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Musbury, Lancashire

Historical Description

Musbury, a village and a parish in East Devonshire. The village stands in the valley of the Axe, 2 miles from Seaton Junction station on the L. & S.W.R., 3 SW by S of Axminster, 3 NNE of the mouth of the Axe, and 4 W of the boundary of Dorsetshire. It has a post and money order office under Axminster; telegraph office, Colyton. Acreage of parish, 2229; population, 460. Ashe Hall, about a mile north of the village, once the property of the Drakes, and the birthplace of John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, whose mother was Elizabeth Drake, is now a farmhouse. Musbury takes its name from a high and long hill, the commencement of a plateau which reaches to the border of Dorsetshire. It is a conspicuous object from the valley, and is called Musbury Castle, the Saxon interpretation of Mai Sun,, Mevigdown, which name remains in part of the village called Maiden Hayne. Scarcely any trace of the old camp, which ones according to tradition held a Roman legion, now remains. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Exeter, and the extant list of its rectors begins in 1260; value, £225, but has neither a rectory nor glebe. Though a church certainly existed here in Saxon times no trace of it remains. The present church was, with the exception of the tower which has a peal of five bells, restored from the foundation by the rector, the Rev. H. W. Thrupp, M.A., in 1875-76, and consists of nave, chancel, a north aisle, and south aisle, called the Drakes Aisle, being a lengthening of their mortuary chapel, in which stands a much visited monument consisting of six life-sized kneeling figures in the costume of the days of Elizabeth. The church is in perfect condition, and is adorned with stained windows and many gifts, and has a fine organ. The parish is one of great variety and much beauty, and constantly visited. It is entirely a dairy parish. The parish council consists of seven members and sends one to the district council.

Transcribed from The Comprehensive Gazetteer of England & Wales, 1894-5

Administration

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

Ancient CountyLancashire 
HundredBlackburn 
Poor Law unionHaslingden 

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


Church Records

Ancestry.co.uk, in association with Lancashire Archives, have images of the Parish Registers for Lancashire online.


Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Musbury from the following:


Land and Property

The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Lancashire is available to browse.


Newspapers and Periodicals

The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Lancashire newspapers online: