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MEAVY
MEAVY a village and parish in the hundred of Roborough near the sources of the river Plym about 7 miles from Tavistock and 9 miles north from Plymouth -& about 1 mile from Yelverton. The parish of 3,351 acres includes Ringmoor Down, Brisworthy, and, the small village of Loveton,
with the The parish of Walkhampton is about 2 miles north
MEAVY, in the hundred of Roborough and in the deanery of Tamerton, lies between six and seven miles from Tavistock. The manor belonged, at the time of the Domesday survey, to Robert Bastard; afterwards, to the family of Meavy. Sir William Strode was lord of the manor, and had a seat here in 1630. It was later the property of Sir Masseh Manasseh Lopes, Bart.,who purchased it in 1808 from Hugh MALET , Esq., in whose family it had been for many years.
The manor of Good-a-Meavy, anciently called God Meavy, which belonged formerly to the family of Pomeroy, was by the 19th century the property of Joseph Scobell, Esq. The manors of Callisham and Durance belong to T. T. Fuller Elliott Drake, Esq.
Meavy lies about 10 miles as the crow flies from Holne near Ashburton on the other side ofDartmoor That is about 20 miles by road via Princetown and Burrator reserviour - a long tough climb up onto the moor and long descent down the other side into Meavy
Godmeavy is close by
1068 Godameavy was held under Walter de Pomeroy by William Meavy and William Pomeroy.
1245 Reginald Pomeray of Godemevy and Alicia, his wife
1334 Roger Pomeray of Godemewy [Goodameavy, in Meavy
1334 Richard Pomeray his son
1474 Thomas Pomeroy and Agnes his wife son
1521 Richard Pomeroy who married Alice & their son John Pomeroy
1548 John Pomeroy
Charter: Meavy, 19th January 1474 in Latin
1) John Bonvyll of Comb Ralegh, Esq
2) Thomas Pomeroy and Agnes his wife and Richard Pomeroy and John Pomeroy their sons
Premises: Premises: messuages lands and tenements in West Grobbeton and Wasond and tithing of Mewy to hold
All the messuages lands and tenements in west Grobbeton and Wasond and tithing of Mewy to hold for their lives successively at a rent of 33s. 4d and suit at court of Mewy and the best best as a heriot: tenants to have firebote, housbote, folbote and haybote and to keep the tenement in repair.
Witnesses: Adam Byrde, Robert Seller and John Mede.
Dated at Meavy: Monday before Christmas. 14 Edward IV. 1471
Two seals.
Grobberton is Gobert Tin mine & Wasound -West Down Shaugh Prior
Gobbett Tin Mine, near Hexworthy shows evidence of around 400 years of tinners’ exploitation of this area.
Its about 12 miles to the east from Meavy across the rough terrain of the high moor
Charter: Meavy, 19th January 1474
1) John Bonvyll of Comb Ralegh, Esq
2) Thomas Pomeroy and Agnes his wife and Richard Pomeroy and John Pomeroy their sons
Premises: Premises: messuages lands and tenements in West Grobbeton and Wasond and tithing of Mewy to hold
All the messuages lands and tenements in west Grobbeton and Wasond and tithing of Mewy to hold for their lives successively at a rent of 33s. 4d and suit at court of Mewy and the best best as a heriot: tenants to have firebote, housbote, folbote and haybote and to keep the tenement in repair.
Witnesses: Adam Byrde, Robert Seller and John Mede. Dated at Meavy: Monday next before Christmas. 14 Edward IV. 1471 Two seals. Latin.
Firbot was the right of a tenant to a reasonable amount of wood from his land for fires in his house and in the houses of his servants.
Folbot & Housbot do not appear in the dictionary - Possibly they are similar to Pannage & Tillage which were the legal right to pasturing and ploughing the land - & these related to the right to maintain ones house .
Haybot - the wood or thorns allowed to a tenant or commoner by law for repairing hedges or fences.
Pannage- the right to turn pigs out into woodland and forest to feed on fallen acorns, beech mast and other nuts during the autumn.
The Plymouth Leat
Plymouth needed a water supply and this was first resolved in 1585 through the construction of the Plymouth Leat - this six foot trenc ran 18 miles between the River Meavy and Plymouth. The Lord Mayor of Plymouth at tge time was Sir Francis Drake, & he credited with leading the construction of this leat, including getting permission from parliament for its construction.
It began at a point now under water at Burrator Reservoir, emergeing some 10m lower than the typical reservoir water level. It was one of the first municipal water supplies in the country.
Thei project took 4 months to complete and brought a supply of clean, clear, moorland water into the very heart of the town. In 1871, it was lined with granite in an effort to reduce seepage and improve the flow. It can still be seen today .
