailiffs with inconvenience to the inhabitants. If a parish was split then churchwardens, highway wardens and constables would also spend more time or money travelling large distances. Some parishes straddled two or more counties, such as Todmorden in Lancashire and Yorkshire. Spitchwick As listed in
1476-416: A parish council, and instead will only have a parish meeting : an example of direct democracy . Alternatively several small parishes can be grouped together and share a common parish council, or even a common parish meeting. A parish council may decide to call itself a town council, village council, community council, neighbourhood council, or if the parish has city status, the parish council may call itself
1558-503: A population of between 100 and 300 could request their county council to establish a parish council. Provision was also made for a grouped parish council to be established covering two or more rural parishes. In such groups, each parish retained its own parish meeting which could vote to leave the group, but otherwise the grouped parish council acted across the combined area of the parishes included. Urban civil parishes were not given their own parish councils, but were directly administered by
1640-566: A prominent doctor. He made a number of improvements to the estate and it's over 2,200 acres of land, and during the 1880s he instructed a Gerald Warren to construct a scenic drive where he could take his carriage to best show off the beauty of the Dart valley for himself and his guests, making this amongst the earliest examples of a scenic drive. He constructed a 2 mile long carriage drive over Dartmoor, known as Dr Blackall's Drive for use in picturesque drives with his guests. In 1901 Spitchwick
1722-1079: A range of discretionary powers which they may exercise voluntarily. These powers have been defined by various pieces of legislation. The role they play can vary significantly depending on the size, resources and ability of the council, but their activities can include any of the following: Parish councils have powers to provide and manage various local facilities; these can include allotments , cemeteries, parks, playgrounds, playing fields and village greens , village halls or community centres , bus shelters, street lighting, roadside verges, car parks, footpaths, litter bins and war memorials. Larger parish councils may also be involved in running markets , public toilets and public clocks, museums and leisure centres . Parish councils may spend money on various things they deem to be beneficial to their communities, such as providing grants to local community groups or local projects, or fund things such as public events, crime prevention measures, community transport schemes, traffic calming or tourism promotion. Parish councils have
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#17327978402151804-409: A role in the planning system; they have a statutory right to be consulted on any planning applications in their areas. They may also produce a neighbourhood plan to influence local development. The Localism Act 2011 allowed eligible parish councils to be granted a " general power of competence " which allows them within certain limits the freedom to do anything an individual can do provided it
1886-598: A set number of guardians for each parish, hence a final purpose of urban civil parishes. With the abolition of the Poor Law system in 1930, urban parishes became a geographical division only with no administrative power; that was exercised at the urban district or borough council level. In 1965 civil parishes in London were formally abolished when Greater London was created, as the legislative framework for Greater London did not make provision for any local government body below
1968-523: A singularly romantic situation". To this was attached Holne Chase, 500 acres of wood and 2200 acres of moor land extending about 2 miles into Dartmoor Forest, "amidst some of the most magnificent scenery in Devon, where the River Dart is seen foaming over its rocky bed, between steep and shelving banks, and lofty woody hills". In 1850 Sir Bourchier Palk Wrey, 8th Baronet, owned most of the parish, including
2050-943: A small village or town ward to a large tract of mostly uninhabited moorland in the Cheviots, Pennines or Dartmoor. The two largest as at December 2023 are Stanhope (County Durham) at 98.6 square miles (255 km ), and Dartmoor Forest (Devon) at 79.07 square miles (204.8 km ). The two smallest are parcels of shared rural land: Lands Common to Axminster and Kilmington (Devon) at 0.012 square miles (0.031 km ; 3.1 ha; 7.7 acres), and Lands Common to Brancepeth and Brandon and Byshottles (County Durham) at 0.0165 square miles (0.043 km ; 4.3 ha; 10.6 acres). The next two smallest are parishes in built up areas: Chester Castle (Cheshire) at 0.0168 square miles (0.044 km ; 4.4 ha; 10.8 acres) (no recorded population) and Hamilton Lea (Leicestershire) at 0.07 square miles (0.18 km ; 18 ha; 45 acres) (1,021 residents at
2132-521: A spur to the creation of new parishes in some larger towns which were previously unparished, in order to retain a local tier of government; examples include Shrewsbury (2009), Salisbury (2009), Crewe (2013) and Weymouth (2019). In 2003 seven new parish councils were set up for Burton upon Trent , and in 2001 the Milton Keynes urban area became entirely parished, with ten new parishes being created. Parishes can also be abolished where there
