ered
to the Parliament.

About two miles upstream the river 'Taw vails bonnet to Tawstock, in our
ancestors' speech,' says Westcote, and he goes on to describe it as 'a
pleasant and delicate seat indeed, in a rich soil, and inhabited by
worthy personages.' The modest claim has been put forward that the view
here includes 'the most valuable manor, the best mansion, the finest
church, and the richest rectory, in the county.' Possibly other parishes
may not agree with all the superlatives, but the beautiful features of
the valley certainly offer a temptation to use them.

Tawstock Court was once the property of the Earls of Bath, and now
belongs to their descendant, Sir Bourchier Wrey. An Elizabethan gateway
is all that is left of the old house, which was burnt down, and rebuilt
in 1787. The beautiful cruciform church is chiefly Decorated, but parts
are of a later date; it is dignified by a fine central embattled tower,
crowned by pinnacles. In the church are several altar-tombs to the
Bourchiers, Barons Fitzwarine and later Earls of Bath, and to their
wives, and there is a very early effigy carved in wood.

Leaving the Taw and crossing the country to the south, and a little to
the west, one reaches the Torridge, and Torrington, a town 'built
scatteringly, lying at length, as it were, upon the brow of a hill
hanging over the river.' It is, perhaps, chiefly known as the scene of a
skirmish and an engagement during the Civil War. The skirmish, already
mentioned, took place when the Parliament's partisans set out from
Barnstaple and Bideford to attack Colonel Digby, who, with a small
force, had established himself there. It was indeed a case of fortune
favouring the bold, for the Royalists were taken unawares, and had it
not been for the daring of 'the Colonel, whose courage and vivacity upon
action was very eminent, and commonly very fortunate,' the day might
well have been with the other side. Colonel Digby had divided a small
number of horse into little parties in different fields, and was waiting
for some of his troops to join him before attacking the enemy, when a
band of about fifty Parliamentary musketeers came towards the ground
where they stood. Realizing that, if these once gained possession of the
high banks between the two forces, his party must be driven off, Colonel
Digby, with instant decision, took four or five officers with him, and
charged with such vigour that the raw country troops, smitten with
panic,