Dolton, Devon

Historical Description

Dolton, a village and a parish in Devonshire. The village stands near the river Torridge, 6 miles NNE of Hatherleigh, and 7 W of Eggesford station on the L. & S.W.R., and has a post and money order office, of the name of Dolton (R.S.O.); telegraph office, Wiukleigh. Markets are lield in December and April. The parish comprises 3616 acres; population, 706. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Exeter; value, £341 with residence. The church is old, consists of nave, chancel, and aisles, with a square tower, and contains the second oldest font in England, and some fine old carved seats; it was thoroughly restored in 1888. There are Baptist, Brethren, and Bible Christian chapels.

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 register of baptisms and burials dates from the year 1608; marriages, 1610.

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 Dolton

Churches

Church of England

St. Edmund (parish church)

The church of St. Edmund is an edifice of stone, in the Early Decorated style, consisting of chancel, nave of three bays, aisles, south porch and an embattled western tower with pinnacles, containing 6 bells, the first three cast by John Pennington, in 1813; the 4th is dated 1843, the 5th cast by Taylor, of Oxford, in 1828, and the 6th was hung in 1876 by Warner, of London; the church retains a pre-Norman font, dating from about A.D. 680 to 850: there are four memorial windows, one erected by Mrs. Stafford, to her late husband, another by Mrs. Risdon, to the late George Owen, the third, by William Hooper, to his parents, who were formerly of this parish, and the fourth, placed in 1865 by his son, to the Rev. William Kerslake, 57 years rector of this parish: there are also several monuments to the Stafford family, dating from 1590: the chancel and east window were restored in 1874, at a cost of £210, and the church was restored in 1888 and the greater part of it rebuilt at a cost of £1,532: there are 400 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 Dolton from the following:

• Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Dolton (St. Edmund))

Maps

Online maps of Dolton 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.