Holsworthy

The original meaning of "Holsworthy" is probably "Heald's enclosure". Derived from the Old English personal name "Heald" or "Healda", plus "-worthig", an enclosure, farm or estate. An alternative possibility is from Old English "heald" meaning incline or slope. In 1086 the name was recorded as Haldeword[2] and as Haldeurdi (Exon). Other recorded spellings are Haldwwurth 1228, Halleswrthia -worth(e) -wordi (late 12th–1291), Haldeswrthy -wrthi -worth (1277–1389), Holdesworthe (1308), Healdesworthe (c. 1320), Hyallesworthi (1326), and Houlsworthy (1675).[3]

Holsworthy is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Haldeword. It was part of the Hundred of Black Torrington.

In 1066 the lord of the manor was Earl Harold and in 1066 it was William I.[2] It was given by Henry II to Fulk Paganell. He gave it, with his daughter Gundred, to Matthew del Jartye. Their daughter and heiress brought it to Chaworth. Henry de Tracey purchased it from Chaworth, and it descended to the baronial family of Martyn. From them it passed by marriage to the lords Audley, and by an entail to the crown. King Edward III granted it to his son, John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster. John Holland, Duke of Exeter, possessed it by a grant from the Crown, and in 1487 the manor was given for life to Margaret, Countess of Richmond. In 1621 Sir John Speccot (d. 1645) of Speccot in the parish of Merton, Devon, Sheriff of Cornwall in 1622,[4] was lord of the manor. After that it was purchased by the Prideaux family of Soldon, Holsworthy. In about 1713, the manor of Holsworthy was sold by Prideaux to Thomas Pitt, 1st Earl of Londonderry, from whom it descended to Earl Stanhope.[5] In 1932 Holsworthy Urban District Council purchased the manorial rights from Lord Stanhope and so became lords of the manor.[6]

Great Tree Plaque

Holsworthy was part the Hundred of Black Torrington.[2] In 1614 King James I granted a charter for an annual fair to be held in Holsworthy. During the English Civil War Holsworthy was held by Royalists forces until, on 17 February 1646, Sir Thomas Fairfax, after his victory at Torrington, sent a party to take possession of the town.[5]

In the Second World War, Prisoner of War Camp No. 42 (Exhibition Field Camp) lay north of the town, near to what is now Park Close. German and Italian prisoners held there were employed as farm labourers.[7]

The historic estate of Soldon, Holsworthy, was long a seat of a branch of the Prideaux family.

Proclamation of the fair charter by the Town crier

St Peter's Fair is held in July and lasts for four days (Wednesday to Saturday). Since the adoption of the Gregorian calendar in 1752, with the resulting loss of eleven days, the fair has been held eleven days after the feast day of St Peter (29 June).[21] On the first day of St Peter's Fair, the 1614 charter granting a fair by King James I is proclaimed by the town crier on the spot where the Great Tree of Holsworthy stood in Stanhope Square. A brass plaque in the road marks the site of the Great Tree.[22]

The annual presentation of the "Pretty Maid" is made at noon on the first day of St Peter's Fair. Her identity is kept secret until she emerges through the church tower doorway to be greeted by the crowd of viewers of this unique ceremony. It is a result of a legacy made in the will of the Reverend Thomas Meyrick, of Carta Martha, near Launceston who died 27 May 1841. He was the brother of the Reverend Owen Lewis Meyrick (Rector of Holsworthy from 1766 to his death in 1819).[23] Under the terms of the will, the legacy was to be invested to pay a dividend of £3 10s on 5 July annually to the churchwarden of Holsworthy. £2 10s of the dividend to be paid to a young single woman under the age of 30 and "generally esteemed by the young as the most deserving, the most handsome, most noted for her qualities and attendance at church." The balance of £1 was to be paid to a spinster, not under 60 years of age, of the same qualities.[24]

The annual, one day, Holsworthy and Stratton Agricultural Show is an important event for the town and the local farming community. The show began in 1883 as the Holsworthy and Stratton Agricultural Exhibition and the venue alternated between Stratton and Holsworthy. After World War II, a permanent site was purchased, north of Stanhope Park, and became known as the Show Field. The show was held in May and was the first in Devon's agricultural show season. It is now held at Killatree Cross, 1.2 miles (1.9 km) west of Holsworthy, on the third Thursday in August.[25]

A half-marathon, the Ruby Run, is held in June between the towns of Hatherleigh and Holsworthy. The starting point alternates between the two towns each year and attracts competitors from all over the South West.[26] The first race was run on 15 June 2003 from Hatherleigh to Holsworthy.[27]

Holsworthy Vintage Vehicle and Engine Rally started in 1987 and has grown into a major two-day event that attracts exhibitors and visitors from a wide area. The rally is held on the last Saturday and Sunday of June.[28]

The annual Carnival is held in November. The first was held in November 1900 as a replacement for the Guy Fawkes and bonfire celebration.[29]

Holsworthy is twinned with Aunay-sur-Odon in the Calvados department in the Lower Normandy region of north-west France. Aunay-Sur-Odon is 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) south of Villers-Bocage, 30 kilometres (19 mi) south-west of Caen, and 31 kilometres (19 mi) north-east of Vire. The two communities visit each other's towns in alternate years.[30]

View of the market

In the centre of the town square stands a stone Market Cross, symbolising the right to trade. The cross which originally sat upon the top of the structure was broken off decades ago and has since been replaced by an ornate lamp.

