This manor of Tacabre, or Takkebere, which appears to have been very
extensive, is said by Mr. Lysons to have been bestowed by King Edward
the Third on the Abbey of St. Mary of Graces, which appears in
Tanner’s Notitia Monastica to have been founded by that king in the
years 1349-50, in the new church-yard of the Holy Trinity, eastward of
the Tower of London. The manor has since acquired the name of
Merrifield, probably Maryfield, from the monastery. It was for many
years the property of Gilberts, a branch from the Gilberts of Crompton
Castle, near Torbay. The only daughter of the last Mr. Gilbert, of
Tackbere, married Mr. Cotton Amy, of Botreaux Castle, who left two
daughters; Anne, who survived her sister, but died unmarried after a
long insanity; and Grace, married to Mr. Jonathan Phillipps, of
Camelford, and of Newport, near Launceston, who was subsequently
knighted in 1786, on the memorable occasion afforded by Margaret
Nicholson. This lady had several children: two daughters were alive at
the time of her decease in 1788, but they both died in twelve months
after their mother, and Tackbere has ascended through the two female
lines, and become vested in the right heirs-at-law of Mr. Samuel
Gilbert, the father of Mrs. Amy.
The portion of this parish which is situated in Cornwall,
measures no more than 851 statute acres.
Annual value of the Real Property, as £. _s._ _d._
returned to Parliament in 1815 719 0 0
Poor Rate in 1831 80 1 0
Population, { in 1801, | in 1811, | in 1821, | in 1831,
{ 191 | 176 | 238 | 250;
giving an increase of just 31 per cent. in 30 years.
Present Vicar, the Rev. Thos. Hockin Kingdon, B.D.
Doctor Boase has not noticed this small division of a parish. The
geology will probably be stated with that of some parish adjoining.
[21] The Domesday surname, however, is still nearer to the
modern orthography; being, not Reginald, but Ruald.――EDIT.