Halwell, Devon

Historical Description

Halwell, a village and a parish in Devonshire. The village stands 5½ miles SSW of Totnes town and station on the G.W.R., and has a post office (R.S.O.); money order office, Totnes; telegraph office, Harberton. The parish includes also the hamlet of Washbourne. Acreage, 3335; population of the civil parish, 314; of the ecclesiastical, 295. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Exeter; gross value, £220 with residence. Patron, the Dean and Chapter of Exeter. The church is ancient, but very good, and consists of nave, chancel, and south aisle, with square tower. There is a Congregational chapel.

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 dates from the year 1585; marriages, 1559; burials, 1560.

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 Halwell

Churches

Church of England

St. Leonard (parish church)

The church of St. Leonard is a building of stone in the Perpendicular style, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles, south porch and an embattled western tower, new roofed in 1897, and containing 6 bells, all cast in 1763 from a previous peal of 4, with the exception of the 4th, which dates from 1823, and was rehung in 1897: the ancient screen was removed in 1810: there are monuments to Major-General Symons, d. 1831, and Ann, his widow, d. 1847: the church affords 220 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 Halwell from the following:

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

Maps

Online maps of Halwell 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.