Knowstone, Devon

Historical Description

Knowstone, a village and a parish in Devonshire. The village stands on an affluent of the river Mole, 3 miles from the boundary with Somerset, 8 E by S of South Molton, and 3½ from East Anstey station on the G.W.R. It has a post office under South Molton; money order and telegraph office, South Molton. The parish contains also the hamlets of East Knowstone and Roachill. Acreage, 5144; population of the civil parish, 422; of the ecclesiastical, 954. The manor belongs to the Throckmorton family. Wadham was once the seat of the Courtenays, and is now a farmhouse. The living is a vicarage, united with the vicarage of Molland, in the diocese of Exeter; value, £490 with residence. The church is ancient, consists of nave, N aisle, and chancel, with a tower, and contains monuments of the Cuime and Shapcott families. Sir J. Berry the mariner was a native.

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 parish register of baptisms and burials dates from the year 1538; marriages, 1539.

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 Knowstone

Churches

Church of England

St. Peter (parish church)

The church of St. Peter is a small building of stone, chiefly in a simple form of the Late Decorated style, with Perpendicular insertions, and consists of chancel, nave of three bays, north aisle, south porch and an embattled western tower containing 6 bells: the east and west windows, one in the chancel and one in the nave, are stained, and another has been given by the parishioners to commemorate the 50 years' residence here of Prebendary Matthews, vicar 1853-1906: a new organ has also been presented: the church has been restored at a cost of about £400, and affords 200 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 Knowstone from the following:

• Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Knowstone, East and West (St. Peter))

Maps

Online maps of Knowstone 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.