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

Remembrance

Thomas Pratt. b. 1894. d. 1918.

Thomas grew up in Lower Coombe, Tipton st John, with his parents William and Emma, and many siblings. His father worked as a stonemason at the quarry and Thomas worked as a roadman. He joined up in August 1914 and went out to France with the BEF in 1915, within 4 months he was wounded. He was discharged in 1916 from his wounds and TB. He died the following year, most likely from TB and is buried in Tipton st John churchyard.

We will remember you Thomas.

Remembrance

Samuel Lowe Bennet. b. 1891 d.1917.

Samuel was born in Tipton st John, he grew up in Tipton Hall with his parents and sister Estella.
After finishing college he joined the RN in 1914, where he was an interpreter and driver on the front line. Then he took his flying certificate and joined the RNAS. On the 29th April 1917 Flight sub Lieut Samuel l Bennett was shot down over France, (the life expectancy of a fighter pilot in the war was around 4 weeks), and was reported missing presumed dead. He is remembered on the memorial at Arras in France. He was only 25 years old.

We will remember you Samuel.

Remembrance

We will remember them.

Private William Charles Pottinger. b. 1889  d.  1915.

William was born in Exmouth and later moved to Tipton st John where he became a farm labourer. He lived in Metcombe with his father Charles.
In 1914 he joined the 1st /4th battalion of the Devonshire Regiment and was sent to Mesopatamia (Iraq), where the British forces were protecting the oilfields near Basra. Britain relied heavily on oil to keep its dominant navy at sea. William died of his wounds on the 30th September 1915. He was 27 years old.
He is remembered on his grandfather and fathers grave in Tipton churchyard. His parents lost 9 of their 13 children, William was the 10th child that they mourned....

We will remember you William.

Angela Court

 How did 'Angela Court' get its name?



Angela Court started life as the vicarage for Tipton St John church, ( which was built in 1840's) and the vicarage came soon after. The vicarage was obviously well maintained, with a housekeeper and gardener. Many church meetings and fetes were held in the grounds over the years. In 1887 a fundraiser was reported in the Western Times;



'If it is true that a country house lawn never looks so well as when used for some beneficial purpose, then the vicarage grounds at Tipton St John were in good trim'



In the early 1900 the then vicar Rev G.Every, decided to move to Glebe Cottage, as he felt that the vicarage building was too big for him. The vicarage was put on the market by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners and was purchased by Mr and Mrs Anderson Morshead who moved into the vicarage and renamed it 'Metcombe End'.



Captain RY Anderson Morshead and his wife Angela married in Salcombe Regis, at the beginning of The Great War and when he was posted to India and Mesopotamia with The Devonshire Regiment, his wife accompanied him. After the war they returned to Devon and in 1922 moved to Tipton. They immersed themselves immediately into village life. Mr Anderson Morshead became President of the Football club and The Horticultural Society, was an Honorary member of the Billiards club and Gun Club and he was also Chairman of the local British Legion. Mrs Anderson Morshead was heavily involved with the Tipton St John  WI and at this time;

'one of the most progressive branches of the WI is to be found at Tipton St John '. ( The Western Times)



Together they both did a tremendous amount for the church at Tipton, both of them heading the committee that oversaw the placing of the marble World War 1 memorial plaque in the church, dedicated to the men from the village who gave their lives in the Great War.  Mr Anderson Morshead also paid for the installation of electricity into the church, in the 1930's. His wife Angela, supplied many of the church flowers, that she grew in her garden,  especially at Easter and Christmas, and she took a keen interest in raising money towards the Ottery St Mary Cottage Hospital funds.

There are many newspaper articles relating to them holding fetes and garden shows within the grounds of their house, benifitting local causes, which often went onto include music and dancing until late into the evenings!

Sadly it is also often noted in newspaper articles of this time that Mrs Anderson Morshead was ill,there were times when she was unable to attend events due to her feeling unwell.

In 1931 Angela Anderson Morshead sadly died from her long suffered illness, Bowel cancer, leaving her husband bereft. In her obituary she is described ;

 'her lovable personality and sympathetic being endeared her to all with whom she came in contact, she did many charitable acts in an unostentatious manner'.



