THE UPPER TEIGN ON CANVAS

By Colin Burbidge and Jane Elliott

During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries artists increasingly came to Dartmoor to paint the wild and rugged scenery. Indeed, some would say these artists were responsible for helping to make the area a popular tourist destination. The Victorian artist William Widgery was painting scenes along the Teign river at just the time that St Olaves was being created by John Ingle. His oil painting of Fingle bridge, just a few miles downstream from St Olaves can be seen in the Royal Albert Memorial Museum in Exeter. He and his son Frederick Widgery were noted for their ability to capture the soft damp quality of the Dartmoor light.

The following report from the Exeter & Plymouth Telegram on 18 April 1870 gives a sense of the popularity of William Widgery’s work in the late nineteenth century.

Devon & Exeter Graphic Society  Art Exhibition

A share of the honours of this exhibition are due to Mr. William Widgery, who is host himself in any collection of modern Devonshire pictures. He has a fine conspicuous oil painting hung opposite the entrance to the gallery, a fair example of his style of landscape, illustrative of the scenery of the upper waters of the Teign. Mr.Widgery has, in a manner, established his right to distribute among the lovers of English landscape-painting, glowing views of that previously almost undiscovered artist's paradise. No picture-fancier travelling through beauteous Devon in these days would consider he had done his duty by himself or by the county if he left the west country without, carrying away with him a memento of the bright visions of the higher shallows of the Teign from Widgery's easel. The tall painting of luxuriant greenwood, precipitous and rugged declivity, ferns and falling water, which occupies the chief place among those which he has contributed to this gallery, is taken from a spot near Chagford, not likely to be found by the tourist unless he availed himself of the aid of an artist-guide.

William Widgery “the Upper Teign from Gidleigh Park”

© Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery, Exeter City Council.

There are many such secluded bits of nature, too romantic for common reality, in that region, scarcely ever seen except by those who dwell in the remote villages upon the outskirts of Dartmoor. Mr. Widgery, by long study of this description of scenery, knows how realize it upon the canvas as to bring away just the impression it makes upon the mind. Anyone who had wandered about that country would know, when he saw this dribbling of water down the hill, the green hue of the sunlight through the tall trees, the bits of wildflower, the rocky basin wherein the stream widens and rests and gets smooth for a moment before it descends again, and the limited peep of dappled blue sky straight above, that he  was looking upon a piece of Devon scenery, and those who are at all familiar with Devonshire art in our day would recognize in it the hand of Widgery.

William Widgery was born in North Molton where his father was a farm labourer. He came to Exeter as a young man and at first worked as a builder. In his spare time, he copied paintings by famous Victorian artists such as Sir Edwin Landseer. Dartmoor was his major inspiration, especially the area around Lydford where in 1880 he built a house and studio.

The Upper Teign - Children of the Mist

 Sourced by Colin Burbidge

The following beautifully composed extract describing the Upper Teign, is from Eden Phillpotts’ book “Children of the Mist”, set around a mill near Chagford, it was published in 1898 the first in an 18-book cycle based in and around Dartmoor.

Phillpotts was born in 1862 in India and died at Broadclyst in Devon in 1960. Phillpotts was for many years the President of the Dartmoor Preservation Association and cared passionately about the conservation of Dartmoor.

Chapter 4 “By the River”

“The wooded valley lay under a grey and breezy forenoon; swaying alders marked each intermittent gust with a silver ripple of upturned foliage, and still reaches of the river similarly answered the wind with hurrying flickers and furrows of dimpled light. Through its transparent flood, where the waters ran in shadow and escaped reflections, the river revealed a bed of ruddy brown and rich amber. This harmonious colouring proceeded from the pebbly bottom, where a medley of warm agate tones spread and shimmered, like some far-reaching mosaic beneath the crystal.

Looking into Blacksmith’s pool from Milfordleigh Woods

Above Teign’s shrunken current extended oak and ash, while her banks bore splendid concourse of the wild water-loving dwellers in that happy valley. meadowsweet nodded creamy crests; hemlock and fool’s parsley and seeding willowherb crowded together beneath far-scattered filigree of honeysuckles and brambles with berries, some ripe, some red; while the scarlet corals of briar and white bryony gemmed every riotous trailing thicket, dene, and dingle along the river’s brink; and in the grassy spaces between rose little chrysoprase steeples of wood sage all set in shining fern. Upon the boulders in midstream subaqueous mosses, now revealed and starved by the drought, died hard, and the seeds of grasses, figworts, and persicarias thrust up flower and foliage, flourishing in unwonted spots from which the next freshet would rudely tear them. 