Holsworthy Community Hospital is situated in Dobles Lane to the north of the town. It was built in 1991 and is run by the Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust. The Hospital has one in-patient ward and an out-patients department.[31] Nearby is Holsworthy Medical Centre, which serves Holsworthy and surrounding villages. A 'Minor Injury' service is provided during surgery hours.[32] In December 2014, building started of The Long House, an outreach centre of North Devon Hospice in the grounds of the Medical Centre. It will enable patients to access care and support close to home without the need to travel to the hospice in Barnstaple.[33]

Stanhope Park, with an area of 8 acres (3.2 ha), was donated to the town by James Stanhope, 7th Earl Stanhope. It is home to Holsworthy Cricket Club and Holsworthy Bowling Club. Since 2012 Stanhope Park has been protected as recreational space in perpetuity by Fields in Trust[34] under the Queen Elizabeth ll Fields Challenge.[35] In 2014 a new play park was opened. Holsworthy Primary School and Holsworthy College both use the park for sport and educational purposes.

Holsworthy Library is on North Road, opposite the parish church.[36]

The west tower of Holsworthy Church

The parish church of St Peter's and St Paul's is a Grade II* listed building.[37] The first building on the site was probably a Norman Oratory built in about 1130 and replaced in about 1250 by a church with tower, nave, south aisle and chancel, built in the Early English style.[38] The original Norman Church was small and occupied the site of the present nave.[39]

The present church, in the Early English style, dates from the mid-13th century. Renovations in the late 19th century included a complete rebuilding of the chancel, addition of a north aisle and renovation of the nave and south aisle.[38] The 15th-century three-stage west tower houses a peal of eight bells and a carillon.[37] It is 85.75 feet (26.14 m) high.[40]

The south porch contains remnants of the original Norman building. On the east wall there is a carved stone holy water stoup and on the west wall there is a carved stone panel depicting the Agnus Dei, thought to be the centre of a tympanum above a Norman capital of a colonnette. Two Norman colonnettes, with Romanesque capitals are incorporated into the wall on each side of the doorway.[37]

The church contains several stained-glass windows, including three by Lavers, Barraud and Westlake of London.[37]

The organ is said to be by Renatus Harris and to have come from Chelsea Old Church (also known as All Saints). It was removed to Bideford in 1723 and brought to Holsworthy in 1865.[37] Over the next two years it was restored and enlarged by the organ builders Geek and Sons of Launceston, Cornwall.[41] It was then inaugurated on 27 June 1867 by W. B. Gilbert of London, whom the Western Times described as "one of the best organists of the day".[41]

The church is one of the few in the country to depict the Devil in stained glass.[30] It also gained fame from Samuel Sebastian Wesley's music, Holsworthy Church Bells – composed for the chiming drum.[30] A legend states that the tower was built on top of a live human sacrifice to ensure a strong foundation.[42]

The Methodist Church, Bodmin Street was opened on 28 April 1910 as the United Methodist Church.[43]

A Grade II listed building, it was built in 1909–1910 in the Early English style by two local building firms, Samuel Parsons (also the architect) and William F. Glover. The church, on the site of an earlier chapel of about 1876, retains its appearance, but with the addition of a two-stage octagonal crenelated tower with spire. At the base of the tower there is a two-light window.

The gabled facade is of Bath stone with Plymouth limestone dressings. The gable ends are decorated with crocketed finials. The arch over the double doors of the gabled porch is inscribed "United Methodist Church 1910". The porch, which has a two-light window above, is flanked by two-light windows under continuous hood moulds. The church and hall have shallow raking buttresses and slate roofs with decorative ridge tiles. The interior takes the form of a four-bay apsidal basilica, with a serpentine-curve gallery over the entrance. The gallery has pierced decorative wooden panels and rests on cast-iron columns with decorative capitals. The five-bay hammerbeam, ceiled and boarded roof has pierced braces, green marble corbels and metal ties. Four roof trusses converge at the apsial end. The organ, with stencilled pipes, was built in 1887 and later enlarged. Two stained-glass windows, one each side of the organ, are said to have been removed from the Wesleyan chapel in Chapel Street. Other windows are filled with pastel-coloured glass of an Art Nouveau style. Internal fittings include a pitch pine pulpit, communion table and benches. The interior of the church is rendered and the internal doors are part-glazed with coloured glass. The gable-fronted hall has a two-light window over the gabled porch, which is flanked by two-light windows.[44]

There was a Catholic church, St Cuthbert Mayne Chapel of Ease, at Derriton, Holsworthy. After its closure in December 2005, the Catholic community began to celebrate Mass at Holsworthy parish church.[45]