Grobberton or Wasound
Wasound - West Down Shaugh Prior
Maybe another mine
GOBBERT TIN mine
Gobbett Tinners Mill is unique for Dartmoor, It has crazing mill stones, mortar stones and mould stones showing that during its operational life it had a triple purpose of grinding, knocking and smelting.
Wasound - probably West Down in Shaugh Prior
When the population of the moorland declined dramatically following the Black Death in 1348 many farms in the lowlands were left without tenants. Most surviving moorland farmers took the chance to move onto better land in the lowlands .
In the C19th census shows a West Down Farm with 7 cottages associated with it and in Shaugh Prior village there were blacksmiths, millers, shopkeepers, shoemakers and innkeepers
Below West Down Tor
Plymouth Leat
Mallet Papers Title Deeds : Meavy & elsewhere Z13/1/5
source DRO here
Item Lease for 80 years: Meavy, 24th June 1521
Details. 1) Humfrey Bonevyle 2) Alice Pomeray, the wife of Richard Pomeroy and Johan their daughter
Premises: a little messuage which Richard Blackeford and Tomasia his wife held in Mew [Meavey] and the reversion after Henry Blackaford of certain 'piteis'.
Suit to grantor's court of Mewy. Tenants to have firebote in the wood called Clokewood.
Rent: 3s. 4d. for the messsuage and 20d for the reversion of the 'piti'. Heriot: Best Beast.
Witnesses: Robert Wydeslade, John Medylton, John P...y, Richard Agecombe. Dated at Ivebridge. 13 Henry VIII (1522)
Mallet Papers DRO
Title Deeds: Meavy & elsewhere Z13/1/9
Item Lease for 90 years or lives of lessees: Meavy, 24th March 1548
details. 1) Humfrye Bonvile of Ivebridge, gent. 2) Richard Moys and Thomasyn his wife
Premises: tenement in Mewy which John Pomeroy formerly held, except and reserving such ground as John Adecote now holds.
Suit of Court and mill. Consideration: £113. 132s. 4d. Rent: 26s. and four harvest days' work at Humfry's mansion place at Ivebridge. Heriot: Best Beast.
Dated: 2 Edward VI. Fragment of Seal.
Earlier records found in Plymouth Box 8 May 2025
Repository: Plymouth Archives, The Box Ref 710/1
Title: Shaugh Prior: Trowlesworthy, Deed
• description: Gift 1) Bauldwin de Riparis, Earl of Devon. 2) Sampson de Traylsworthy [Trowlesworthy].
Trailisworthy, bounded by Pynekkes Lake to Thickestone Lake to Blackbrook as far as Black Brocke falls into Plyme and the foot of Blackbroke common, Bickly wood. Rent: 4s. Witnesses: Richard de Meavy, Robert de Spineto, Roger de Cadworth, Walter Pomeray de Goodamevy, Alexander de Hemerdon, then bailiff of Plympton, Thomas de Challeswiche, Simon -Ellewille. [with two copies, one dated to the 16th century].
• Date: Mid 13th century Item a Manuscript
• Repository: Plymouth Archives, The Box Ref 733/3307/22
• Title: Meavy, Loveton, Deed
• description: Quitclaim
1 Reginald Pomeray of Godemevy [Goodameavy in Meavy] and Alicia, his wife
2 Maurice de la Fenne and Eleanor(?) his wife Land in Loddertonne [Loveton in Meavy] as the dowry of Eleanor for the term of her life.
• Date: 14 Sep 1285 Item Manuscript
• Repository: Plymouth Archives, The Box Ref 733/3307/30
• Title: Meavy, Land in Goodameavy, Deed
• description: Gift
1 Richard Pomeray, son and heir of Roger Pomeray of Godemewy [Goodameavy, in Meavy]
2 William de Lolleworth Land in Godemewy between River Mewy and La Rederlyne on the east.
• Date: 28 Nov 1334 : Item Manuscript
The Place
Tavistock on the river Tavy & Meavy are accessible to Plymouth, the main port of the area, via long established roads , originally these were just trackways, following thevalley of river Meavy.
overview.
The manor of Meavy (alias Meavy Church, Mewy, etc.) in Roborough Hundred was held in 1086 at the time of Domesday Book by Robert le Bastard, or by Juhel de Totnes. It was later held by de Meavy family from the reign of Kings Henry III to Richard II. whose feudal overlord was the de Pomeray family, feudal barons of Berry Pomeroy. Subsequently passed to the Milliton family,
Richard Strode (d.1552) of Newnham, about 6 miles south, married Agnes Milliton, daughter of John Milliton of Meavy. Meavy was later one of the residences of Sir William IV Strode (1562–1637), and later became the seat of the latter's 2nd son William Strode (1594-1645), MP.
