How times have changed

                                       How times have changed

I spend quite alot of time looking through census information when I  am investigating the houses and people of Tipton past and when looking at the occupations of villagers you can see just how things have changed over the last 150 years. Tipton was mainly based around farming in the 1800s, with its fertile soils and supply of water from the Otter and it's tributaries. So there's no surprise that most of the households were farm related and then later the Railway brought new employment and opportunities.  The main farmhouses of Hayne, Coombe, Woods, Metcombe, Fluxton etc where the  biggest landowners, the farmers  lived, would need a good supply of domestic servants and farm labourers. These workers would usually live in the cottages around the farms, sometimes the cottage would come with the job. The farms would provide meat, wool, eggs,vegetables, milk and other dairy products for the local area. Mallocks House kept a well established orchard for many years supplying fruit.
The village had Blacksmiths to keep the horses of the village shod and to work on making or mending metalwork. The Old Smithy area is often referred to as 'Potters corner' as this was the surname of one of the families of Blacksmiths that lived and worked there. The waggoners and wheelwrights were also important for keeping the carts and wheels rolling!
The Mill has been important in the village for many years (and still is although the system is obviously different these days). When the original riverside mill was rolling it would have been only grinding corn and flour where as now the mill provides us with all sorts of animal feeds. Miller and Lilley came with the growth of the railway selling building supplies, coal and animal feeds.  The Golden Lion Inn was not just a place for refreshment, but travellers could stay overnight and stable their horses, so there would be people to serve the ale and tend to the horses. There were several shops too, Dolphin Cottage (that was) was Tipton general stores and a dressmaker, lacemaker, shoemaker/mender were all living along the Railway terrace. We had not only the Post Office, but also our own postman who delivered mail and information around the village. There were also many Market gardeners in the valley providing us with salads,  vegetables, and flowers. Goods would be sold from their house or sent off by horse and cart or train to local towns, even up to London. Mr Eli Baker grew flowers and soft fruits at Coombe and his name crops up often in newspaper reports for his displays of prize cut flowers in shows and at weddings. Mr Berry grew anemone and lily of the valley amongst other flowers that would be packed and sent to Covent Garden market. Liz Rodgers remembers packing up  daffodils at her father, Mr Bartletts nursery and her mother would make up polyanthus posies. I remember visiting Mr Bartlett at Lancercombe to buy all sorts of salads and vegetables with my mum. The wonderful smell of vine tomatoes takes me right back to his greenhouses and his barn full of  tools, wooden boxes and my favourite, the ships bell that hung on the wall which I was allowed to ring if I was good ( I was very happy to find out recently that Liz still has the bell ).
The presence of the village school meant that several school teachers have lived in the village over the years, with many people remembering Miss Richardson. The church had its own vicar living in the vicarage who employed house servants and the church sexton. We had a sawmills, timber men, thatchers, stonemasons and carpenters.  Sam Pottinger was a chimney sweep and provided logs. Later came Tipton Garage (still going strong), Rutherfords builders, and the Angela Hospital all needing skilled workers.
It was almost as if Tipton could have been self sufficent
Do you think that the same could be said today? Well certainly some of these jobs and business have  continued and some flourished.  New opportunties have brought different occupations into the village and of course more people work outside of the village now. Sadly though many of the rural skills once common place  have become redundant.
Maybe you could say that the people of Tipton St Johns occupations have had to diversify over the years and change with the times!
                            " Times change and we change with them"
Credits to Len Baker, Ann Knight, Liz Rodgers, Marilyn Berry, Ancestry and The British Newspaper Archives

