Beer Alston, Devon
Historical Description
Beer-Alston, a small ancient town, formerly a borough, in Beer-Ferris parish, Devonshire. It stands on an eminence overlooking the rivers Tamar and Tavy, about 5 miles from Tavistock station on the G.W.R. It has a post and money order office; telegraph office is at Calstock. Beer-Alston has also a chapel of ease and chapels for dissenters, and it long had a weekly market. It was given by William the Conqueror to a branch of the Alencon family, whence it took the name of Beer-Alenyon, corrupted into Beer-Alston, and it passed to successively the Ferrers, the Champernouns, the Blounts, the Maynards, and the Edgcumbes. It was a borough by prescription, and it sent two members to Parliament from the time of Elizabeth till disfranchised by the Act of 1832.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
| Ancient County | Devon | |
| Civil parish | Beer | |
| Hundred | Roborough | |
| Poor Law union | Tavistock |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Beer Alston from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Beer-Alston)
- History, Gazetteer and Directory of Devon, by William White, 2nd edition, 1878-9
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following newspapers covering Devon online:
Visitations Heraldic
The Visitation of the County of Devon in the year 1564, with additions from the earlier visitation of 1531, is online.
The Visitations of the County of Devon, comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564, & 1620, with additions by Lieutant-Colonel J.L. Vivian, published for the author by Henry S. Eland, Exeter 1895 is online.