Bicton, Devon
Historical Description
Bicton, a parish in Devonshire, on the river Otter, near the coast, 4 miles WSW of Sidmouth station on the L. & S.W.R. It includes the hamlet of Yettington, and its post town is Budleigh-Salterton, under Exeter; money order and telegraph office, East Budleigh. Acreage, 1305; population, 121. The property belongs to the Clinton family. The manor was given by William the Conqueror to W. Porto; went through various families to Sir Robert Dennys, and passed by marriage to Sir Henry Rolle, the ancestor of Lord Rolle. Bicton House, the family seat, is an elegant mansion, in one of the finest parks in England. The gardens were noted by the late Mr. London as among the best he had ever seen; an arboretum in the park is one of the choicest and largest in the kingdom; and there is a noble avenue of auracarias. The jail for the county was provided in terms of the tenure of the estate, and stood in the parish till 1518. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Exeter; net value, £204 with residence. The church is a handsome edifice, erected in 1851. The previous church was a curious old structure, and part of it is now a mausoleum, connected by a cloister with the ancient tower.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
Ancient County | Devon | |
Ecclesiastical parish | Bicton Holy Trinity | |
Hundred | East Budleigh | |
Poor Law union | St. Thomas |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
Findmypast, in association with the South West Heritage Trust, Parochial Church Council, and Devon Family History Society have the Baptisms, Banns, Marriages, and Burials online for Bicton
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Bicton from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Bicton (Holy Trinity))
- History, Gazetteer and Directory of Devon, by William White, 2nd edition, 1878-9
Maps
Online maps of Bicton are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- OpenStreetMap.
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following newspapers covering Devon online:
Villages, Hamlets, &c
YettingtonVisitations 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.