What is the link between Stoke, Morice Town, Ford & St Michael’s Mount?

If you’ve ever visited Penzance, or watched scenes of High Tide Castle in the Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon1, you’ll probably have seen St. Michael’s Mount – the majestic castle on an ancient tidal island near Marazion in Cornwall.

Since 1659, St. Michael’s Mount has been home to the St Aubyn family (and their descendants, the Lords St Levan)2. The St Aubyn family also has a significant history in Plymouth. John St Aubyn (1613–1684, married to Catherine Godolphin) became a ‘Freeman’ of Plymouth in 16483 (alongside his role as Governor of St. Michael’s Mount). The term ‘Freeman’ was used at the time to denote noble status in feudal society in England – meaning that the ruling monarch portioned out large areas of land to nobles (lords, barons and clergy) in return for them raising money and an army for the crown4.

In Plymouth, the St Aubyn Estate owned almost 80% of the parish of Stoke Damerel5 (which covered all of modern-day Stoke, Ford, Morice Town, Keyham & Devonport) – you can see this area on the Stoke Damerel Tithe Map (from ~1836, when most of the area was quite rural, fields and farms rather than housing as it is today). This land was rented out on a three-life-lease system (99 years) with no prospect of renewal, or for anyone other than the St Aubyns to own houses or land6. In 1855, the remaining 20% of the parish was owned by ‘Her Majesty’ and on lease to the Admiralty and to the Ordnance (10%), and there were just three freehold plots of land in the Borough of Devonport.7

Historian Ann Bond notes that “It was not until 1885 that the first freeholder was created when Surgeon-General Elliott purchased the land on which No 1 Albermarle Villas, Stoke stood, from the Lord of the Manor, Sir John St Aubyn.”8

This concentration of land ownership gave the St Aubyn Estate significant political and financial influence in the area, and they imposed many restrictions on building, ownership and improvement of the land.9 By the late 1890s, local developers such as the Devonport Dockyard and District Workmen’s Dwellings Company (who built low-rent & low-cost homes for their members – dockyard artizan workers – in Ford) were charged increasingly high prices by the Estate to buy portions of land.10

The Manor Office, as viewed from Chapel Street, Devonport (2018 – Google Street View)

You can still view the building from which local St Aubyn Estate business was conducted via the Manor Office in Devonport – a Grade II listed building that still stands in what is now Barrack Street.

Their names are everywhere!

The St Aubyn family name still appears in many places in the local area around Stoke, Morice Town & Ford.

  • St Aubyn Road / St Aubyn Avenue / St Aubyn Masonic Hall
  • St Levan Park / St Levan Road / St Levan Inn – descendants of the St Aubyn family, the Lords St Levan11
  • Wingfield Road / Wingfield Way – family name of Elizabeth St Aubyn (nee Wingfield – b. -1796)12
How did other streets in Stoke, Morice Town & Ford get their names?
Find out about other Local Histories & Mysteries!

Contributors:

  • Rachel Dobbs

References:

  1. House of the Dragon: Where is High Tide and Driftmark filming location in Cornwall and in Westeros? (2022) https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/celebs-tv/house-dragon-high-tide-driftmark-7605926 ↩︎
  2. St Michael’s Mount, 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica – https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/St_Michael%27s_Mount ↩︎
  3. ST. AUBYN, John (c.1613-84), of Clowance, Cornw. – Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1660-1690, ed. B.D. Henning, (1983) – https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1660-1690/member/st-aubyn-john-1613-84 ↩︎
  4. The feudal system – BBC Bitesize https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zct4r2p#zbwx2v4 ↩︎
  5. Ann Bond (2014) Working-class housing in Plymouth 1870-1914 [PhD Thesis] – Page 29 – https://researchportal.plymouth.ac.uk/en/studentTheses/working-class-housing-in-plymouth-1870-1914 ↩︎
  6. Ann Bond (2014) Working-class housing in Plymouth 1870-1914 [PhD Thesis] – Page 29 – https://researchportal.plymouth.ac.uk/en/studentTheses/working-class-housing-in-plymouth-1870-1914 ↩︎
  7. Ann Bond (2014) Working-class housing in Plymouth 1870-1914 [PhD Thesis] – Page 23 – https://researchportal.plymouth.ac.uk/en/studentTheses/working-class-housing-in-plymouth-1870-1914 ↩︎
  8. Ann Bond (2014) Working-class housing in Plymouth 1870-1914 [PhD Thesis] – Page 23 – https://researchportal.plymouth.ac.uk/en/studentTheses/working-class-housing-in-plymouth-1870-1914 ↩︎
  9. Ann Bond (2014) Working-class housing in Plymouth 1870-1914 [PhD Thesis] – Page 52-53 – https://researchportal.plymouth.ac.uk/en/studentTheses/working-class-housing-in-plymouth-1870-1914 ↩︎
  10. Ann Bond (2014) Working-class housing in Plymouth 1870-1914 [PhD Thesis] – Page 52-53 – https://researchportal.plymouth.ac.uk/en/studentTheses/working-class-housing-in-plymouth-1870-1914  ↩︎
  11. St Aubyn Family Tree – archived via Wayback Machine – https://web.archive.org/web/20101015234221/http://www.stmichaelsmount.co.uk/Our-Island-Story/The-St-Aubyn-Family-tree.aspx ↩︎
  12. Elizabeth St Aubyn – https://www.geni.com/people/Elizabeth-St-Aubyn/6000000007343236370 ↩︎