St Marychurch, Devon
Historical Description
Marychurch, St, a town and a large parish in Devonshire. The town overlooks Babbacombe Bay, 3½ miles from Torquay station on the G.W.R., and has a post, money order, and telegraph office under Torquay. From a village in 1850 it has grown to a small town governed by a local board, with a town-hall, and has a number of well-built villas, several hotels, and well-paved streets. The civil parish includes Babbacombe, part of St Matthias district, Torquay; Shiphay, Edginswell, Hele, and Barton. Acreage, 2656; population of the civil parish, 6849; of the ecclesiastical, 5143. There are marble quarries in the neighbourhood affording occupation to many workmen. Watcombe Glen, Codicombe, Babbacombe, Anstis Cove, and the Downs, are places of interest in the parish. The sea coaat is very fine and varied, the red conglomerate and the limestone cliffs, making a delightful variety of scenery. The living is a vicarage, with the ancient chapelry and parish of Coffinswell attached, in the diocese of Exeter; gross value, £300 with residence. Patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Exeter. The church of St Mary is a very fine lofty building with clerestory. It has been rebuilt at a cost of £10,000. The first church is said to have been Saxon, appears in the Domesday Survey, and is said to have been the earliest in Devonshire; if so, there must have been at least three churches on the present site. The vicarage of Babbacombe is a separate benefice. There are Baptist and Wesleyan chapels.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
Ancient County | Devon | |
Hundred | Haytor | |
Poor Law union | Newton-Abbott |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
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 St Marychurch from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Mary, St., Church)
Maps
Online maps of St Marychurch 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
Comb PaffordVisitations 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.