2214-439: Is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes , which for centuries were the principal unit of secular and religious administration in most of England and Wales. Civil and religious parishes were formally split into two types in the 19th century and are now entirely separate. Civil parishes in their modern form came into being through
2296-507: Is at present the only part of England where civil parishes cannot be created. If enough electors in the area of a proposed new parish (ranging from 50% in an area with less than 500 electors to 10% in one with more than 2,500) sign a petition demanding its creation, then the local district council or unitary authority must consider the proposal. Since the beginning of the 21st century, numerous parish councils have been created, including some relatively large urban ones. The main driver has been
2378-539: Is evidence that this is in response to "justified, clear and sustained local support" from the area's inhabitants. Examples are Birtley , which was abolished in 2006, and Southsea , abolished in 2010. Every civil parish has a parish meeting, which all the electors of the parish are entitled to attend. Generally a meeting is held once a year. A civil parish may have a parish council which exercises various local responsibilities prescribed by statute. Parishes with fewer than 200 electors are usually deemed too small to have
2460-405: Is not prohibited by other legislation, as opposed to being limited to the powers explicitly granted to them by law. To be eligible for this, a parish council must meet certain conditions such as having a clerk with suitable qualifications. Parish councils receive funding by levying a " precept " on the council tax paid by the residents of the parish (or parishes) served by the parish council. In
2542-584: Is now Roodepoort . Fred Struben recalled: "In January 1884 I started prospecting on the Sterkfontein farm at the west end of the range. The second day I found a reef showing gold, which assayed on the surface 6 penny weights, and at 50 feet had improved so that the sum had reached nearly 2 ounces." His widow sold Spitchwick in 1934 to the Simpson family. The Simpson family purchased Spitchwick in 1934. In 1937 Stephen Simpson of Spitchwick purchased further
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2624-768: The feudal barony of Dartington , whose lords were the FitzMartin family, feudal barons of Blagdon in Somerset. From the FitzMartins Holne descended to the Audley family, feudal barons of Barnstaple , thence to the Bourchiers, lords of the manor of Tawstock , thence to their heirs the Wrey baronets . In 1850 Sir Bourchier Palk Wrey, 8th Baronet (1788-1879) had a hunting seat in the manor named Holne Chase House "in
2706-504: The 'Standards Board regime' with local monitoring by district, unitary or equivalent authorities. Under new regulations which came into effect in 2012 all parish councils in England are required to adopt a code of conduct with which parish councillors must comply, and to promote and maintain high standards. A new criminal offence of failing to comply with statutory requirements was introduced. More than one 'model code' has been published, and councils are free to modify an existing code or adopt
2788-612: The Coldstream Guards was killed in action ay Ypres during World War I (his name appears on the parish War Memorial and his gravestone is in the Zillebeke Churchyard Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery ) Richard I's widow Jane Dawson (d.1932) retained possession but in 1937, 5 years after her death, her executors sold the estate to Stephen Simpson of nearby Spitchwick Manor, Poundsgate. Following
2870-583: The Domesday Book of 1086, SPICEWITE was the 48th of the 72 manors held in demesne by King William the Conqueror in the County of Devon. Spitchwick later became a possession of the de Courcy family , feudal barons of Stogursey (anciently " Stoke Courcy ") in Somerset. The manor is listed in the 13th century Book of Fees as held as one knight's fee by Michael de Spichewik, whose family as
2952-761: The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 , which have fewer powers than their English and Welsh counterparts. There are no equivalent units in Northern Ireland . The parish system in Europe was established between the 8th and 12th centuries, and an early form was long established in England by the time of the Norman Conquest . These areas were originally based on the territory of manors , which, in some cases, derived their bounds from Roman or Iron Age estates; some large manors were sub-divided into several parishes. Initially, churches and their priests were
