Heavitree, Devon
Historical Description
Heavitree, a village and a parish in Devonshire. The village is suburban to Exeter, on the E side. It appears in the Domesday book as Hevitreua. It now contains many good and neat houses. The parish includes also the hamlets of Whipton, East Wonford, and South Wonford, and for Parliamentary purposes is partly within the borough of Exeter. It has a post, money order, and telegraph office under Exeter. Acreage, 3484; population of the civil parish, 6267; of the ecclesiastical, 5691. The manor of Whipton belongs to Lord Poltimore. A priory stood at Whipton. The living is a vicarage, with Whipton annexed, in the diocese of Exeter; value,, £321 with residence. Patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Exeter. The church, with the exception of the tower, was rebuilt in 1845; consists of nave, aisles, a chancel (erected in 1894 at a cost of £4000), with S porch, and has an imposing interior marred by heavy galleries; in 1889 a tower was erected at a cost of £3000. A chapel of ease was erected in Whipton in 1862. The Exeter City Asylum, situated in this parish, was opened in 1886; it is a building of red brick in the Renaissance style, and is capable of holding 600 patients; there is a chapel and farm attached. Wonford House Hospital is a private lunatic asylum, standing in splendid grounds. In 1883 a branch establishment of this institution was opened at Dawlish. There are three suites of almshouses and a few charities. Hooker, the author of "Ecclesiastical Polity," and Duck, the author of "De Auctoritate Juris Civilis," were natives. A large quarry, yielding a peculiar red stone, is still worked.
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 | Heavitree St. Michael | |
Hundred | Wonford | |
Poor Law union | St. Thomas |
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 Heavitree
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 Heavitree from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Heavitree (St. Michael))
Maps
Online maps of Heavitree 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:
Villages, Hamlets, &c
WhiptonVisitations 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.