Through these scenes the Teign rolled drowsily and with feeble pulses. Upon one bank rose the confines of Whiddon; on the other, abrupt, and interspersed with gulleys of shattered shale, ascended huge slopes whereon a whole summer of sunshine had scorched the heather to dry death. But fading purple still gleamed here and there in points and splashes, and the lesser furze, mingling therewith, scattered gold upon the tremendous acclivities even to the crown of fir-trees that towered remote and very blue upon the uplifted skyline. Swallows, with white breasts flashing, circled over the river, and while their elevation above the water appeared at times tremendous, the abrupt steepness of the gorge was such that the birds almost brushed the hillside with their wings. A sledge, laden with the timber of barked sapling oaks, creaked and jingled over the rough road beside the stream; a man called to his horses and a dog barked beside him; then they disappeared, and the spacious scene was again empty, save for its manifold wild life and music.”

 Reproduced by kind permission of The Royal Literary Fund

The Chase

by Colin Burbidge

Whatever your views on hunting, in the 19th century it was an integral part of rural Devon life. It was enjoyed by gentry, clergy, farmers, labourers, and tourists. It also gave work to many in impoverished areas of the county. This is an account of one day’s hunt on the Upper Teign with the Cheriton Otter Hounds, on Wednesday 17th May 1893, as recorded in the “Western Times.” 

Rushford Bridge

The rain on Monday and Tuesday night had considerably swelled the streams and given a deep tint of brown to the water. Wednesday’s meet was at Rushford Bridge with a good field. We went by the main stream to Chagford Bridge and after a climb we passed through Murchington and down to the Blackaton Brook. After drawing for a mile, we found no signs, so a return was made to the river. The Rev. A.G. Barker who presently resides at Gidleigh had an encouraging report of otters in his waters and more than this he had made preparations for the refreshment of the field, and a few minutes were spent in the consumption of cold viands and excellent liquors. Meantime the Master, Mr. Budgett found his hounds growing more interested and a challenge from an old hound proved an otter was not far ahead. Feathering through the shrubs that clothed the banks of the rocky stream, the pack pushed through the rustic bridge and up to the great boulders. At an old and very formidable clitter the hounds marked again, and the sharp yapping of the terriers apprised us of an otter within. A few minutes of suspense followed, then the gliding shape of an otter was seen in a small pool; and the hounds closed in and took to the water. On the larger boulders experienced watchers kept their eyes fixed on the current, and soon hallooes arose as the otter showed itself for a few seconds. The hounds clamoured, the horn rang out, and it made for a big boulder in mid-stream.

Blackaton Brook

A good view as it came through shallow water showed an otter of about 16lbs weight and a lightish colour. The hounds barked but the otter was in a place of temporary security, and only the terriers could get anywhere near it. Some time passed but this otter could not be moved. Blowing the hounds away, Mr. Budgett left the hovel for a time to give the otter a chance of emerging. But even this plan failed, though when the hounds returned they showed plainly by their music that the otter had not left. Again, the terriers were tried and again the otter refused to budge. As we went down a forward watcher viewed a cub otter, from this we inferred we had been hunting the bitch. Where the dog otter had concealed himself was difficult to say. The charm of hunting in this wild valley, is always the mitigation of disappointment. There are few, if any, parts of the district hunted by Mr. Cheriton’s pack that can compare in natural beauty with these upper waters of the Teign.

The Upper Teign in May

 “clitter”: a large, fractured boulder. 

Old Dick Perrott: A chip off the block

by Colin Burbidge

Richard Perrott, eldest son of James Perrott was born in 1840. He would follow in his Father’s footsteps as a wheelwright, Dartmoor guide and a supreme fisherman.

The Upper Teigh River near Chagford

 In a 1932 interview with the “Western Times “he recalled helping his father as a youngster take the Rev. Alfred Earle (later Dean of Exeter and Bishop of Marlborough) on a day’s fishing on the Teign. Richard carried the Reverend’s lunch basket and rod, and they caught 62 trout that day. As he got into his carriage, he gave Richard half a sovereign “I had never been so rich in my life” he declared. In the same interview he recalled that on his 80th birthday, he walked 8 miles and caught 18 trout.