5th Oct 1917

Remembering 100 years ago.
Harry (Wheaton) Channon was born in 1893 to parents Emily and Robert Channon. Harrys mother Emily (Wheaton) was born and raised in Venn Ottery along with 10 other siblings. Her mother died when she was only 10 and after finishing school and helping to look after her younger siblings she left home to work as a housemaid for the Rector at Combe Raleigh. Whilst there she fell in love with the local postman and they went on to marry in 1892 . The following year Harry was born but unfortunately his father Robert died and Emily was left to bring up Harry alone. She quickly returned to Venn Ottery and took on lacemaking work to bring in some money. Harry attended Tipton st John School and when he was old enough he went to work as a farm labourer. As WW1 loomed Harry signed up to the 8th Battalion of the Devon Yeomanry and left Tipton and his mother Emily far behind when he was sent to war. Sadly on the 5th October 1917 at just 24 years of age Harry was killed in battle in France. A battle fought in atrocious conditions exasperated by bad weather conditions. He is buried at Zonnebeke.
After the war, in 1923 a marble memorial was mounted on the wall in Tipton st John Church dedicated to Harry Channon, along with William Pottinger (Metcombe) Thomas Pratt (Coombe), Samuel Bennet,(Tipton Lodge)  William James (Metcombe) and  Donald Bastin (Tipton) who all gave their lives during the Great War. At the service the church was so crowded that every seat was taken long before the service began, the gallery was packed and people stood on the stairs. The Rev Every took the service and began with the hymn 'Soldiers of Christ Arise'. Sir John Kennaway on behalf of 195 subscribers unveiled the memorial and 'the mournful notes of the last post rang out with remarkable clearness' from the church, across the valley .  'A verse of the National Anthem concluded the service which will never be forgotten by those privileged to be present'

So on the 5th of October maybe say a little prayer for Harry,  for his life that he bravely gave for his country and also for Emily, his mother, who lost her beloved son 100 years ago.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, we will remember them.

Tipton St John School log books

Whortleberry picking and haymaking .
Ann Knight and myself have been lucky enough to view the school log books of Tipton St John Church of England School..
Teachers would carefully note down term dates, attendances, curriculum and other interesting snippets of the past school life.
During WW1 many children would be absent from school during the summer months as they would be helping with chores such as haymaking and planting potatoes. Whortleberry and blackberry picking are also often referred to as reasons for absences. It was often noted that the infant classes were well attended whereas the older children were found to be kept home to work or to help on the farms.
During WW2  the children were often reported to be helping to raise money for the war efforts, with concerts and sales.  They would grow vegetables and flowers in the school garden which were regularly collected and given to The Angela Childrens home, along with eggs brought in from home by the children. Sometimes the whole school would go out for the afternoon blackberry picking. Evacuees were welcomed into the school with 18 registered at one time, including Ronald Edwards (Buster Edwards, of 'the great train robbery'!) who was living with his sister Renne under the care of Mrs Chown, at Lower Court, Fluxton. Air raid practises took place regularly and safety checks were made to the childrens gas masks by members of the Home guards. 
During the 1940s the children sent a letter to Enid Blyton, telling her about a blackbird that during the Easter holidays, had built its nest in one of the easels which stood at the back of the school. The nest was made of moss, dried grass, ivy and had a mud lining. She wrote in the 'Teachers World' thanking the children for the letter, paintings and flowers they had sent her, and said " I do think some schools are lucky, the way wild birds nest in them, don't you? "
Illness has always been rife amongst schoolchildren and Tipton was no exception with whooping cough, ringworm, influenza, chicken pox, scarlet fever, diptheria, scabies, lice and measles invariably cropping up all too often in the register, the medical officer closed the school on several occasions due to measles . In 1899 it was reported that the incessant coughing in the infant class was so bad that it was practically impossible to work, and some children were sent home.  Sometimes families were asked to keep their ill children and siblings at home for periods of time. Sadly there are also a few deaths marked on the register
It was often noted that the heating was either insufficient or not working at all and sometimes there was no water due to the hard frosts. Water would then have to be collected in pails and kettles from the Institute and walked up to the top school. Flooding was obviously a problem back then too as the school would sometimes be closed for this reason.
In 1899 children walked to Newton Poppleford to witness the opening of the train station and sadly in 1967 thay were 'marched' to Tipton Station to watch the last train leave our village and a ticket was attached in the notes.

