Arlington, Devon

Historical Description

Arlington, a parish in Devon, near East Down, 6 miles NNE of Barnstaple station on the G.W.R. and L. & S.W.R. It has a post office under Barnstaple; money order office, Comb Martin; telegraph office, Bratton Fleming. Acreage, 2590; population of the civil parish, 238; of the ecclesiastical, with Loxhore, 430. The manor belongs to the Chichester family, and came into their possession in the time of Henry VII.; Arlington Court, the family seat, is a very handsome edifice. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Exeter; value, £305. The church, with the exception of the tower, has been rebuilt; it is in the Gothic style, and contains many memorials of the Chichesters.

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 parish register of baptisms dates from the year 1640; marriages, 1671; burials, 1598.

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 Arlington

Churches

Church of England

St. James (parish church)

The parish church of St. James, rebuilt in 1846, under the direction of Mr. Gould, architect, is an edifice in the gothic style, consisting of chancel, nave, south porch and an embattled western tower, with pinnacles, containing 6 bells, all re-cast in 1855: in the church is a fine but somewhat mutilated effigy of a lady in wimple and flowing robes, and wearing a headdress of the Henry IV. period; it has been assumed to represent a member of the Raleigh family, who held this place in the 14th century, the lady having married John Chichester in 1384: the stained east window is a memorial to the Rev. J.H.J. Chichester, 60 years rector, who died in 1884: there are mural tablets to John Chichester, ob. 1644; Robert Chichester, ob. 1622, and several others to the Chichester family of more recent date: a new organ was erected in 1891: the church affords 200 sittings.

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 Arlington from the following:

• Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Arlington (St. James))
• History, Gazetteer and Directory of Devon, by William White, 2nd edition, 1878-9

Maps

Online maps of Arlington 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.