3034-1010: The Local Government Act 1894 ( 56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) to become the smallest geographical area for local government in rural areas. The act abolished the civil (non-ecclesiastical) duties of vestries . Parishes which straddled county boundaries or sanitary districts had to be split so that the part in each urban or rural sanitary district became a separate parish (see List of county exclaves in England and Wales 1844–1974 ). The sanitary districts were then reconstituted as urban districts and rural districts , with parishes that fell within urban districts classed as urban parishes, and parishes that fell within rural districts were classed as rural parishes. The 1894 act established elected civil parish councils as to all rural parishes with more than 300 electors, and established annual parish meetings in all rural parishes. Civil parishes were grouped to form either rural or urban districts which are thereafter classified as either type. The parish meetings for parishes with
3116-411: The Local Government Act 1894 ( 56 & 57 Vict. c. 73), which established elected parish councils to take on the secular functions of the parish vestry . A civil parish can range in size from a sparsely populated rural area with fewer than a hundred inhabitants, to a large town with a population in excess of 100,000 . This scope is similar to that of municipalities in continental Europe, such as
3198-472: The break with Rome , parishes managed ecclesiastical matters, while the manor was the principal unit of local administration and justice. Later, the church replaced the manor court as the rural administrative centre, and levied a local tax on produce known as a tithe . In the medieval period, responsibilities such as relief of the poor passed increasingly from the lord of the manor to the parish's rector , who in practice would delegate tasks among his vestry or
3280-692: The communes of France . However, unlike their continental European counterparts, parish councils are not principal authorities , and in most cases have a relatively minor role in local government. As of September 2023 , there are 10,464 parishes in England, and in 2020 they covered approximately 40% of the English population. For historical reasons, civil parishes predominantly cover rural areas and smaller urban areas, with most larger urban areas being wholly or partly unparished ; but since 1997 it has been possible for civil parishes to be created within unparished areas if demanded by local residents . In 2007
3362-470: The (often well-endowed) monasteries. After the dissolution of the monasteries , the power to levy a rate to fund relief of the poor was conferred on the parish authorities by the Poor Relief Act 1601 . Both before and after this optional social change, local (vestry-administered) charities are well-documented. The parish authorities were known as vestries and consisted of all the ratepayers of
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3444-564: The 19th century is useful to historians, and is also of cultural significance in terms of shaping local identities; reinforced by the use of grouped parish boundaries, often, by successive local authority areas; and in a very rough, operations-geared way by most postcode districts. There was (and is) wide disparity in parish size. Writtle , Essex traditionally measures 13,568 acres (21 sq mi) – two parishes neighbouring are Shellow Bowells at 469 acres (0.7 sq mi), and Chignall Smealy at 476 acres (0.7 sq mi) Until
3526-591: The 2011 census, Newland with Woodhouse Moor and Beaumont Chase reported inhabitants, and there were no new deserted parishes recorded. Nearly all instances of detached parts of civil parishes (areas not contiguous with the main part of the parish) and of those straddling counties have been ended. 14 examples remain in England as at 2022, including Barnby Moor and Wallingwells , both in Nottinghamshire. Direct predecessors of civil parishes are most often known as "ancient parishes", although many date only from
3608-511: The 2021 census). The 2001 census recorded several parishes with no inhabitants. These were Chester Castle (in the middle of Chester city centre), Newland with Woodhouse Moor , Beaumont Chase , Martinsthorpe , Meering , Stanground North (subsequently abolished), Sturston , Tottington , and Tyneham (subsequently merged). The lands of the last three were taken over by the Armed Forces during World War II and remain deserted. In
3690-533: The River Dart. Holne Chase Castle is a well-preserved Iron Age hill fort on the top of Holne Chase, which is an area of steep woodland in the loop of the River Dart between two medieval bridges: Holne Bridge and New Bridge . In the north of the parish, the farmstead of Stoke was a Domesday manor . The manor of Holne was listed in Domesday Book of 1086 as the 11th of 17 Devon holdings of William of Falaise . The lands of William of Falaise later became
3772-738: The administration of the poor laws was the main civil function of parishes, the Poor Law Amendment Act 1866 , which received royal assent on 10 August 1866, declared all areas that levied a separate rate or had their own overseer of the poor to be parishes. This included the Church of England parishes (until then simply known as "parishes"), extra-parochial areas , townships and chapelries . To have collected rates this means these beforehand had their own vestries, boards or equivalent bodies. Parishes using this definition subsequently became known as "civil parishes" to distinguish them from
3854-399: The charter, the charter may be transferred to a parish council for its area. Where there is no such parish council, the district council may appoint charter trustees to whom the charter and the arms of the former borough will belong. The charter trustees (who consist of the councillor or councillors for the area of the former borough) maintain traditions such as mayoralty . An example of such