What an honour it has been to read the school notes and to remember how lucky we are to have a school with such a history.
Although the main ethos of this church school has remained consistent over the years, events have changed the day to day running at times, but the teachers and children would adapt and work with what they had and also support the community and their families. We still see this community in the school today, but prehaps less of the whortleberry picking and haymaking!

There will be more about the school and other Tipton memories in Ann Knights book 'Past and Present',  which will be coming out next year.

Venn Ottery Flower Festival

Venn Ottery Flower Festival.
In the midst of one of the hottest weeks of the year we embarked on the task of setting up for the festival. It was just about bearable in the cool shade of the church, and people arrived to help set up displays, dust the cobwebs and sweep the ailses.  Then the refreshment tent was set up in the beautiful garden of Patricia Avery at Minors, what a fantastic host she was, Thank you Trish. Cakes arrived and the amazing Paul and Stephanie Kinson appeared and set up the refreshments, sorting out all the extras that I  had overlooked and more, you both were a great support. Mum had made lists of people to steward the chuch and arranged for tea makers who all dutifully turned up for their shifts!
...and then the Flower Festival began.
We opened up the side door of the church giving a rare view of the tower and through the main building to the altar. It also gave a much appreciated cool breeze through the church. Not only did we have beautiful flower displays based on hymns, but old maps, documents, photographs  and newspaper reports of Venn Ottery. The Bible and Prayer book that have recently returned to the church were also on display along with a stained glass window dedicated to the Furneaux family who were given the Manor of Venn Ottery, by the King, not long after the Battle of Hastings.
We ended the week with a Songs of Praise service, with all the doors open and the sound of the blackbirds in the chuchyard
Thank you so much to everyone who took part in the flower festival and all those who came to visit, some visiting Venn Ottery for the first time.
Thanks to everyones effort (and perspiration!) not only did the church look beautiful, we all raised over £600.

Augustus montague Toplady

Augustus Montague Toplady

                   In Venn Ottery we have many things to celebrate!
We have just had our Venn Ottery bible and prayer books restored and returned to the church, this year we also celebrate 250 years since Rev Augustus Montague Toplady was our vicar and we give thanks for the life of  our local boy Harry Wheaton Channon, who died 100 years ago, in WW1.
In June we will be holding a Flower Festival to celebrate these and other interesting moments in Venn Otterys history.
The Rev Toplady, born in Surrey in 1740 was an Anglican cleric, preacher, poet and hymn writer. He is probably most famous for writing 'Rock of Ages'. He was brought up by his mother after his father died , and was ordained as an Anglican priest in 1762. Not long after he went to Somerset and then to the parishes of Harpford and Venn Ottery
Augustus Montague Toplady was instituted as vicar of Harpford, and Rector of Fenn Ottery, as it was then known, on 6th May 1766 when he was a youthful looking bachelor clergyman, only 25 years old. 
Although he was provided with a vicarge in Harpford he chose to lodge in Venn Ottery with  the Salter family who lived at their farmhouse, Minors, close to the church.
He made Venn Ottery his headquarters and sallied forth from there to Harpford, holding morning and evening services at both churches alternately. His services would usually be prayers and preaching, he would generally preach for 40 to 50 minutes.
Funerals would often take place on Sundays and even Christmas day, meaning sextons, bearers and undertakers would have to work on the Sabbath.
Communion was celebrated only 4 times a year.  The churchwardens' accounts for 1766/67/68 show that the wine for these occasions cost the astonishingly  large sum of 18 shillings. It was known if any consecrated wine was left over that the communicants  and the Priest were called upon to reverently eat and drink up, obviously this was observed literally !
Surplices of those days were larger and longer,  than nowadays, with many elaborate folds, which would have kept the laundress busy.  The entry for the cleaning reads ; "2 s 6d paid for washing of the surplices". 
The accounts show that he would order bushels of wheat for the poor in the cold weather from the local farmers. He did this on several occasions naming the needy of the area - sadly quite a long list.