“Trout are not so numerous as in the old days. They were more plentiful when the lead mines at Christow prevented the salmon from getting into the upper reaches. On one occasion I killed 1000 trout in 10 days and on one day alone, 122. I started at 5 a.m. and finished at 2p.m. It is not the neatest fly that kills. The modern fly is too small. Fish rise to them but do not take.”

 The cause of the pollution in the Teign, was the Wheal Exmouth mine at Christow. Developed in 1850 to mine lead and barytes. At its height it had 70 underground workers.

In 1878 the “Western Times” devoted a full column, to this problem.

“No fish, of course could withstand this deadly torrent of noxious washings of virgin ore.

A short period of such pestilence sufficed to destroy all animal life in the doomed river, and as no salmon were able to make their way from the sea to their breeding grounds, the Teign might be struck off the roll of England’s salmon rivers”.

Due to cheaper imports, Wheal Exmouth at Christow was shut down in 1880.

His finest skill was the making of small, intricate flies for fishermen. Among his customers for flies were, Charles Dickens, Baring Gould, Lord Grey of Falloden, R.D. Blackmore and Charles Kingsley.

In 1934, 2 years before his death, Old Dick read of the forthcoming marriage of Princess Marina of Greece to the Duke of Kent. He took it upon himself to make a salmon and trout fly in royal colours, and sent them, in a presentation box to the Princess.

He duly received this royal reply:

“The Duchess of Kent desires me to thank Mr. Richard Perrott for his wedding gift of trout and salmon flies. Her Royal Highness is greatly touched by the gift, and amazed that Mr. Perrott should be able to do such fine work without the aid of glasses”.

 Richard Perrott died on May 1st, 1936 aged 96.

'Old Perrott' - A Chagford Worthy

by Colin Burbidge

James Perrott was born in the parish of Throwleigh in 1815. The family moved shortly after to Chagford, where he remained his entire life, until his death in 1895. According to Edward Barnwell’s Notes on the Perrott Family, he was from an ancient family of Norman ancestry.

 In 1839 he married Mary Harvey, they would go on to have four sons and three daughters. His wife’s family were descended from Sir Robert Jason, whose 1588 coat-of-arms James Perrott is said to have kept on the wall of his home.

 Census records show him as a wheelwright, and later three of his sons also as worked wheelwrights. It is not until the 1891 census that he is recorded as a Fishing tackle manufacturer. However, his son, Richard later recalled in an article in the Western Times that they would make fishing rods from old lancewood spokes salvaged from damaged or old coach wheels.

 James was for over 50 years a Dartmoor touring guide, a renown angler and a maker of fine fishing tackle and flies, such as Blue Grizzle, Red Palmer, Blue Upright and Red Maxwell.

In 1869 he joined the newly formed Upper Teign Fishing Association, chaired by the Earl of Devon and including many of the riparian landowners of the Upper Teign, including Rev. John Ingle, owner of St. Olaves, Murchington. Perrott carried out the role of water bailiff for them and supervised the care and condition of the river and its banks, in addition to selling Day Permits to anglers.

 He was a supreme angler and encouraged many a well-known client. The writer Charles Kingsley was a regular companion, as was novelist R.D. Blackmore who fictionalised Perrott in some of his novels, and he is also featured in Fisherman’s Fancies by F.B. Doveton. On their golden wedding in October 1889 Mr. & Mrs. Perrott received a congratulatory address from the townspeople of Chagford.

Upon the news of his death in May 1895 the editor of the Western Morning News launched into fulsome praise:

 “Rugged, frank and of cheery disposition, his sterling worth caused him to be respected by those who made his acquaintance. There was not a tor or hill to which he could not conduct his visitors, nor a stream in which he knew not the pools and stickles most likely to afford sport. A deft fisherman himself and entering keenly into the pleasures of the gentle art, he was always desirous that those who accompanied him should realise the delight of returning with a well filled creel”.

 In Chagford churchyard there is a polished granite tomb, erected to the memory of this Dartmoor worthy, by the Rev. A.G. Barker, one of Ingle’s successor’s as owner of St. Olaves, Murchington.

 His son, Richard carried on his father’s work as Dartmoor guide, expert angler, and tackle maker throughout a long life – he died aged 96 years.

 For a fuller account see Devon perspectives.