Manaton, Devon
Historical Description
Manaton, a village and a parish in Devonshire. The village stands on an eminence on the E side of Dartmoor, amid wild and beautiful scenery, 3½ miles S by W of Moreton Hampstead station on the G.W.R. It has a post office under Newton Abbot; money order and telegraph office, Lustleigh. Acreage of parish, 6422; population, 327. The surface is studded with rocks and tors, includes some singularly shaped hills, and abounds in romantic scenery. Many spots are attractive to tourists; some present features of rich beauty; and a little rivulet, called the Becky Fall, exhibits much variety, diving for a time underground, running afterwards through a wooded ddl, and then forming a fine cataract over a precipice of about 70 feet- An enclosure of loose stones is at Grimspound; includes several minor enclosures, and is thought by some writers to have been a work of the Druids, but is more likely to have been a stannary court. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Exeter; net value, £200 with residence. The church is Later English, in good condition, and has a good screen; it was restored in 1874. There is a Wesleyan chapel. The Earl of Devon is lord of the manor.
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 | Manaton St. Winifred | |
| Hundred | Teignbridge | |
| Poor Law union | Newton-Abbott |
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 Manaton
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 Manaton from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Manaton (St. Winifred))
Maps
Online maps of Manaton are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- 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:
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.