Hill House (now the Gabriel Court Hotel)
THE STOKE GABRIEL CHURCHWARDS.
For at least four centuries there were Churchwards in and around Stoke Gabriel - a small parish on the river Dart, between Paignton and Totnes. Although not wealthy landowners living in large mansions, they were certainly one of the more influential families in the area, for the most part being yeoman farmers. If there was a main family home in the village then it was Hill House - reputed to have been built in its original form in 1445.
King William 111 stayed his first night on British soil at Hill House when his ship and
entourage were blown off course by a bad storm and landed at Brixham in 1689. Later, he
held his first Council in a Churchward barn on the road on the way out of the village to
Totnes.
Sir Walter Raleigh's navigator, John Davis, upon their return to England, spent the first night on English soil, at Hill House. His First Mate, John Churchward was the owner of the family Manor and it was written "they did retire to Hill House to partake of the Tobacco Plant". While family legend holds this event and the 'maid who threw the bucket of water on the smoking man', to be the first use of the herb in Europe, it is considered one of the four likely candidates for this distinction.
Stoke Gabriel from across the River Dart |
The River Dart at Stoke Gabriel |
In the 19th Century, however, as travel became easier, the Churchwards started to spread their wings. They became railway pioneers; civil engineers; scholars; missionaries; and soldiers, and they found their way to America; Canada; South Africa; Australia and most parts of Polynesia. In fact, anyone with "get-up-and-go" seems to have got up and gone. As a result of this emigration, this particular family's long association with the village was broken when there was no-one left to carry on at Hill House.
Hill House |
The swimming pool showing the Church in the background |
A cousin - Fred Churchward - eventually took over in the early part of this century. As a retired banker he was probably the only one left who could afford to maintain the way of life, and he soon ingratiated himself with the villagers as their adopted "squire". After Fred's death in 1922, the mantle fell on Fred's only son - Charles Frederick (Charlie) - who proceeded to give away or spend whatever was left until he was forced to sell Hill House, since then it has been a private hotel (The Gabriel Court Hotel).
The last Churchward to live in Hill House was Brigadier-General Paul Rycaut Stanbury Churchward (1858-1935).
Charlie lived on in the village until his death in 1952, - which finally severed the link between the Churchward family and Stoke Gabriel. Today the only Churchwards in Stoke Gabriel are the Australian and American tourists who are descendants of the original family, and who are inevitably drawn there to visit their roots - the churchyard being full of their ancestors.
This page was updated on December 22, 2001
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