Bigbury, Devon
Historical Description
Bigbury, a village, a parish, and a bay in Devonshire. The village stands on the right side of the river Avon, 1½ mile from the bay, 3½ miles S of Modbury, and 9 S of Ivybridge station on the G.W.R. The parish also includes the hamlet of St Ann's Chape). It has a post office under Kingsbridge; money order and telegraph office, Aveton Gifford. Acreage, 2885; population of the civil parish, 365; of the ecclesiastical, 355. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Exeter; net value, £340 with residence. The church is Perpendicular English, with tower and spire, and is good. It was restored in 1872. There is a Baptist chapel. The bay extends from Bolt-Tail to Stoke-Point; measures 7½ miles across the entrance, and 3¾ thence to the head; receives the rivers Avon and Erme, is beset with rocks, and very dangerous in navigation; has several coves in its coast; and presents a variety of picturesque views.
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 | Bigbury St. Lawrence | |
Hundred | Ermington | |
Poor Law union | Kingsbridge |
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 Bigbury
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Bigbury from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Bigbury (St. Lawrence))
- History, Gazetteer and Directory of Devon, by William White, 2nd edition, 1878-9
Maps
Online maps of Bigbury 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:
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.