St Vincent’s Guest House really is quite a unique late Georgian building in Lynton and we were very keen to find out who built it, how it came to be built and why it was positioned in the way that it is (it is the only building that faces in this direction). Sadly, there were no deeds or original information available so we had to think of other alternatives. A visit to Devon Archives and Local Studies Services in Barnstaple unearthed Tithe Maps. All new to us.
 |
| St Vincent Guest House is number 44 |
We gleaned that the tithe maps and apportionments are an important source of information about the history and topography of a parish, providing details of land ownership and occupation, and the type of cultivation of the land, and are often the earliest complete maps of parishes. They were produced in order to assess the tithe payable in cash to the parish church for the support of the church and its clergy. This tithe had been paid in kind until The Commutation Act was passed in 1836, when it was agreed that this should be converted to a monetary payment.
A survey of the whole of England and Wales was undertaken in the decade or so after 1836, to establish the boundaries of each parish, and assess the amount of tithe due for each parcel of land within it. This resulted in the survey of all tithe-able land in each parish, the production of a map covering the whole parish and a reference book (apportionment) identifying each plot of land.
So, we looked into Lynton and Lynmouth’s tithe maps. Lynton’s tithe map was drawn up in 1840 by Bland Hood Garland, C. E. and D. Vaughan and they produced an amazing hand drawn and coloured document, beautifully accurate with perfect calligraphy. We
downloaded the map online and zoomed into the area where St Vincent’s is, saw the numbering of the property as 44 and then looked at the document detailing Landowner and Occupier. To our surprise, we discovered that both these positions were take by a certain Thomas Geen, and not the Reverend Thomas Roe who seemed to have pretty much all of the land in the area (as to be expected, being a man of the cloth at the time). The building is listed thus:
URN Parish Township/Tithing/ Hamlet Landowner Occupier Plot No Estate Plot Name Cultivation Acres Roods Perches Notes
268 Lynton Lynton Thomas Geen Thomas Geen 44 House and Plot Garden 0 0 23
So, at last we had a name and we could find out more about the owner, which we did via a book on shipbuilding in Bristol, the censuses and a marriage certificate. More of that and about Thomas Geen to come…!