Whilst living here he wrote a diary detailing his readings, preaching and thoughts, as well as day to day life in the valley.
At Christmas of 1767 he writes : " read prayers and preached and administered Holy sacrament here at Fenn Ottery.  Farmer T ( whom I had met at Metcombe only 2 days previous, so drunk that he could not sit on his horse) presented himself at the Lord's table with the rest of the communicants;  but I  passed him by, not daring to administer the symbols of my saviour's body and blood to one who had lately crucified him afresh and given no proof of repentance,  he appeared surprised and abashed". "Lord make this denial of the outward visibal sign, a means of inward and spiritual grace to his soul" !

In January of 1768  "At Fenn Ottery in the afternoon I read prayers and preached to a very full congregation especially considering the quantities  of snow that lies on the ground and the intenseness at the frost which render it almost equally unsafe to walk or ride. I  was surprised to find that I had detained my dear people for 3/4 of an hour and yet when I concluded they seemed unwilling to rise from their seats; not withstanding the unusual  intenseness of the cold."

Another time he writes of a sad tale of William Towning, 19, who was brought before Mr Penney, for breaking into and robbing 30 shillings from farmer Endicott 's house while the family were at church.( Mr Penney lived at Elliotts Farm , (Venn Ottery House) and is quite respected and referred to as constable in the parish documents, so something like the local policeman.) William was to be taken from Penney's to Exeter Jail, when his father arrives, having heard what has happened to his son. The young man, seeing his father, "with a look that too plainly declared the pains of his heart", bursts into tears and along with his father and his guard all take a moment in the Orchard before he is taken away. "Lord if it be consistent with the counsel of thy will, be the comforter and the salvation of this sinner and his afflicted family ".

He describes in his diary, of taking a walk, on the 8th of March 1768, with a friend after lunch, up onto Fenn Ottery  hill, where they could see both towers of his churches. They noticed smoke rising from the village of Harpford, not far from the church. They continued their walk for 3 hours, passing over the Aylesbeare hill and into Metcombe where a farmer asked if they had heard of the fire and as the farmer put it "Sir, your house (Harpford vicarage) is burnt to the ground". After eventually crossing the wooden river bridge to Harpford, he found the vicarage consumed by flames.

During his time at Harpford and Venn Ottery he suffers the symptoms of TB, often mentioning feeling ill and cold. Venn Ottery is often referred to as a damp wet area, so it is easy to imagine that this did not help to improve his health.

During the  Easter of 1768 he suffers with his chest and loses his voice struggling to preach. 
" I  was considerably out of order and experienced something of what it is to have a body without health and a soul without comfort".
Yet a short while later in April 1768 he visits Mr Leigh of Hayne Farm, (Tipton st John ) as he has on other occasions  spending the afternoon in conversation and drinking tea!  "On my way home to Fenn Ottery , especially as I was riding over Tipton bridge,  my soul was in a very comfortable frame"

He left Venn Ottery and Harpford, for Broadhembury, in May of 1768, but returned to  take services to cover for his successor, Rev Luce.
His diary refers to one of his last services at Venn Ottery
" If I might judge from the tears which some shed under the word preached ( and, indeed, I  myself did with great difficulty refrain from weeping,  toward the conclusion), the message of salvation seemed to be attended by power delivering the tidings of peace and salvation to a people of whom I had of lately, the charge and whom I affectionately love in the Lord"
Toplady died in 1778, in London from TB, he was just 38 years old.
The Venn Ottery Church altar window has a dedication to him, erected in 1913.
         Do come along and visit the church and join in the celebrations!