In her Will , Angela requested that those attending her funeral should not wear mourning and should only bring flowers gathered by themselves or donate their money to Ottery Hospital. Her funeral was well attended and mourners included Lord and Lady Coleridge, Lord Cave and representatives from many local groups. Angela's grave was lined with narcissi and ivy. She is buried in the churchyard at Tipton, next to the Vestry door near the path that leads to the Angela Court.

As they had no children it was her wish that on her and her husbands death that their house be used for the benefit of ill children. Soon after her death this report was published in  the Western Times, of a meeting of the Devon Association for Cripples'Aid, chaired by Dame Georgina Buller;



...'a most valuable bequest in the shape of a house with acres of ground at Tipton St John, by the late Mrs Anderson Morshead.  Captain Anderson Morshead was so anxious to see the home of his late wife occupied by cripples, that he has made arrangements for the hospital to have the property straight away instead of at his death. It is to be known as the "Angela Convalescent Nursing Home" Angela being the christian name of the late Mrs Anderson Morshead, as part of the Princess Elizabeth Hospital.



Soon after her death, her husband decided to leave the village and he was presented with an armchair, as a leaving gift from his friends to take to his new cottage. Rev Every was reported to say that the gift was;



 ' proof of the parishioners affection, 175 subscribers asked him to accept the handsome armchair. Capt Anderson Morshead,  greeted with applause, referred to the very happy times he had spent in their midst and paid a glowing tribute to the late Mrs Anderson Morshead, to whose initiative and warm support, he said, he owed any popularity which he might have attained'



In 1932 Captain RY Anderson Morshead paid to have the electric lighting fitted into the church in memory of Angela with a marble tablet inscribed;.

                           'lux perpetua in eam luceat'         'let light perpetual shine upon it'.



It seems Angela left a permanent light upon not just the church but also the village



So then the "Angela Convalescent Home" was opened, in memory of Angela, but that's another story for another Tipton Times...!

Tipton Railway

The Railway

 

Its quite hard to believe that it was ever really there. Apart from the old station building and parts of the tracks foundations as evidence, it's all just a distant memory, yet the building of the railway was so important to the growth of our village.  

 

Tipton was a relatively small farming hamlet before the arrival of the railway in 1874. With more accessibility and employment the village expanded with the London and South Western Railway linking Tipton with the larger world and even London! The branch line expanded the station further when it became a junction for Budleigh Salterton in 1897, with the signal box and the footbridge being added at this time. The track ran across the main street with large rolling gates that would be swung across to stop the road traffic.  The Golden Lion was rebuilt to refresh and accomodate more travellers and Coombe Vale was built to house railway workers

 

The station would be busy with passenger and freight trains. Steam engines hauled the trains until 1963 when they were replaced by diesel units.

 The train line gave villagers the chance to move around the southwest and beyond for work and leisure. The trains would bring holiday makers to the seaside resorts of  Exmouth and Sidmouth. It would have taken men from the village to both world wars and brought evacuees from London.  School children would use the train for getting to school, with the train stopping at Tipton and children continuing on the line would quickly jump off to buy their sweets from the village shop while the train was in the station.

 

Post, milk, flowers and other goods from the village would have been collected from the station and delivered around the country. Flowers from Burcombe flower farm, Wiggaton and other local growers would have been  packed and sent up to Covent garden market for sale. Mr Baker would bring boxes of  Tulips, Iris, Daffodil and tomatoes down on his horse and cart to load onto the trains..

 

Mr Rockey, worked on the Tipton Line, joining the railway in 1953 cleaning the engines. In 1955 he progressed to Fireman, stoking the engines fire, he remembers cooking their breakfast of eggs and bacon on his shovel over the fire! They would refill with water from the water tower, but he said that once they caught one of the embankments on fire which didn't go down well with the farmer whose field it spread too!

 

There was a furnished staionary carriage set back from the station on the coal siding, where people could come and spend their holidays, perfect for the train enthusiasts! In 1955 a week's stay would cost you £9.

 

Unfortunately the freight and then the passenger services were withdrawn in 1967 with many villagers taking the 'last train'. My parents took this journey and said that there were fog/fire crackers all up the track in celebration of this memorable last trip.

 

Can you imagine just how popular and scenic the train journey down the Otter Valley and into Harpford Woods would be today, such a tourist attraction.

 And also how useful would it be to pop on the train for Sidmouth ....those were the days!

Venn Ottery from above

This aerial shot was taken above Venn Ottery, @eyeskygroup , 16th May 16