A prominent Blackawton family the names of whose members appear frequently in the subsidy rolls, the manorial court rolls and other records for at least 200 years between c.1525 and the early eighteenth century. John Peke married Alis Sparke, daughter of Thomas Sparke of Blackawton. In Blackawton Church there is the well-preserved tomb of the Rev'd Richard Sparke, who was buried 4 April 1700.