Cowick, Devon: Difference between revisions

'''Cowick''' is a suburb of the City of [[Exeter]] in Devon. Historically it was a [[Manorialism|manor]] situated in the parish of St Thomas, Exeter, within the [[Hundred (county division)|hundred]] of Wonford.<ref name="Thorn">Thorn, Caroline & Frank, Domesday Book, Vol. 9, Devon, Morris, John, (general editor), Chichester, 1985, Part 1 (text), Part 2, (notes) :16,106 (Cowick)</ref> It was formerly the site of a [[Benedictine]] monastery.

The [[Manorialism|manor]] of ''Coic'' is listed in [[Domesday Book]] of 1086 as the 106th of the 176 Devon landholdings of [[Baldwin FitzGilbert|Baldwin the Sheriff]], otherwise known as [[Baldwin FitzGilbert]] and Baldwin de Meulles. He held it in [[demesne]].<ref>Thorne< name="Thorn" /ref> He was [[William the Conqueror]]'s [[Sheriff of Devon]] and also held lands granted to him personally by that king in Devon which comprised the [[feudal barony of Okehampton]]. These included Exwick.

On Baldwin's death his son and heir [[William FitzBaldwin]] made a gift of the manors of Cowick and [[Exwick]], both in the parish of [[St_Thomas,_Exeter|St Thomas]], to the Benedictine [[Abbey of Bec-Hellouin]] in Normandy. A cell of the abbey was set up in Cowick with a Priory Church dedicated to Saint Andrew. Cowick Priory was endowed by its founder with tithes, rents and [[advowson]]s of Exwick and other nearby manors, including [[Spreyton]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.spreyton.org.uk/history_domesday_to_1912.htm |title=ArchivedSpreyton Dedication Saint copyMichael |accessdate=2013-03-12 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://archive.istoday/20130423201639/http://www.spreyton.org.uk/history_domesday_to_1912.htm |archivedate=23 April 2013 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> In St Michael's Church in Spreyton survives a lengthy Latin inscription carved into the timbers of the [[chancel]] roof, erected by Henry le Mayne, the last vicar presented by the prior and convent of Cowick, who held the [[advowson]], instituted 23 August 1451. He rebuilt the chancel with aid from Richard Talbot, [[lord of the manor]] of Spreyton, and from ''"Robertus de Rouen de Recdenne'', the last Prior of Cowick, and both their names are recorded in the inscription as follows:

Within the Priory Church was buried on 5 February 1341[[Hugh de Courtenay, 9th Earl of Devon]] (1276-23 December 1340), feudal baron of Okehampton.<ref name="Risdon">Risdon, Tristram (d.1640), Survey of Devon, 1810 edition, p.117; </ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Cokayne|1916|p=323}}; </ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Richardson I|2011|p=538}}</ref> and his wife Agnes de Saint John (d.1340), and his father, Sir [[Hugh de Courtenay]] (1251–1292) and his wife Eleanor le Despenser (d.1328).

During the reign of King [[Henry V of England|Henry V]] (1413–1422) when England was at war with France, Cowick Priory, together with all other [[Alien priory|alien priories]] controlled from France, was suppressed in 1414 and the monks were expelled back to Normandy. In 1440 it was refounded by his successor King [[Henry VI of England|Henry VI]] (1422–1461) and was granted in 1451/2 to his new foundation of [[Eton College]]. Following the seizure of the throne from Henry VI by Edward IV in 1461, the new king removed Cowick Priory from the possession of Eton and re-granted it in 1463/4 to [[Tavistock Abbey]].<ref>[{{cite web |url = http://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=448320]| title = COLWICK PRIORY|website = Pastscape| access-date = 10 January 2021}}</ref> In 1467, with the deposed Henry VI still living and three years before his final short come-back of 1470, it was restored to Eton. Tavistock Abbey however maintained that the priory had held conventual status and ought to be served by ''"religious men yf eny coude be founde"'' and in 1478 it secured confirmation of the king's earlier grant to it.

On the [[Dissolution of the Monasteries]] by King Henry VIII in 1537/8, Tavistock Abbey was surrendered to the King and the monastery estates, including the manors of Cowick and Exwick, were granted in 1539 to [[John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford|John Russell, 1st Baron Russell]] (1485-1554/5) (later created 1st [[Earl of Bedford]]).<ref> name="Risdon," p.117</ref>

In 1641 The Earl of Bedford sold the property to the Pate family.<ref>The Earl is said to have withdrawn from Exeter to concentrate on draining the Fens</ref> Robert Pate (d.1677) bequeathed it tioto his son, but charged with an annual payment of 20 shillings to the poor.

By marriage the property passed to Amy Fraunceis (d.1703/4), daughter of John Fraunceis of [[Combe Flory]], Somerset, and wife of Edmund Prideaux (1634–1702), MP, of [[Forde Abbey]] and from her to her daughter Katherine Prideaux, who had married in 1679 at Exeter Sir John Speke of [[Whitelackington]], Somerset.<ref>{{cite book | last = Vivian| author-link = John Lambrick Vivian| first = (edLt.)Col. J. L.| title = The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of Devon1531, 1564 & 1620| page = 621|date= 1895,| purl = https://babel.621hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=yale.39002002213917&view=1up&seq=9| access-date= 20 January 2021}}</ref> Katherine had no children and bequeathed it to Mr James White. White continued to make an annual payment to charity and gave 30 shillings to maintain a schoolmistress to instruct in reading four poor children of the parish of St Thomas. In addition the property was also charged with the obligation to pay annually the sum of six pence to forty needy persons in the parish. Cowick was the birthplace of the painter [[John White Abbott]] (1763–1851), grandson of its purchaser James White, who restored the building.

In 1920 75 acres of the estate was sold. InBy 19601963 the house was semi-derelict,<ref>The derelict Cowick Barton inand the early 1960s. Photo Dick Passmore</ref> and in 1963 whole property was purchased by a brewery and converted into a public house.<ref>{{cite web|title = Cowick Barton–Cowick Lane|url =http://www.exetermemories.co.uk/em/_pubs/cowickbarton.php| website= Exeter Memories| access-date=20 January 2021}}</ref>

Nowadays Cowick is a large suburb of Western Exeter and isuntil defined[[2016 byExeter anCity Council election#Background|boundary changes came into effect in 2016]], it was a [[Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom|ward]], that had a population of 5,650 in 2011.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.ukcensusdata.com/cowick-e05003492#sthash.vmoBN71X.dpbs |title = Cowick| website = UK Census data| access-date= 20 January 2021}}</ref> Cowick has no formal high street but the main road in the area is known as Dunsford Road and as you go further east, Cowick Street.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Cowick+St,+Exeter+EX4+1AS/@50.7159585,-3.5445166,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x486da42c3482bedf:0x6cf3ea2e7d61f150!8m2!3d50.7159551!4d-3.5423279| title =Cowick St, Exeter EX4 1AS| website= Google Maps| access-date= 20 January 2021}}</ref> There is however a small cluster of businesses on Bowhay Lane and on the western side of Buddle Lane. Cowick is bounded by the Exeter districts of St Thomas to the east and [[Exwick]] to the north, and the villages of Pocombe Bridge to the west and [[Ide, Devon]] to the south. Due to its location in the west of Exeter and near the [[A30 road]], many commuters from [[Okehampton]] pass through the area towards the city centre. The nearest railway station is [[Exeter St Thomas]].