Summer Fairs Past

Summer Fairs Past

The Playing Field are celebrating their 50th year with a Summer Fair in July.
Tipton has seen many fairs over the years, bringing the community together.
In the early 1900's the fair included an athletics meeting with serious flat races and hurdles, along with fun ones like the sack race and wheelbarrow run (blindfolded!). In 1906 The Tipton Band  played a selection during the afternoon and there were refreshments in a marquee by 'a selection of ladies'. A tug of war was held across the Otter and the day was completed with an evening of dancing.
Also in 1906 the Devon Imperial Yeomanry gave displays of amongst other things, tent pegging, lemon slicing (with swords) and wrestling on horseback. There was also a tug of war on horseback with Sargent Yelvertons team winning.
In 1942 the fair was run in aid of The Merchant Navy funds and the schoolchildren gave an exhibition of Country Dancing. There were races for children and adults, including a slow bicycle race and the Bonny Baby show had 27 entries!
The Summer Fair during the 1960/70s became a week long celebration, with skittles matches being held at the back of the pub. There was Morris Dancing in the streets,  and a soap box derby was held on Chrystel Close hill . The Wheelbarrow race was always very entertaining to watch with competitors collecting a brick and 'downing' a 1/2 pint of beer or lemonade at all the stops around the village, with their decorated wheelbarrow. The competitors could be a bit wobbly by the time they finished (if they managed to finish!) .
A Summer Fair Princess competition would be held on the run up to the fair, with children of the village selling penny votes . The child with the most votes would be crowned princess on the day of the fair. The Princess would arrive on a float decorated with flowers and material. I remember watching the farm trailer, usually used for hay and straw, being transformed with flowers, in the farmyard at Hayne Barton. As a child growing up during this time the fair was one of the major events of the year and anticipated with great excitement. Summer fairs haven't been so regular the last few years, but those we have had have evoked the same community spirit and fun, with "its a knock out" style races, tug of war and obligatory night of dancing!

I really hope that this years Summer Fair will enthuse our children and the wider community to take part and have fun celebrating the Playing Fields 50 years anniversary. 

Tipton church windows

In the new year Rev Mark Ward posted on his facebook page a photograph of one of the windows in Tipton Church. It was the window that shows 'Jesus The light of the World', a beautiful scene originally painted by William Holman Hunt, (pre raphelite painter) in 1854. The painting was inspired by Jesus' words in the book of Revelation. This inspired me to call into the church whilst out walking to have a closer look at the stained glass windows.  I noticed that each window is a memorial, with various names displayed on each one. 'The Light of the World' is dedicated to G J King a gentleman and shareholder who owned property in London and lived in Beach House, Sidmouth. This beautifully crafted window was made in 1889 by Ward and Hughes of Soho, London. There is a signature confirming this in one of the small coloured panes. Its amazing that this precious window would have been transported all the way from London, most probably on the train.
The next pair of windows 'Suffer little children come unto me' and 'Feed my sheep' is a memorial to a Tipton vicar, Rev Augustus Archer Hunt who came to St Johns in the early life of the church, 1849 , until his death in 1889. It is dedicated to him by his parishioners and friends, he was reported to have been a very popular vicar, perhaps this scene was chosen particularly to show how he loved and cared for his congregation. These windows look as if they could also be by Ward and Hughes, the work and colouring is very similar, although I  can find no signature
The altar window, 'The Crucifixion of Christ on the Cross' was installed in 1903,  in memory of Rev Hunt, his wife Sarah Emily and his father Major Richard Burgess Hunt (as mentioned in previous Tipton Times 'Sundial' article)

The two sets of  windows on the other side of the church are older .The first set show 'The Resurrected Christ and St John the Evangalist' on his right hand side, these windows are made by Wailes of Newcastle. They are a memorial to   Helen Rose, who died in 1865, from her husband John Benson Rose.    Helen was the sister of Sarah Emily Hunt and although born in Devon she  lived with her barrister husband in London.
The final set of stained windows St Peter and St James the Great, are a memorial to George Frederick Powell. George was a bachelor, who lived in Budleigh, with property in London. He is registered as a 'fundholder', with shares in the railways, including some in India. In his will he left a substantial amount to Tipton church, the school and an allowance for the poor of the village.

It seems that all the windows are dedicated to great friends of the Rev Augustus Hunt, benefactors to 'his' church. His influence on our church has created much of the beauty we see today. These benefactors that all seemed to have been very influential in their day, have left a lasting legacy of beauty for future generations to enjoy, lighting up the church with rainbows of colour.
Next time you are in the church take a moment to enjoy the love and memory of those people left to us over 120 years ago

Acknowledgements to Rev Mark Ward, Ancestry, The British Newspaper Archives

Poem..The Ghost of Venn Ottery

To be read with a strong Devonshire accent...