3936-470: The closure of Holne Chase Hotel in 2008 and the termination of the lease, the owners Mr and Mrs Richard Simpson made it their home and converted the stable block and garden cottage into holiday lets. [REDACTED] Media related to Holne at Wikimedia Commons Civil parishes in England In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government . It
4018-537: The council are carried out by a paid officer, typically known as a parish clerk. Councils may employ additional people (including bodies corporate, provided where necessary, by tender) to carry out specific tasks dictated by the council. Some councils have chosen to pay their elected members an allowance, as permitted under part 5 of the Local Authorities (Members' Allowances) (England) Regulations 2003. The number of councillors varies roughly in proportion to
4100-464: The council of the urban district or borough in which they were contained. Many urban parishes were coterminous (geographically identical) with the urban district or municipal borough in which they lay. Towns which included multiple urban parishes often consolidated the urban parishes into one. The urban parishes continued to be used as an electoral area for electing guardians to the poor law unions . The unions took in areas in multiple parishes and had
4182-466: The council will an election be held. However, sometimes there are fewer candidates than seats. When this happens, the vacant seats have to be filled by co-option by the council. If a vacancy arises for a seat mid-term, an election is only held if a certain number (usually ten) of parish residents request an election. Otherwise the council will co-opt someone to be the replacement councillor. The Localism Act 2011 introduced new arrangements which replaced
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#17327978402154264-459: The creation of town and parish councils is encouraged in unparished areas . The Local Government and Rating Act 1997 created a procedure which gave residents in unparished areas the right to demand that a new parish and parish council be created. This right was extended to London boroughs by the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 – with this, the City of London
4346-463: The desire to have a more local tier of government when new larger authorities have been created, which are felt to be remote from local concerns and identity. A number of parishes have been created in places which used to have their own borough or district council; examples include Daventry (2003), Folkestone (2004), Kidderminster (2015) and Sutton Coldfield (2016). The trend towards the creation of geographically large unitary authorities has been
4428-439: The ecclesiastical parishes. The Church of England parishes, which cover more than 99% of England, have become officially (and to avoid ambiguity) termed ecclesiastical parishes . The limits of many of these have diverged; most greatly through changes in population and church attendance (these factors can cause churches to be opened or closed). Since 1921, each has been the responsibility of its own parochial church council . In
4510-408: The envisioned mansion at Sandridge, now surviving as Sandridge Park . As for Lord Ashburton's change of mind, Swete remarked: "He soon dropt all thoughts of proceding with the plans he had form'd at Sandridge; Park indeed was a situation more congenial to Lord Ashburton's mind; it was wild and romantic; he delighted its softening the harsh and rude features of the scene around him and in its meliorating
4592-534: The established English Church, which for a few years after Henry VIII alternated between the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England , before settling on the latter on the accession of Elizabeth I in 1558. By the 18th century, religious membership was becoming more fractured in some places, due in part to the progress of Methodism . The legitimacy of the parish vestry came into question, and
4674-452: The estate by further land purchases. The high garden wall survives today enclosing a "massive vegetable garden" of 2.6 acres. He built a "secret garden" within which survives "Lady Ashburton's Bath" a plunge-pool built in 1763, fed by a stream. Lord Ashburton also had a seat at Bagtor in the parish of Ilsington , on his Dartmoor estate about 6 miles north-east of Spitchwick. Lord Ashburton's house at Spitchwick has been superseded by
4756-645: The gift and continued patronage (benefaction) of the lord of the manor , but not all were willing and able to provide, so residents would be expected to attend the church of the nearest manor with a church. Later, the churches and priests became to a greater extent the responsibility of the Catholic Church thus this was formalised; the grouping of manors into one parish was recorded, as was a manor-parish existing in its own right. Boundaries changed little, and for centuries after 1180 'froze', despite changes to manors' extents. However, by subinfeudation , making
