Colyton, Devon

Historical Description

Colyton, a small town and a parish in Devonshire. The town stands on the river Coly, has a station on the L. & S.W.R., 150 miles from London and 5 SW of Axminster, and has a post, money order, and telegraph office, two chief inns, a parish church, three dissenting chapels, and a grammar school for boys, girls, and infants under a School Board. Of late years the town, which has several good streets with well-built houses, has steadily improved. The church is Later English; comprises nave, aisles, and chancel; has an interesting eastern window of stained glass; and contains monuments of the Courtenays, the Poles, the Yonges, Drakes, and others. Annual fairs are held on the third Tuesday in April and the second Tuesday in Oct. There are sawmills, a tannery, a butter factory, and a net-mending factory. Honiton lace is made. A royal force, while holding the town in the wars of Charles I., was attacked and defeated at it by a detachment of the Parliamentarians from Lyme. The parish includes also the tithing of Colyford. Acreage, 5368; population, 2152. The Courtenays were seated at Holcombe Castle, the Poles at Shute House, and the Yonges at Colyton Great House. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Exeter; gross value, tithe commuted at £460 with residence. Patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Exeter.

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 Colyton

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 Colyton from the following:

• Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Colyton, or Culliton (St. Andrew))

Maps

Online maps of Colyton 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.