The Ghost of Venn Ottery  ( written by William Welsman 1900 ish)

Venn Ottery is the parish where
Once liv’d a man named Marshall Hare;
Against the church wall stands a stone
Recording that the flesh and bone
Of Marshall Hare their resting have
Inside the church in vaulted grave.
There is no record left that would
Show if his life was bad or good;
But one thing sure when he deceased
His spirit did not rest in peace;
For after Marshall was interr’d
Dim lights were seen and noises heard
Inside the church, and soon it spread
That Marshall Hare rose from the dead.

In that old church’s ivied tower
There is no clock to strike the hour;
But when the noise and lights were on,
’Twas in that hour from twelve to one.
And through the churchyard there’s a way,
Much us’d by people night and day;
To pass that way none were afraid,
For peaceful lay the mould’ring dead.
But one night there when some one pass’d,
A huge black thing was on the grass;
When passant it was like a hog,
When rampant it look’d like a dog.

The sexton, late in church one night,
To dust the seats and put things right,
He saw a coffin, spic and span,
Tugg’d down the aisle by unseen hand.
His thoughts were these he told the same
That Marshall’s spirit that night came,
And from the church its corpse it stole
To in it reinstate his soul;
And live again in that estate,
Ere it was sever’d by stern fate.

These tales were to the Vicar told,
And he resolv’d at once to hold
In church a solemn conclave, where
He’d lay the ghost of Marshall Hare.
He search’d  -  four holy men he found
Who in ghost mysteries were profound,
They all agreed and met one night
Outside the church, each robed in white,
And through the doorway in the tower
They went in church at midnight hour,
And knelt upon the stone slab there
Which caps the vault of Marshall Hare.
Most fervently these good men pray’d
For Heav’n’s protection and its aid,
Then cited Marshall to appear
And show the cause of his career.

But Marshall was not in the mood
To be by men of earth withstood.
Most fervently they pray again
That Marshall’s ghost be now arraign’d;
At once deep darkness fill’d the place,
Which strictly hid each form and face;
By this they knew the ghost was there,
In answer to their fervent pray’r.

Then tap, tap, from the good men’s side,
By taps the ghost of Hare replied;
By taps the converse was convey’d
Between the living and the dead.
The purport of the taps were this  - 
That Marshall’s soul, not being in bliss,
Had fled from where they prod and burn,
With no intention to return;
But meant to spend on earth each night,
And vanish with each morning’s light.
To this replied these sainted men,
“The dead can ne’er return again,
Or not until that awful day
When man to judgment wakes from clay;
And we are here this night to ban
Your spirit from our christian land.”

To this it had objections strong,
It thought its visits nothing wrong,
And would agree to spend each night,
Not to be seen nor none affright;
In argument the Ghost was skill’d,
And to these good men would not yield.
The argument began with taps,
By now ’twas got to rowdy raps.
At last a compromise, to wit,
Down in a mead in stagnant pit  -
They gave to Marshall’s ghost the right
Whene’er it would spend a night,
Also a clause that it should come
Each year one cock’s stride nearer home
With taps this awful deed was sign’d,
Which to the pit the Ghost confin’d.

And when it flew to take its place
The old church trembl’d to its base;
The pulpit seemed to dance about,
The seats were all in rabble rout.
At last, when order was restored,
And all was silence and accord,
Slowly arose these sainted men,
Down through the aisle their way they wend;
They issued at the tower door,
’Mid lightning’s blaze and thunder’s roar;
With trembling limbs and faces white,
They shook hands round and said “Good-night.”
And all express’d how pleas’d they were.
To know they’d lay’d the ghost of Hare.

The Ghost of Venn Ottery

                       .......but was it the Venn Ottery ghost?? In defence of Marshall Ayer....