A junior branch of the Crymes family of Crapstone, Buckland Monachorum, was resident in the parish of Meavy. Risdon: "The manor of Buckland was bought by one Grimes, of London, who built a house upon the same, which descends to his posterity, and is now inherited by that name".
Meavy was purchased by Sir Francis Drake, 3rd Baronet (1642–1718), of Buckland Abbey in the parish of Buckland Monachorum, who sometimes resided at the manor house west of St Peter's Church, in which survives the "Drake Aisle" or manorial chapel. The external stonework is inscribed with the date "1705" and the "Drake star" from his coat of arms. His mother was Susan Crimes, a daughter of William Crimes (or Grimes), of Buckland Crimes and a sister of Elizeus Crimes.
Mallett C17th at Meavy
William MALLET, Gent, b. 5 Nov 1678, Ash, Iddesleigh, died 8 May 1724, Ash, Iddesleigh, Devon, England (Age 45 years)
Marriage 10 Feb 1703 Bickleigh, Devon, England [2, 3]
There are 2 Bickleighs in modern (2003) Devon, one just to the north of Plymouth, and one north of Exeter, near Tiverton. William and Mary took up residence at Meavy, which is closer to Plymouth than to Exeter, so the one near Plymouth seems the likely venue for the marriage.
Children
William MALLET, Gent. (of Grapton Meavy), c. 15 Jan 1705, Grapton, Meavy, Devon d. 2 Apr 1776, Ash, Iddesleigh, Devon (Age ~ 71 years)
Hugh MALLET, c. 23 Feb 1707, Meavy, Devon, d d. 1 Mar 1710/11, Ash, Iddesleigh, Devon, (Age ~ 4 years)
George MALLET, Gent, c. 28 Jul 1710, Meavy, Devon bur. 26 May 1740, Yealmpton, Devon, (Age ~ 29 years)
Hugh MALLET, c. 11 Apr 1713, Meavy, Devon, d. 2 Jul 1756, Ash, Iddesleigh, Devon, (Age ~ 43 years)
John MALLET, c. 6 Apr 1715, Meavy, Devon,
Mary MALLET, c. 12 Nov 1717, Meavy, Devon, married Bourne became Heiress of William Bourne, lord of the manor of Meavy died 17 Nov 1723 Ash, Iddesleigh
Amy MALLET, c. 24 Jun 1720, Meavy, Devon,
LATER POMEROYS IN WALKHAMPTON
Daniel & Jenny married August 1797
children
Mary Bb 12 Nov 1797 dau of Daniel & Jane in Walkhampton
John born 1802
Ann Bb 9 Jan 1803 dau of Daniel & Jane in Walkhampton
Jenny Bb 26 May 1805
Thomas Bb 27 Aug 1815
1809 John Pomeroy age 7 son of Daniel & Jane in Walkhampton apprenticed to Richard Peace Yeoman until age 21 no fee
1817 Ann Pomeroy age 14 daughter of Daniel &Jane Pomeroy of Walkhampton Meavy Apprenticed until age 21 to John Northman Yeoman no fee
1841 CENSUS one Pomeroy family in village
John Pomeroy b 1801 a farmer Coombshead, Walkhampton Tavistock, Devon
wife Susanna Caddie married 11 Sept 1819 at Heavitree Exeter
children at home in 1841
Thomas Pomeroy 16 1825 Devon, England
Charlotte Pomeroy 12 1829 Devon, England
William Pomeroy 10 1831 Devon, England
John Pomeroy 3 1838 Devon, England
Henry Pomeroy an infant 1840
Meavy in 1474 we have:-
Reginald Pomeroy
Thomas Pomeroy and Agnes his wife and Richard Pomeroy and John Pomeroy their sons and Alice Pomeray, the wife of Richard Pomeroy and Johan their daughter
STRAYS from Powley
John Pomeroy 1474-96 appointed on a Devonshire commission to enquire into wool and other shipments , lead, tin, which should be going to Calais.
Wills
1548 Roger Pomery of Meavy, missing Will
Following on from Mallet Papers Title Deeds : Meavy & elsewhere Z13/1/5
Letter of Attorney: Buckland Monachorum, Meavy, Sampford Spiney, Sheepstor, Walkhampton, 3rd June 1409
Repository Devon Heritage Centre.
Reference number Z13/1/2. Previous reference DD 49030 dated 3rd June 1409
Description 1) Elizabeth, widow of William Dymmok
2 Benedict Faysmond
Premises: to take possession of messuages, lands, tenements, dovecotes, cornmills and fulling mills and all her
other possessions in the Manors of Mewy and Knolle near Walkhampton and in the tithings and hamlets of Mewy, Shittestorre, Bokeland Abbatis and Sampforde Spynee, and to deliver seisin to John Dymmok, son and heir of Elizabeth according to the form and effect of the Charter made to him.
