Dodbrooke, Devon

Historical Description

Dodbrooke, a small town and a parish in Devonshire, a quarter of a mile from Kingsbridge station on the G.W.R. The town forms the eastern part of Kingsbridge town, is more ancient than Kingsbridge, belonged to the widow of Edward the Confessor, contains Pindar Lodge, the birthplace of Dr Wolcott better known as Peter Pindar, was the first place in which white ale was brewed, and shares generally in the trade of Kingsbridge. It has a large cattle market on the third Wednesday in every month. The parish comprises 775 acres of land and 94 of water; population of the civil parish, 1312; of the ecclesiastical, 1282. It has a post and money order office; telegraph office, Kingsbridge. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Exeter; value, £210 with residence. The church is very old, but was restored and greatly enlarged by the addition of a chancel and north aisle in 1886. There is a handsome oak screen, partially restored in 1892. There is a chapel for Bible Christians.

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

The earliest existing parish register dates from the year 1725, many ancient documents and registers having perished in a fire at Langwell House about 1830.

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 Dodbrooke

Churches

Church of England

St. Thomas of Canterbury (parish church)

The church of St. Thomas à Becket, standing at the north end of the town, is an edifice of stone in the Perpendicular style, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles and an embattled western tower, with pinnacles, containing 6 bells; the tower was formerly surmounted by a spire, removed in 1785: the ancient and beautifully carved oak screen of the 15th century was restored in 1897 by Mr. Harry Hems, of Exeter, as a memorial to the late J. P. Margary esq, of Stoke Damarel: the church was partially restored in 1846, and again restored in 1878-86, at a cost of £2,200, when the chancel was rebuilt, and a north aisle added, divided from the chancel and nave by an arcade of six arches, three of which were taken from the ruins of the now disused church of South Huish: the ceiling of the south aisle was removed, exposing the oak roof, which is enriched with carving and bosses: the church was also reseated, and the font, an interesting work and the sole relic of the original building, re-erected on a base of Dartmoor granite: several windows of the new north aisle are stained, the west window in this aisle, formerly in South Pool church, being fitted with stained glass by the Duncombe Lodge of Freemasons: the stained east window, the gift of Capt. Strickland, of Dawlish, was dedicated by Bishop Knight Bruce in 1896: the organ was enlarged during the years 1889-93 and 1897 at a cost of about £700, and has now been completed, at a cost of over £1,000, and inclosed in a new carved oak case given by the lord of the manor: new clergy and choir vestries have also been added: the Welle chapel, on the south side, is now the property of the rectors, and has been converted by them into a lady chapel: in 1899 the oak screen was continued across the north chancel aisle, at the expense of Mr. Peter Bond: in 1900 marble steps, the gift of Mr. Tucker, were placed in the Sacrarium, and elaborately carved dwarf oak screens, given by Mrs. Lewis, placed at their head: the west window has been filled with stained glass, and also a window in the north aisle in memory of Mrs. Ingles: there are 500 sittings.

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 Dodbrooke from the following:

• Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Dodbrooke (St. Thomas à Becket))

Maps

Online maps of Dodbrooke 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

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.