Harberton, Devon

Historical Description

Harberton, a village and a parish in Devonshire. The village stands between the rivers Harborne and Dart, 3 miles SW of Totnes station on the G.W.R., and has a post and money order office under Totnes; telegraph office, Totnes. The parish contains also the hamlets of Harbertonford, Luscombe, Belsford, East Leigh, West Leigh, Little Engle-bourne, and Great Englebonrne. Acreage, 5606; population of the civil parish, 1278; of the ecclesiastical, 678. The manor belonged to the Valletorts, but was afterwards dismembered. There is a large edge-tool manufactory on the Harborne river. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Exeter; value, £340 with residence. Patron, the Dean and Chapter of Exeter. The church is Later English, and one of the most interesting in Devonshire; consists of nave, aisle, and chancel, and contains a handsome carved oak screen and a richly-carved stone pulpit. The vicarage of Harbertonford is a separate benefice. There is a Wesleyan chapel. In this parish are rocks of excessively hard trapstone, and some blue slate quarries.

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.

Church Records

The register of baptisms dates from the year 1623; marriages, 1625; burials, 1621.

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 Harberton

Churches

Church of England

St. Andrew (parish church)

The church of St. Andrew is a fine edifice of stone in the Decorated and Perpendicular styles, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles, south porch with parvise and a lofty western tower with pinnacles, containing a clock with two dials and chimes, the gift of Sir R. Harvey kt. placed in 1898, and bells, all cast by Thomas Bilbie in 1762, and re-hung, 1896, by Mr. Harry Stokes, of Woodbury, the 4th bell being at the same time re-cast by Messrs. Mears and Stainbank, London: the chancel retains three canopied stone stalls and a piscina, and there are two mural brasses on black marble, erected by the late Major Trist, of Tristford, in memory of his two sons, who died in India and the West Indies: the stone pulpit is octagonal, richly carved with foliage, and has figures of apostles in niches: the fine wood screen, 41 feet in length, and containing eleven bays exclusive of doors, was thoroughly restored at the cost of the late Mrs, Pendarves, of Tristford, about 1870, and there are two light parcloses: in 1896 new windows were erected on the south side to the memory of Major Trist; and a mural tablet erected to the Rev. R. Bartholomew, late vicar, who died April 18, 1896, after a residence of 37 years: the font is Anglo-Norman. In the churchyard is a large marble mausoleum belonging to the Harvey family, and surmounted by a tall cross; within are three marble sarcophagi, one of which contains the remains of Lady Harvey (wife); another that of Robert Godefroy (Tito), son and heir of Sir Robert Harvey kt. who died at school in 1895, and also bears a life-size recumbent effigy, executed by Hems, of Exeter; another contains the remains of Alfred Northey, third son of Sir Robert Harvey, and to each of these memorial windows have been placed in the church: in the churchyard also stands a cross, restored by Hems, at the cost of Sir R. Harvey: in 1898 a reredos, of alabaster and mosiac, was presented by the Hon. Mrs. and Miss Dorothy Jervoise Smith, who were responsible for the provision in 1904 of a new lectern and of new choir stalls in 1907: in 1911 the organ was rebuilt and re-erected in the Englebourne chapel, the western archway opened out, a new screen erected, and the gallery taken down.

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 Harberton from the following:

• Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Harberton (St. Andrew))

Maps

Online maps of Harberton 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:

• Western Times
• Exeter and Plymouth Gazette
• Western Morning News
• North Devon Journal
• Exeter Flying Post

Villages, Hamlets, &c

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.