Witnesses: John Ralegh, Richard Mewy, James Beancombe, John Langham, Peter Fay.
Dated at Ivybridge: Monday after the Feast of Holy Trinity. 10 Henry IV.
Thomas Pomeroy and Agnes his wife and Richard Pomeroy and John Pomeroy their sons and Alice Pomeray, the wife of Richard Pomeroy and Johan their daughter
SWHT / DRO
Goodmeavy is in Roborough MUCH LATER
• The Manor and Lordship of Goodmeavy with the capital messuage, a tenement heretofore called the Tynmill now Doubts House, a tenement called West Cadworthy otherwise Cadaver and lands (field names given) culminating in the possession of Joseph May Ward of Meavy.
• The mansion house of Goodmeavy was conveyed to Martin Ryder of the Middle Temple in 1672. By 1748 it was in the possession of Samuel Ryder of Tavistock who mortgaged the Manor and other properties to Thomas Brent of Plymouth. The Rev. Samuel Ryder of Falmouth and Thomas Brent sold the property in 1760 to Joseph May of Plymouth.
• Bundle also includes the sale of a house called Willake and lands by Richard Webbe to William Harper of Plymouth, 1664 and the sale of two tenements called Virgells and West Cadworthy from Webbe to Alexander Webbe, 1673.
Listed II Goodameavy Barton is circa late C16 with C17 alterations and C20 modernisation; the Manor House is a C18 building remodelled in the early C19 and extended later in the C19.
Burrator Reservior was completed in 1898
... this had not been a populous area and in the end only a few roofless buildings disappeared below the water, along with a couple of muddy lanes and a section of the original Plymouth Leat - some ruined buildings can still be glimpsed around the shores of the lake.
A building loss, which would probably not be permitted today, was that of Longstone Manor, the home of the Scudamore family which dated from the Middle Ages.
By marriage, this had become the home of the Elford family, still remembered for their association with the name of nearby Yelverton (formerly known as "Ye Elford Town"). This is now a range of roofless, deserted buildings safely out of the water on the shores of the Reservoir.
Longstone Manor visualosation seen right was home to the Elford family for 150 years before becoming a farm around 1750. It was a farm for another 150 years then abandoned and the reservoir was built shortly afterwards
HERITAGE GATEWAY
ER Number: MDV20653. Name: Combshead Farmstead, Walkhampton
Summary
Post-medieval Combshead farmhouse and a hull ( or potato cave ) situated on a south-facing slope overlooking the Narrator Brook. A group of at least six rectangular buildings stand within an irregular shaped farmyard. The farmhouse on the northern edge of the yard is a single roomed mortared stone building now filled with loose rubble which obscures internal detail. There is a garden plot on the south-west side. The hull or potato cave, 90 metres east of the farmstead, is a tunnel cut into the face of a field boundary and access is via a drystone revetted passage.
The earliest known reference to Combshead was in 1281 and it was finally abandoned in 1931.
It represents the last farm desertion attributable to the building of the Burrator Reservoir.
The roofless ruins survive as a very fine example of a deserted farmstead. A small roofless privy stands adjacent to two pigsties or dog kennels in the farmyard. This settlement lies close to the extensive tin streaming n the deep valley to the east.
Surveyed in 2008.
Daniel Pomeroy & Jenny Worth were married in August 1797 in Walkhampton
children
Mary Bb 12 Nov 1797 dau of Daniel & Jane in Walkhampton
John Bb 1802
Ann Bb 9 Jan 1803 dau of Daniel & Jane in Walkhampton
Jenny Bb 26 May 1805
Thomas Bb 27 Aug 1815
1809 John Pomeroy age 7 son of Daniel & Jane in Walkhampton apprenticed to Richard Peace Yeoman until age 21 no fee
1817 Ann Pomeroy age 14 daughter of Daniel & Jane Pomeroy of Walkhampton Apprenticed until age 21 to John Northman Yeoman at Meavy - no fee
John Pomeroy of Coombehead Farm Walkhampton 1841 a farmer - qualified to sit on juries qualification Poor Rate
1841 CENSUS John sob of Daniel Pomeroy & His wife Jenny Worth were farming at Coombeshead Manor
John Pomeroy b 1801 a farmer at Coombshead Farm Walkhampton
wife Susanna Caddie married 11 Sept 1819 at Heavitree Exeter
children at home in 1841
Thomas Pomeroy 16 1825 Devon, England
Charlotte Pomeroy 12 1829 Devon, England
William Pomeroy 10 1831 Devon, England
John Pomeroy 3 1838 Devon, England
Henry Pomeroy an infant 1840
Derelect building on approach to Coombeshead Farm
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