Maker, Devon
Historical Description
Maker, a decayed ancient village and a parish in Cornwall. The village stands on the W side of Plymouth Sound, near Cremill Ferry, at the NE extremity of Cornwall, 2½ miles S by W of Devonport town and station on the G.W.R. and L. & S.W.R. It took its name by corruption from St Macra, and was once a borough and a market-town. It has a post, money order, and telegraph office. The parish contains also the villages of Inceworth, Millbrook, and Cawsand, each of the two latter of which has a post office under Plymouth, and it includes the tithing of Vaultersholme, which, prior to Oct., 1844, was in Devonshire. Acreage, 2406 of land and 980 of water and foreshore; population of the civil parish, 3444; of the ecclesiastical, 1328. There are two manors, and the one belongs to Lord Clinton, the other to Earl Mount Edgecumbe. The land is peninsulated between Plymouth (Sound and Whitesand Bay, and also projects a minor peninsula between Plymouth Sound and the Hamoaze; and it has a hilly contour, and is hounded along the E by picturesque cliffs. The chief hills bear the name of Maker Heights, and rises to an altitude of 402 feet above sea-level. A headland at the N extremity is crowned with the ruin of an ancient chapel, and commands a view of the Cornish coast all the way to the Lizard. Mount Edgecumbe House, the seat of the Earl of Mount Edgecumbe, stands in the peninsula between Plymouth Sound and the Hamoaze; occupies a strikingly picturesque site; commands a fine sea view through a vista of trees; is a castellated edifice of the time of Queen Mary; contains some fine family and historical portraits; and has remarkably beautiful and romantic pleasure grounds, with English, French, and Italian gardens, a Doric conservatory, and numerous features of interest, both natural and artificial. The Blockhouse, a fort of the time of Elizabeth, is in the neighbourhood of the gardens, and adjoins the point of ferry communication with Cremill. Rope-making is carried on at Woodpark, and boatbuilding at Middle Anderton. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Truro; net value, £160 with residence. Patron, the Crown. The church is ancient and good; has a tower and spire, which serve as a landmark to mariners; contains several fine monuments to the Edgecumbes and others; and was used during the French War as a signal station communicating with Mount Wise at Devonport; the whole building was well restored in 1874. The perpetual curacy of Milbrook is a separate benefice. There are Baptist and Wesleyan chapels.
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 Maker
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following newspapers covering Devon online:
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.