Chagford, Devon
Historical Description
Chagford, a small town and a parish in Devonshire, with a post, money order, and telegraph office under Newton Ahhot. Acreage, 7459; population, 1460. The town stands on elevated ground, near the river Teign, on the skirts of Dartmoor, 4 miles WNW of Moreton-Hampstead railway station, and 12 SW of Crediton. It has been much improved, waterworks were established in 1880, and it is lighted by electricity. There is a reading-room with a good library. Chagford House and Whyddon Park are in the neighbourhood. It is a picturesque old place amid romantic environs, in a bracing climate, salubrious during winter, and attractive to tourists and to invalids in summer. It was made a stannary town in 1328, and it sustained an attack by the Royalists in the wars of Charles I. The Three Crowns Inn at it was built as a mansion by Judge Whyddon in the time of James I., and served afterwards as the dower-house of Whyddon Park. Fairs are held on the first Thursday of May, September, and October, and the last Thursday in March. The manor belonged to Dodo the Saxon; was given by the Conqueror to the Bishop of Coutances, and passed in the time of Henry III. to Sir Hugh de Chagford, and afterwards to Judge Whyddon. Several ancient British antiquities occur among the hills. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Exeter; net value, £500 with residence. The church is a good ancient structure, with a square embattled tower, and contains a grand monument of Judge Whyddon. There are Wesleyan Methodist 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 | Chagford St. Michael | |
| Hundred | Wonford | |
| Poor Law union | Oakhampton |
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 Chagford
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 Chagford from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Chagford (St. Michael))
Maps
Online maps of Chagford 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.