page_title: Manor of Tawstock
section_title: Tawstock Court
hierarchical_section_title: Manor of Tawstock / Tawstock Court
caption_attribution_description: English: Renaissance aedicule with restored date-stone Anno 1574 with the heraldic achievement of William Bourchier, 3rd Earl of Bath (died 1623), above the gateway on the south facade of the Elizabethan gatehouse of Tawstock Court, Devon&gt; The ten quarterings shown on the escutcheon are as follows (with tinctures added):&#91;1&#93; 1)Argent a cross engrailed gules between four water bougets sable (Bourchier) 2) Gules, a fess argent between 15 billets or 5,4,3,2,1 (Louvaine) (across the first two quarters is a label of three points for difference) 3)Quarterly per fess indented argent and gules (FitzWarin) 4)Gules, a fret or (Audley) 5)Argent, three aspen leaves erect gules (Cogan) 6)Sable, a chevron barry nebuly argent and gules (Hankford) 7)Argent, two bars wavy sable (Stapledon) 8)Argent, two bars gules each charged with three bezants (Martin) 9)Gules, four fusils in fess ermine (Dinham) 10)Gules, three pairs of arches argent (Arches). The dexter supporter of a horse or possibly heraldic antelope, stands on a pedestal showing a peacock in its pride, the crest of George Manners, 11th Baron de Ros (circa 1470–1513),&#91;2&#93; whose daughter Eleanor Manners married, after 1524, as his 2nd wife, John Bourchier, 2nd Earl of Bath (1499–1560/61). The sinister supporter of a dove or falcon stands on a pedestal showing the Bourchier knot.&#91;3&#93; Above the shield is the Bourchier crest: A man's head in profile proper ducally crowned or with a pointed cap gules&#91;4&#93; References ↑ The same quarterings are shown on the monument of Lady Frances Bourchier (died 1612) in the Bedford Chapel, Chenies, Buckinghamshire, daughter of the 3rd Earl of Bath http://www.middlesex-heraldry.org.uk/publications/monographs/chenies/cheniesBKM-monuments.htm ↑ Debrett's Peerage, 1968, p. 968 ↑ The Manners peacock and Bourchier knot are also shown sculpted with the arms of Bourchier impaling Manners above the south-east door to Tawstock Church ↑ Visitation of Devon, 1895, p. 106
context_page_description: The historic manor of Tawstock was situated in North Devon, in the hundred of Fremington, 2 miles south of Barnstaple, England. According to Pole the feudal baron of Barnstaple Henry de Tracy made Tawstock his seat, apparently having abandoned Barnstaple Castle as the chief residence of the barony. Many of the historic lords of the manor are commemorated by monuments in St Peter's Church, the parish church of Tawstock which in the opinion of Pevsner contains "the best collection in the county apart from those in the cathedral", and in the opinion of Hoskins "contains the finest collection of monuments in Devon and one of the most notable in England".
  The manor house, known in the 17th century as Tawstock House and today known as Tawstock Court, is situated at the west end of the parish church and is in the Georgian neo-gothic architectural style, having replaced the former Tudor mansion which was destroyed by fire in 1787. The only survival from the earlier house is the splendid Tudor gatehouse with the 1574 datestone, one of only a few in Devon.
context_section_description: The Elizabethan mansion re-built by William Bourchier, 3rd Earl of Bath, no longer exists apart from the gatehouse, with date-stone 1574. Four years after Sir Bourchier Wrey, 7th Baronet, inherited the estate the house burned down in 1787 and was rebuilt by him in the Neo-Gothic style by about 1800, when Rev. John Swete described visiting it in his travel journal: "Entering through a gateway of antient date by the stables I arrived in front of Tawstock House the seat of Sir Bourchier Wrey which when completed (for it is now but a shell) will be one of the finest houses in the county". Part of the Elizabethan house survives today on the south front. The north front was re-modelled in 1885.
  The principal east front, with crenellated parapet and two end turrets, faces towards St Peter's Parish Church and has an extensive view across the River Taw to Bishops Tawton village and Codden Hill. Sir Robert Bourchier Sherard Wrey, 11th Baronet (1855–1917) was the last to live at Tawstock Court and "to keep house in the old manner". In about 1940 it damaged by fire and was restored and let by the 13th Baronet to St Michael's Preparatory School. His nephew and heir, the 14th Baronet sold Tawstock Court to the school in the 1970s. 
  The school continued to occupy Tawstock Court until 2012 when it closed due to insolvency. On 17 July 2012 the property with 32 acres was purchased from the administrator by a property investor and developer, as a private residence. As a condition of the sale, the nursery school division of St Michael's School continued to operate (in 2013) in the stable blocks to the immediate west of the house.
  A building described as "a folly, built in form of look-out tower" located near the Manor was dubbed "The Tower" in its 1965 Grade II listing report (Entry #1253651). The structure was restored and converted into a home that was listed for sale in 2019/2020 as "Tawstock Castle". Some reports states that the tower was thought to have been built by Sir Bourchier Wrey and subsequently expanded. The Historic England summary simply indicates that it probably originated in the late 18th century. An article in Country Life (magazine) referred to the structure as a "baby Windsor Castle".
caption: Renaissance aedicule (with (restored) date-stone "Anno 1574" above) over gateway on south facade of Elizabethan gatehouse, Tawstock Court. Contains the heraldic achievement of William Bourchier, 3rd Earl of Bath (died 1623).
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