Thomas, St., the Apostle

THOMAS, ST., THE APOSTLE, a parish, and the head of a union, in the hundred of Wonford, Wonford and S. divisions of Devon, ½ a mile (S. by W.) from Exeter; containing, with the chapelry of Oldridge, 4301 inhabitants. The parish is bounded on the north-east by the river Exe, from which the Exeter canal passes to the south. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £11. 2. 8½., and in the patronage of James W. Buller, Esq., with a net income of £237: the tithes, which have been commuted for £700, wholly belong to Mr. Buller, who pays a stipend to the incumbent. The church, erected in 1412, and enlarged in 1829, is in the later English style, and contains 1000 sittings, 250 of which are free. At Oldridge is a separate incumbency, and a chapel has been erected at the village of Exwick. The poor-law union comprises 49 parishes or places, and has a population of 47,105. A small priory of Black canons, a cell to that of Plympton, was founded in the time of Henry III., in honour of the Blessed Virgin; it stood partly in this parish, and partly in that of Alphington.