Shebbear, Devon
Historical Description
Shebbear, a village and a parish in Devonshire. The village stands near the river Torridge, 12½ miles S by W of Bideford station on the L. & S.W.R. It has a post and money order office under Highampton; telegraph office at Dunsland Cross railway station. Acreage of parish, 5758; population, 845. There is a parish council consisting of ten members. The manor was anciently called Shepesbear, and belonged early to the Barons of Okehampton; it passed to the Nevilles, the Rolles, and Lord Clinton, and belongs now to the Kingdon family. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Exeter; net value, £145 with residence. Patron, the Lord Chancellor. The church is chiefly Later English, and has been restored. There are Wesleyan, Bible Christian, and Baptist chapels. The Bible Christian Connexional College, situated near the village, is a spacious building of stone and brick, and has accommodation for 120 scholars. The governor's house adjoins the college, and the playgrounds are 5 acres in extent. There are several charities.
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 | Shebbear St. Lawrence | |
| Hundred | Shebbear | |
| Poor Law union | Torrington |
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 Shebbear
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Shebbear from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Shebbear (St. Lawrence))
Maps
Online maps of Shebbear 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:
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.