There is indeed a memorial to Marshall Ayer (Hare) and his family at the back of Venn Ottery church next to the font. The Ayer family go back to the 1600's in Venn Ottery with many of them being baptised, married and buried in the church. Marshall Ayers is described as a ' Devon gent' who was a respected landowner. He owned Minors, a  beautiful thatched house, which is near to the road entrance of the church. In the 15th/16th centuries Minors was associated with the church.
Marhsall died a wealthy man but in his will he left money not only to all his family and his workers, but also to the poor of Venn Ottery.
                       " to the parish of Venn Ottery for ever in the hands of the parish to
                          be lent to any poor housekeepers not recieving alms of the parish"
The poem of The Venn Ottery ghost ( which MUST be read with a broad Devon accent!) talks of strange noises and tapping coming from the stone slab memorial of Marshall Ayer and a priest was brought in to lay the ghost to rest.
But...the twist in this tale is that in the 1930's a gravedigger fell through the bottom of a freshly dug grave into a tunnel below. This tunnel appeared to run from the memorial stone in the church to the neighbouring house Minors, apparently coming out by the fireplace.
So, was it the ghost of Venn Ottery  creating havoc or someone playing tricks in the tunnel.  Unfortunately no trace of the tunnel has been found to date, but it certainly sounds intriguing, maybe it was some sort of priest tunnel.....well ...I can imagine!!
Now when I lock the church at night I am mindful of the ghost, black dogs, Marshall Hare and the tunnel, and it all makes for a very exhilarating walk!

Judith Taylor     Please email any correspondence to vennottery@hotmail.co.uk

Sundial

                                      The secrets of the Sundial.
In the grounds of Angela Court stands a sundial.
Majestically it has stood on the front lawn of the house from the days when it was a vicarage,  standing firm as the estate became a private house, then a children's convalescent hospital and  up to the present day.
Over this time the reason why it was originally sited there has long been forgotten but having spoken to a few people whom were curious to find out, I started digging around for any information about its past..
Mr M Jenkins ( our local sundial guru) with his expert knowledge of sundials informed me that the brass sundial face was made pre 1854 by Dollund of London and that it is quite unique as it sits on a square stone plinth. 
On each side of the stone are latin inscriptions. On the North it reads 'sole', East - 'necasti', South - 'quare' and West - 'splendidius'.. Many people have tried to translate the latin. -
         "  Why did you kill more splendidly than does the sun"        John Shilke
         " Why did you kill the sunshine? Why did you kill the brightness of the sun?
             Why did you extinguish the glory of the sun?"     Rev Clinton Crawshaw
In context another translation could be  "thus the brightness of the sun is extinguished" meaning a grief so profound, the sun seems to shine less brightly.
My thoughts were that this sundial was a memorial to someone, (maybe your knowledge of latin can tell me different?)
The vicarage was first occupied by the Rev Augustus Archer Hunt MA and his wife Sarah Emily. He lived there from 1844 until 1889, whilst serving as Vicar of Tipton St John church. His father was Major Richard Burges Hunt  R. Art. and A.D.C. who was highly respected in the British Army and a magistrate of Devon . He served at Hanover in 1805, Copenhagen 1807 and The Battle of Ciudad Rodrigo, ( his medal from this battle sold online, in 2002 for £1500). The altar window in Tipton St John church is dedicated to him and also Augustus and Sarah were added at later dates.
The Major died in Devon in 1849. As the sundial had to have been made at this time I believe it to have been made as a memorial for Major Burgess Hunt from his wife (who lived at the vicarage after his death) and his son the Rev Augustus Hunt.
The sundial has been standing, silent and majestic for over 150 years. You could almost say that it is one of Tipton's oldest monuments. I am so glad that we were able to tell it's story again - that of a Tipton vicars bereavement and love of his father.
                                Long may it continue to tell the 'Tipton time'!

Acknowledgement to Martin Jenkins, Ann Knight, Rev Clinton Crawshaw, Ancestry, British Newspaper Archives and Angela Courtv