Transcript

Of

Drake Monument in Werrington Churchyard

Devon Notes & Queries, vol. I, (January 1900 to January 1901), p. 116-117.

by

G.T. Windyer Morris (1831)

Prepared by Michael Steer

The original site of the parish church of St Martin was in Werrington Park but it was re-built much to the disgust of parishioners, in 1742 on a new site in the Gothic style; the tower is from the old church. The front in the earliest Gothic Revival style suggests that the architect could have been William Kent. Nearby Werrington House was acquired in 1620 by Sir Francis Drake, 1st Baronet (1588-1637), of Buckland Monachorum in Devon, nephew of the famous Admiral Sir Francis Drake (d.1596). In 1631 he obtained a royal licence to empark lands in Werrington and St. Stephen by Launceston and later rebuilt the manor house. In 1649 Sir Francis Drake, 2nd Baronet (1617-1662) purchased the nearby manor of Launceston and the borough of Newport in the parish of St. Stephen, and moved his main residence to Buckland Monachorum, whereupon he sold Werrington to Sir William Morice. The note seeks to link an old monument in the churchyard with the first Baronet Drake. The extract, from a copy of a rare and much sought-after journal can be downloaded from the Internet Archive. Google has sponsored the digitisation of books from several libraries. These books, on which copyright has expired, are available for free educational and research use, both as individual books and as full collections to aid researcherss.

Note 82. Looking through some old letters, I came across the following enquiry from the late Rev. Edward King, Vicar of Werrington: "Do you know to what family an old monumental slab belongs. It is outside the present church, under the east window. A man, lady, and four boys, all kneeling; costume Elizabethan, I should say. It came from the old church, I believe, but has no inscription or armorial bearings."
I replied that I should think it probable it was to Sir Francis Drake, who sold the Werrington property to Sir William Morice, to which Mr. King replied : "Pray accept my best thanks for your letter with its information. I should have thought the monumental stone here about 1590-1600 by the costume, but it must be to Sir Francis Drake, the first Bart., who had by his second wife exactly four sons and no daughters. He was created Bart. 1622 and died 1637. The lady has the high collar and the boys the ruffs of Queen Elizabeth's time. She might have died some years before him, and he may have erected the slab to her."
Is this monument still in existence, and could it not be saved by being put under cover "inside" the church?
                 G. T. WINDYER MORRIS.