Thorverton (St. Thomas à Becket)
THORVERTON (St. Thomas à Becket), a parish, in the union of Tiverton, hundred of Hayridge, Collumpton and N. divisions of Devon, 7 miles (W. S. W.) from Collumpton; containing 1445 inhabitants. The parish is situated on the road from Exeter to Tiverton, and bounded on the east by the river Exe; and comprises by admeasurement 4000 acres. Stone is quarried for building. Sheep-fairs are held in February and July. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £18. 12. 8½., and in the gift of the Dean and Chapter of Exeter: the great tithes have been commuted for £530, and the vicarial for £446; there is a glebe of 27 acres, and a substantial parsonage-house has been built. The church, which is very handsome, is supposed to have been erected in the reign of King John. Here is a place of worship for Baptists; also a school endowed with £18 per annum. At East Raddon was a chapel dedicated to St. John the Baptist, the remains of which have been converted into a dwelling-house called "No Man's Chapel."
Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.