4838-455: The government at the time of the Local Government Act 1972 discouraged their creation for large towns or their suburbs, but there is generally nothing to stop their establishment. For example, Birmingham has two parishes ( New Frankley and Sutton Coldfield ), Oxford has four, and the Milton Keynes urban area has 24. Parishes could not however be established in London until the law was changed in 2007. A civil parish can range in area from
4920-648: The grounds, which lay almost in a state of nature, neglected and uncultur'd". Lord Ashburton created at Spitchwick (on the site of a chapel dedicated to St. Laurence ) a mansion in which "he much delighted to reside" and where he "escap'd from the trammels of State and the bustle of the Great Town , and enjoy'd the otium cum dignitate . This was his Tusculum and here" (as he often told Swete) "(with) his rural amusements, with his books, his friends, his dearest Leisure ...he past his pleasantest hours". The Devon historian and author Sabine Baring-Gould (1834-1924),
5002-543: The hamlets of Michelcombe and Stoke and a number of scattered farms, also the hunting boxes called Holne Park and Holne cottage. Several paintings of the Wrey estate were made by Frederick Christian Lewis (1779–1856) published in London, 1821 as "Scenery of the River Dart", as follows: In 1885 Sir Bourchier Toke Wrey, 10th Baronet (1829-1900) sold the estate to Hon. Richard Maitland Westenra Dawson (1845-1914), 3rd son of Richard Dawson, 1st Earl of Dartrey . The Dawsons lived in
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#17327978402155084-496: The headquarters of the Dartmoor National Park Authority, a large white rendered house built by William Hole in 1826. The two estates appear to have been confused by Pevsner. Spitchwick was purchased in 1867 by Thomas Blackall (d.1899), MD, an eminent surgeon, and Sheriff of Exeter in 1862, also of Maryfield, Pennsylvania, Exeter, using a fortune inherited from his father, John Blackall , also
5166-476: The late 19th century, most of the "ancient" (a legal term equivalent to time immemorial ) irregularities inherited by the civil parish system were cleaned up, and the majority of exclaves were abolished. The census of 1911 noted that 8,322 (58%) of "parishes" in England and Wales were not geographically identical when comparing the civil to the ecclesiastical form. In 1894, civil parishes were reformed by
5248-440: The manors of Spitchwick and Widdecombe. It had been Dunning's original intention to build a grand mansion elsewhere in Devon, on his estate of Sandridge in the parish of Stoke Gabriel , as he informed Rev John Swete to whom he was showing that new purchase, also in the company of Sir Robert Palk, 1st Baronet (1717-1798), who also expanded a large mansion and planted vast expanses of woodland at Haldon House , having also had
5330-412: The mansion house of Holne Chase but then built a new mansion nearby called Holne Park, to which they moved. In 1890 Holne Chase was let to Rev. Charles Foster, after whom a Salmon Pool on the River Dart is named. In 1934 Holne Chase operated as a Hotel, which closed in 2008. In the year 1914 Richard died on 7 August aged 69 and three months later his son Capt. Richard Long Dawson (1879-20 November 1914) of
5412-465: The mid 19th century. Using a longer historical lens the better terms are "pre-separation (civil and ecclesiastical) parish", "original medieval parishes" and "new parishes". The Victoria County History , a landmark collaborative work mostly written in the 20th century (although incomplete), summarises the history of each English "parish", roughly meaning late medieval parish. A minority of these had exclaves , which could be: In some cases an exclave of
5494-465: The new district councils (outside London) to review their parishes, and many areas left unparished in 1972 have since been made parishes, either in whole or part. For example, Hinckley , whilst entirely unparished in 1974, now has four civil parishes, which together cover part of its area, whilst the central part of the town remains unparished. Some parishes were sub-divided into smaller territories known as hamlets , tithings or townships . Nowadays
5576-488: The other conurbations. Civil parishes vary greatly in population: some have populations below 100 and have no settlement larger than a hamlet , while others cover towns with populations of tens of thousands. Weston-super-Mare , with a population of 71,758, is the most populous civil parish. In many cases small settlements, today popularly termed villages , localities or suburbs, are in a single parish which originally had one church. Large urban areas are mostly unparished, as
5658-401: The parish the status of a town, at which point the council becomes a town council . Around 400 parish councils are called town councils. Under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 , a civil parish may be given one of the following alternative styles: As a result, a parish council can be called a town council, a community council, a village council or occasionally
5740-404: The parish. As the number of ratepayers of some parishes grew, it became increasingly difficult to convene meetings as an open vestry. In some, mostly built-up, areas the select vestry took over responsibility from the entire body of ratepayers. This innovation improved efficiency, but allowed governance by a self-perpetuating elite. The administration of the parish system relied on the monopoly of
