Beaford, Devon
Historical Description
Beaford, anciently called Beauford, a parish in Devonshire, on the river Torridge, 5 miles SE of Torrington, and 6 WSW of Umberleigh station on the L. & S.W.R. It has a post and money order office (R.S.O.); telegraph office, Torrington. Acreage, 3295; population, 494. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Exeter; net value, £224 with residence. The church is an old-fashioned edifice with a low tower. It was restored and reseated in 1879. There are Baptist and Bible Christian chapels.
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 | Beaford All Saints | |
Hundred | Shebbear | |
Poor Law union | Torrington |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish register dates from the year 1653.
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 Beaford
Churches
Church of England
All Saints (parish church)

The church of All Saints is a building of stone in the Decorated style, consisting of chancel, nave, south aisle, south porch and a western tower erected in 1910 at a cost of £1,100 and containing 6 bells; the first is inscribed "Plebs ois plaudit ut me tam sepius audit;" the second "Est michi collatum IHS istud nomen amatum;" both in old English lettering; the tenor, dated 1720, weighs 6 cwt. and 3 qrs.; two of the old bells have been recast and 3 new ones added: the font is ancient, and there is some good carving in the roof: the church was restored and re-seated and the windows re-glazed in 1878-9, a new stone pulpit, a chancel screen, by Hems, of Exeter, lectern and reading desk being also erected at a cost of about £1,300: the stone pulpit and the chancel screen were both gifts of the late Archdeacon Furse: the Upcott aisle was restored at the expense of the late T. W. Snell esq.; the altar cloth and chancel fittings were given by the late rector, the Rev. Joseph Ray: there is a monument to John Sing, of Clement's Inn, London, 1667, and Thomas Sing, of Warham, 1692; and a tablet to Margaret, wife of Hugh Mill, a former rector of this church, 1686: over the south porch is an ancient sun dial: there are 250 sittings: the old stocks still remain in the churchyard.
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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 Beaford from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Beaford (All Saints))
- History, Gazetteer and Directory of Devon, by William White, 2nd edition, 1878-9
Maps
Online maps of Beaford 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.