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Molton, North (All Saints)

MOLTON, NORTH (All Saints), a parish, and formerly a market-town, in the union and hundred of South Molton, South Molton and N. divisions of Devon, 3 miles (N. N. E.) from South Molton; containing 2121 inhabitants. This parish, which borders upon Somersetshire, is situated on the Exmoor road, and in a district celebrated for a peculiar breed of cattle, called the North Devon breed, of a brown colour, without any intermixture of white. It comprises 15,149a. 1r. 20p., whereof 4435 acres are common or waste: the surface is varied, and the low grounds are watered by the river Mole, from which the place takes its name. The substratum contains copper-ore, of which two mines are in operation: there are also numerous quarries of freestone of good quality for building; and a woollen manufactory is carried on, affording employment to about 150 persons. Fairs for cattle, which are the largest in the north of Devon, are held on the Wednesday after May 12th, and on the last Wednesday in October. The living is a discharged vicarage, with the perpetual curacy of Twitchen annexed, valued in the king's books at £16. 16. 1.; net income, £110; patron and impropriator, the Earl of Morley, whose tithes have been commuted for £1292. 17.: there are nearly 6½ acres of glebe. The church is a venerable structure, in the decorated and later English styles, with a lofty square embattled tower, and contains a beautifully-carved oak screen, and a very rich octagonal font, with some remains of painted glass, and some handsome monuments. There were formerly three chapels of ease in the parish, at South Radworthy, Holywell, and Ben-Twitchen; the last had in 1772 been converted into a dwelling-house. In 1715 the Presbyterians had a meeting-house at North Molton: at present, the Independents and Wesleyans have places of worship. A well here, called the Holy Well, is still much resorted to on Holy-Thursday.

Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.

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