Buckland Monachorum, Devon

Historical Description

Buckland-Monachorum, a village and a parish in Devonshire. The village stands near the river Tavey, 1½ mile from Horrabridge station on the G.W.R., and 4 miles S by E of Tavistock. It has a post office under Horrabridge (R.S.O.), which is the money order and telegraph office. It was formerly a market-town. The parish comprises 6715 acres; population of the civil parish, 1414; of the ecclesiastical, 1159. The manor belongs to the Lopes family. Buckland Abbey, a Tudor edifice was the favourite residence of Sir Francis Drake, the famous navigator, and contains some interesting souvenirs of him. The house is still occupied by one of his descendants. A Cistercian abbey was founded in the parish in 1278 by Amicia, countess-dowager of Devonshire, castellated by one of its abbots, given at the dissolution to Richard Greyfield, and garrisoned during the Civil War. Small but interesting remains of the buildings still exist. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Exeter; net value, £277 with residence. The church is Perpendicular English and cruciform, with a tower, and contains carved old seats, a Decorated ceiling, and a monument by Bacon to Lord Heathfield, the defender of Gibraltar. A Baptist chapel is in the village, and a chapel of ease and a Wesleyan chapel are at Horrabridge.

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

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 Buckland Monachorum

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 Buckland Monachorum from the following:

• Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Buckland-Monachorum (Holy Trinity))

Maps

Online maps of Buckland Monachorum 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.