5822-562: The parish; the church rate ceased to be levied in many parishes and became voluntary from 1868. During the 17th century it was found that the 1601 Poor Law did not work well for very large parishes, which were particularly common in northern England. Such parishes were typically subdivided into multiple townships , which levied their rates separately. The Poor Relief Act 1662 therefore directed that for poor law purposes 'parish' meant any place which maintained its own poor, thereby converting many townships into separate 'poor law parishes'. As
5904-499: The perceived inefficiency and corruption inherent in the system became a source for concern in some places. For this reason, during the early 19th century the parish progressively lost its powers to ad hoc boards and other organisations, such as the boards of guardians given responsibility for poor relief through the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 . Sanitary districts covered England in 1875 and Ireland three years later. The replacement boards were each entitled to levy their own rate in
5986-411: The population of the parish. Most rural parish councillors are elected to represent the entire parish, though in parishes with larger populations or those that cover larger areas, the parish can be divided into wards. Each of these wards then returns councillors to the parish council (the numbers depending on their population). Only if there are more candidates standing for election than there are seats on
6068-444: The present surviving 19th century building, and of the earlier house only two gate lodges survive, Upper Lodge and Lower Lodge, survive at the end of their respective long entrance drives. Lord Ashburton's estate at "Park", later called Spitchwick, should be distinguished from the estate of Parke in the parish of Bovey Tracey situated 1/2 mile west of Bovey Tracey and about 7 miles north-east of Spitchwick, today (at Parke House)
6150-438: The right to create civil parishes was extended to London boroughs , although only one, Queen's Park , has so far been created. Eight parishes also have city status (a status granted by the monarch ). A civil parish may be equally known as and confirmed as a town, village, neighbourhood or community by resolution of its parish council, a right not conferred on other units of English local government. The governing body of
6232-479: The then unprecedented sum of £10,000 per annum and as a money-lender he had obtained estates that brought him in large sums. But his main acquisition of lands had been to the detriment of the ancient Gould family of Devonshire, which traced its roots back to a certain "John Gold", a crusader present at the Siege of Damietta in (1218–19). Edward Gould (1666-1736) of Pridhamsleigh in the parish of Staverton , Devon,
6314-424: Was curate-in-charge here for a few months. The eastern and northern boundaries of the parish are formed by the River Dart . To the west it is bordered by the parish of Dartmoor Forest , the boundary partly following the O Brook . It meets the northernmost point of Buckfastleigh parish at Petre's Bound Stone on Ryder's Hill , one of the highest points on southern Dartmoor. From here the boundary runs back east to
6396-453: Was installed, together with a matching pulpit of unusual design. A hollow yew tree in the churchyard was thought to have been planted around 1300. Nearby is a prominent cross, with an octagonal cross section, which marks the grave of the Rev. John Gill, who was vicar of Holne from 1858 to 1917—his 90th year. The novelist and clergyman Charles Kingsley was born in the vicarage while his father
6478-572: Was purchased by Frederick Struben (1851-1931) a South African geologist and goldminer, born in Pietermaritzburg , South Africa , of German descent. With his brother Harry in 1884 he was the first to strike gold in Johannesburg and called their mine " Confidence Reef ". Although the seam of gold was disappointingly small, nevertheless they both made fortunes. They owned parts of the adjoining farms Sterkfontein and Wilgespruit in what
6560-455: Was the father of Edward Gould (1666-1736)). Dunning lent Edward Gould increasingly large sums secured on mortgages, and he eventually foreclosed, securing for himself possession of most of the Gould estates around Ashburton, Widdecombe, Holne, and Staverton. Edward Gould ended his days in lodgings in Shaldon. Dunning then purchased for £4,700 the 88 year residue of a lease of ninety-nine years of
6642-546: Was the last male of the senior branch of the Gould family, and bequeathed all his lands in Staverton, Ashburton, Holne, Widdecombe-on-the-Moor and Chudleigh to his infant distant cousin William Drake Gould (1719-1766) of Lew Trenchard , Devon, the representative of the next branch. The estates of William Drake Gould devolved on his only son Edward Gould (1740-1788), a spendthrift and a gambler. One evening after
6724-518: Was usual had taken their surname from their seat. His overlord was John Neville, then feudal baron of Stogursey. At some time a grant was made to Troarn Abbey in Normandy of unum hospitem in Espicewic , apparently "one guest lodging/chamber/inn". The large manor of Widecombe-in-the-Moor on Dartmoor was acquired by John Dunning (1731–1783), from 1782 1st Baron Ashburton , and included
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