South Tawton is a village, parish and former manor on the north edge of Dartmoor, Devon, England. An electoral ward bearing the same name exists. At the 2011 census the population was 1,683.

thumb|left|Cross Tree, South Tawton In front of the church is a "Crosstree", a feature dating from the Tudor period.

Inscription:

Cross Tree.

a tree has stood here since the days of Queen Elizabeth I, the wall and seat were rebuilt to commemorate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953

Historic estates

Located in the parish of South Tawton are various historic estates including:

North Wyke

thumb|200px|Arms of Wykes of [[North Wyke and of Cocktree, both in the parish of South Tawton: Ermine, three battle-axes sable. The similarity of these arms to those born by the prominent Wrey family later of Tawstock Court, North Devon, is suggested by Worthy (1896) to prove that they are "collateral kinsfolk of the Wykes".]]

North Wyke was long a possession of the Wykes family. Worthy (1896) suggested this family, Latinized to de Wigornia ("from Worcester"), was descended from a certain William de Wigornia, a younger sons of Robert de Beaumont, Count of Meulan (c. 1142-1204) and de jure Earl of Worcester, by his marriage with Maud FitzRoy, daughter of Reginald de Dunstanville, 1st Earl of Cornwall.

The manor of South Tawton was anciently a possession of the Beaumont family. The effigy of John Wykes (1520-1591) of North Wyke, known locally as "Old Warrior Wykes", He married Mary Giffard, a daughter of Sir Roger Giffard (d. 1547) of Brightley, Chittlehampton, Devon.

South Zeal

thumb|left|200px|The Burgoyne Monument in St Andrew's Church South Tawton. This slate and stone tablet on the wall of the South Chapel is dated 1651 and is in memory of Robert Burgoyne, his wife and their family. Those who are commemorated include a child in a cradle and an infant in a shroud. The arms of Burgoyne are: Azure, a talbot argent (as shown on the monument to Thomas Chafe (d. 1648) in the church at [[St Giles in the Wood, Devon, who married a Burgoyne)]]

The manor house of the Burgoyne family of South Zeal survives as the Oxenham Arms Public House, on the main street of the village of South Zeal, which is within the parish of South Tawton. A mural monument to Robert Burgoyne, dated 1651, survives in St Andrew's Church, South Tawton.

Climate

Since 1981, the highest recorded temperature was on 3 August 1990 and the lowest was on 22 December 2010.

Appearance in media

South Tawton features in Landscapes of England DVD Series 2, Ep 6. by W.G. Hoskins. He observes that while South Tawton failed as a borough it spawned the nearby settlement of South Zeal which flourished being directly on the main route from London to Lands End.

Further reading

  • Wykes-Finch, Rev. W., "The Ancient Family of Wyke of North Wyke, Co. Devon", published in Transactions of the Devonshire Association for the Advancement of Science, Literature, and Art, 1903, Vol. 35, pp. 360–425 SEE HERE

References

  • South Zeal & its Dartmoor Environment
  • Listing in Villages of the UK website