CRUWYS MORCHARD

From

The Universal British Directory of Trade, Commerce and Manufacture

Champanye and Whitrow, London, 1791, Volume V, Appendix, pp.243-245

Transcribed by Debbie Kennett

"The Universal British Directory of Trade, Commerce and Manufacture covers one of the most detailed and informative records of the explosion of trade and industry in the 1790's. It ran to five volumes and three supplements, each covering a different area, and these were regularly updated within the first decade of publication." [Guildhall Library]

"Cruwys-Morchard is twelve miles from Exeter, five and half from Tiverton, twelve from Chulmleigh, fourteen from Southmoulton, and twenty-six from Barnstaple. It is remarkable for being the residence of the family of the Cruwys's, who have been lords thereof, and patrons of the living, since the reign of King John, if not before. The church is dedicated to the Holy Cross, and there is a revel (a kind of fair) the Sunday after Holy-Cross day in every year. The rectory is held by the Rev. John Cruwys, M.A. the patron thereof; but the church service is performed by the Rev. Dr. Cruwys. The walls of the church, and the stone part of the tower, were built in the 19th year of Henry VIII. 1529; but the brick-work at the top of the tower was added in the year 1698, after a dreadful conflagration by lightning, which destroyed the roof and all the pews, and melted down the bells. There is now a peal of six good bells, all of which have mottos around them; viz. Treble: Prosperity to my Benefactors. 2. E Flammis resurgimus. 3. In ecclesia Sanctitas. 4. Apud omnes Charitas. 5. Concordia inter Fratres. Tenor: Gloria Deo in excelsis. Samuelsis Cruwys, armiger, 1721. - Here is, and has been from some hundreds of years past, a mansion-house of the Cruwys's. The present is a good stone building, erected in the year 1594; but has undergone great alterations to modernize it since that time."