Page:Devon and Cornwall Queries Vol 9 1917.djvu/297

 Devon and Cornwall Notes and Queries. 233 194. The Carew-Mohun Chimneypiece. — In a summer- house in the grounds of Bickleigh Rectory, near Tiverton, there is a very interesting piece of stone carving, a chimney- piece, which the Rector, the Rev. W. G. Carew, tells me was brought there from Bickleigh Court, the old home of the Carew family. At each end is a lion supporting an heraldic shield ; the dexter shield bears the arms of Carew : Or three lions passant sable ; the sinister shield again bears the Carew arms im- paling Mohun : Or a cross engrailed sable. The lions on this shield have been much rubbed and are indistinct, so they do not show well in the illustration. Sir Henry Carew, who died in 1681, married Dorothy, daughter of Sir Henry Mohun, of Boconnoc, Cornwall. It may fairly be assumed that the chimneypiece was carved during their married life to commemorate the achievements of a former member of the family. Sir Peter Carew. The carvings appear to refer to the " Prayer Book " rebeUion of 1549, when the inhabitants of certain villages in the neighbourhood of Exeter refused to accept the reformed Prayer Book with the services in English, and demanded that the church services should remain as in the reign of Henry VIII, That king had indeed decreed that no alter- ation was to be made until his son Edward VI. was of age ; he was at this time only eleven, so the insurgents were to some extent justified. News of the disturbance reached the Royal Council, and Sir Peter Carew and his uncle, Sir Gawen Carew, were sent to Devon to suppress it, peaceably if possible ; if not, by forcible means. Hooker, who was an eye-witness of the events he records in his History of Exeter, gives a minute description of the whole affair, which is found in the first section of the history, edited by Professor Harte, and published by the Devon and Cornwall Record Society. The main incidents of the rebellion are very well known, and there is no need to recapitulate them here. Strange to say, the episodes which appear on the stone are all minor matters. All the thrilling events recorded by Hooker, the burning of the barns at Crediton, the fighting at Clyst St. Mary, and various desperate affrays and doughty deeds at