Countisbury or Countesbury, Devon
Historical Description
Countisbury or Countesbury, a parish in Devonshire, on the coast, at the boundary with Somerset, 15¼ miles E by N of Ilfracombe, and 20 NE of Bamstaple station on the G.W.R. and L. & S.W.R. Post town, Lynmouth, under Barn-staple; money order and telegraph office, Lynmouth. Acreage, 2958; population of the civil parish, 233; of the ecclesiastical, 545. The manor belonged in the time of Edward the Confessor to Ailmar, a Saxon; was given at the Conquest to William Chieire, a follower of the Conqueror; passed through various hands, and belongs now to the Hallidays of Glenthorne. The land rises steeply from the sea, attains a height of 1146 feet at Barney-barrow, in the vicinity of the church, and is elsewhere hilly. Many remains of ancient camps are seen, and a great number of Roman coins have been found. The camps are believed to be early British, and are thought to have been made to facilitate the escape of "Celtic marauders who had been engaged in cattle-lifting in the neighbouring county of Somerset. The living is a vicarage, with Lynmouth annexed, in the diocese of Exeter; joint value, £185. Patron, the Bishop of Exeter. The church consists of nave and chancel, with a belfry, and was rebuilt within the nineteenth century. Coupe Lench. See COWPE LENCH. Couperon, The, a lofty cliff, with interesting Druidical remains, in Jersey, adjacent to Rozel Bay, 5½ miles NE of St Helier.
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 | Countisbury St. John the Baptist | |
Hundred | Sherwell | |
Poor Law union | Barnstaple |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The Phillimore transcript of Marriages at Countisbury 1676-1757, Devonshire is available to browse online.
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 Countisbury or Countesbury from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Countisbury (St. John the Baptist))
Maps
Online maps of Countisbury or Countesbury 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.