Pilton, Devon

Historical Description

Pilton, a village and a parish in Devonshire. The village stands on the river Taw, opposite Barnstaple, and is connected with that town and its station on the G.W.R. by a bridge. It has a post, money order, and telegraph office. Acreage of parish, 1684; population, 2172. For parish council purposes the parish has been divided into Pilton East and Pilton West. Pilton East, the larger portion, is in the borough of Barnstaple, and contains the church, schools, and the suburban portion of the parish. Pilton West, with a population of about 500, has a parish council consisting of eight members. It is mostly rural, but includes a small populous part near Quay, called Rolle's Quay. Pilton House and Upcot are the chief residences. A Benedictine priory was founded here by King Athelstane, and became a cell to Malmesbury Abbey. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Exeter; net value, £180 with residence. Patron, the Dean and Chapter of Exeter. The church is old but good, and contains a stone pulpit, a fine carved screen, and several ancient brasses and monuments. There is a large glove manufactory, and the reservoir of the Barnstaple waterworks is in this parish. There are almshouses and other charities.

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

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 Pilton

Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Pilton from the following:

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

Maps

Online maps of Pilton 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.