__NOTOC__ Cruwys Morchard is an ecclesiastical and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the

Mid Devon Mid Devon is a local government district in Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, t ...

district of the county of

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

in England. It is located about four to five miles west of Tiverton along the road to Witheridge. The parish covers about of land, and comprises a number of scattered houses and farms, and three small hamlets, Pennymoor, Way Village and Nomansland. The church and the manor house are in the centre of the parish. The population at the time of the 2000 census was 461. The parish takes its name from the Cruwys family who have been Lords of the Manor here since the reign of King John (1199–1216).

Etymology

The name ''Morchard'' is first attested in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086, in the forms ''Morchet'', ''Morceth'', and ''Morcet''. It is derived from the

Common Brittonic Common Brittonic (; ; ), also known as British, Common Brythonic, or Proto-Brittonic, is a Celtic language historically spoken in Britain and Brittany from which evolved the later and modern Brittonic languages. It is a form of Insular Cel ...

words ''mǭr'' ("big") and ''cę̃d'' ("wood") (corresponding to modern Welsh ; thus it once meant "large wood". The affix of ''Cruwys'', first attested as part of the place-name between 1257 and 1280, is from the settlement's possession by the de Crues family, who held the manor there in the thirteenth century, and to distinguish the settlement from the nearby

Morchard Bishop Morchard Bishop is a village and civil parish in Mid Devon in the English county of Devon. It has a population of 975, and contains a primary school, two churches, and a playing field with tennis court. Notable past residents include Ernest Bev ...

History

The manor of ''Morceth'' is mentioned twice in the

of 1086, with part being held in-chief by

William Cheever William Cheever ( 1086) (''alias'' Chievre) ( Latinised to ''Capra'', "she-goat",Thorn & Thorn, part 2 (notes) chap.19 from French ''chèvre'') was one of the 52 Devon Domesday Book tenants-in-chief of King William the Conqueror. He held 46 landhol ...

, the 35th of his 46 Devonshire holdings, and part being held in-chief by

Geoffrey de Montbray Geoffrey de Montbray (died 1093), also known as Montbrai, Mowbray or Geoffrey of Coutances, was a Normans, Norman nobleman, :wikt:secular, secular prelate, warrior and administrator who was Bishop of Coutances from 1049 to 1093. He was an adviser ...

Bishop of Coutances The Diocese of Coutances (–Avranches) (Latin: ''Dioecesis Constantiensis (–Abrincensis)''; French: ''Diocèse de Coutances (–Avranches)'') is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church in France. Its mother church is the Cathedral of Coutanc ...

, the 73rd of his 99 Devonshire holdings. William Cheever's lands later formed the

feudal barony of Bradninch {{Use dmy dates, date=April 2022 The feudal barony of Bradninch was one of eight8 per Sanders, 1960; Pole, pp.1-31, listed 12 feudal baronies in Devonshire which existed during the mediaeval era, and had its ''caput'' at the manor of Bradninch. On ...

from which Cruwys Morchard was later held by the Cruwys family.Thorn, part 2, 19,35

Church of Holy Cross

It is believed that a wooden church existed in Cruwys Morchard from the time of Godfrey de Sowy, who was the first rector in 1262. The Church of the Holy Cross was built in 1529 with a

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spire ...

on top of the church tower. This, however, was struck by

lightning Lightning is a natural phenomenon consisting of electrostatic discharges occurring through the atmosphere between two electrically charged regions. One or both regions are within the atmosphere, with the second region sometimes occurring on ...

in 1689, and the consequent major fire, which melted the bells, necessitated the rebuilding of the top stage of the tower in brick. It also destroyed painted windows which bore the

arms Arms or ARMS may refer to: *Arm or arms, the upper limbs of the body Arm, Arms, or ARMS may also refer to: People * Ida A. T. Arms (1856–1931), American missionary-educator, temperance leader Coat of arms or weapons *Armaments or weapons **Fi ...

of the Cruwys family. The repairs, which also involved a new roof and new pews, took thirteen years to complete. The windows were replaced with stained glass renderings of the Cruwys arms. There was also a chapel belonging to Cruwys Morchard House which was the burial place of the Cruwys family, but the chapel was destroyed by

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially ...

, and it is believed that many family monuments were destroyed at the same time.

People

* Robert Cruwys (1884–1951), cricketer and clergyman * Margaret Campbell Speke Cruwys (1894–1968), Devon historian. * Sir Robert Cruwys (d 1362) was knighted for his service in France in the

Hundred Years War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a conflict between the kingdoms of England and France and a civil war in France during the Late Middle Ages. It emerged from feudal disputes over the Duchy of Aquitaine and was triggered by a c ...

; he probably fought at the

Battle of Crecy A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

on 26 August 1346 and the

Battle of Poitiers The Battle of Poitiers was fought on 19September 1356 between a Kingdom of France, French army commanded by King John II of France, King JohnII and an Kingdom of England, Anglo-Gascony, Gascon force under Edward the Black Prince, Edward, the ...

on 19 September 1356 * Robertus de Cruwes was a Member of Parliament for

in 1340 and 1344 *

Hugh Peters Hugh Peter (or Peters) (baptized 29 June 1598 – 16 October 1660) was an English preacher, political advisor and soldier who supported the Parliamentary cause during the English Civil War and later the trial and execution of Charles I. Followi ...

(1598–1660), the preacher and

regicide Regicide is the purposeful killing of a monarch or sovereign of a polity and is often associated with the usurpation of power. A regicide can also be the person responsible for the killing. The word comes from the Latin roots of ''regis'' ...

, spent much of his childhood at Cruwys Morchard House with his uncle and aunt Lewis Cruwys and Sarah Cruwys née Treffry. * Cruwys Morchard is the alias of Clytie Potts, a fictional character in the 2006 novel ''

A Darkling Plain ''A Darkling Plain'' is the fourth and final novel in the ''Mortal Engines Quartet'' series, written by British author Philip Reeve. The novel won the 2006 Guardian Children's Fiction Prize and the 2007 List of Los Angeles Times Book Prize wi ...

'', written by Devon resident

Philip Reeve Philip Reeve (born 28 February 1966) is an English author and illustrator of children's books, primarily known for the 2001 book '' Mortal Engines'' and its sequels (the 2001 to 2006 '' Mortal Engines Quartet''). His 2007 novel, '' Here Lies Ar ...

References

External links

Genuki page

Cruwys Morchard parish page

Photograph and story of the Church

Old postcards of Cruwys Morchard
{{authority control Villages in Devon Former manors in Devon Devon places with etymologically Brittonic names