File:StawellMonument 1674 BoveyTraceyChurch Devon Complete.PNG

English: Mural monument to Sir John Stawell (1625-1669), Bovey Tracey Church, Devon. Inscribed in Latin as follows:

• M(emoriae) S(acrum) D(omino) Johanni Stawell Equitis Aurati qui morti succubuit anno 1669 aetatis suae 44. Nec non Johannis filii eius natu tertii qui hinc migravit Jan. 29 1674 aetatis suae 20. Pie posuit Gulielmus Stawell filius solum superstes. ("Sacred to the memory of Sir John Stawell, Knight Bachelor, who lay down to death in the year 1669, (in the year) of his age the 44th. And not least to John his third-born son who migrated hence on 29 January 1674 of his age 20. William Stawell, the only son surviving, placed this piously".)
  

At top are shown the arms of Stawell: Gules, a cross lozengy argent, with crest: On a chapeau gules turned up ermine, a falcon rising argent, with motto above, illegible. The row of three oval cartouches above the tablet show the arms of Stawell impaling the arms of various wives, badly worn. The leftmost cartouche appears to show Stawell impaling Per chevron azure and argent, in chief two falcons rising or (Stephens of Eastington, Glos.), for Sarah Stephens, wife of Sir John Stawell (d.1669).

This William Stawell (c.1651-1702), of Parke, Bovey Tracey, was a nine-times a Member of Parliament for Ashburton. (History of Parliament biography of "STAWELL, William (c.1651-1702), of Parke, Bovey Tracey, Devon"[1]). The senior line of the Stawell family was seated at Cothelstone in Somerset and another branch was seated at Sutcombe and Wike Stowell, Devon.

Sir John Stawell of Parke purchased Torre Abbey in Devon and was the owner in 1661 as the engraving of that date by Wenceslaus Hollar confirms in a dedicatory canton. He founded the "Stawell Gift", comprising £10 per annum to be spent on linen cloth for fifty poor people in the parish chosen by the trustees and distributed on Christmas Day after the morning service. (Source: PPT – ‘Statement of Significance’ re Church of St. Peter, St. Paul and St. Thomas of Canterbury, Bovey Tracey, pp.2-3[2]) South Porch: The roof dates from the 15th century and was restored in 1660 by

Sir John Stawell and the Rev. James Forbes – their arms are shown as corbels on the ends of the arch around the doorway (Source: PPT – ‘Statement of Significance’, p.4