Harpford (St. Gregory)

HARPFORD (St. Gregory), a parish, in the union of Honiton, hundred of East Budleigh, Woodbury and S. divisions of Devon, 3½ miles (N. W. by W.) from Sidmouth; containing 305 inhabitants. The parish is situated near the road from Exeter to Lyme-Regis, and is divided into two nearly equal parts by the river Otter, which flows through a pleasant vale, from the sides of which, slopes, undulations, and hills rise in great variety, and extend throughout the district. The eastern portion contains an extensive wood of very fine oak and beech. The whole comprises by admeasurement 1702 acres, of which about 800 are arable, 259 meadow, pasture, and orchard, 383 wood, and 210 common and waste; the soil is chiefly a sandy loam, but in some parts is gravelly, and in others consists of marl, and of land rock. The living is a vicarage, with that of Venn-Ottery annexed, valued in the king's books at £18. 11. 3.; net income, £221; patrons, Lord Clinton and others; impropriator, John Lee Lee, Esq. The great tithes have been commuted for £130. 15., and the vicarial for £146. 15.; the glebe comprises about 8 acres. The church belonged to the abbey of St. Michael de Monte, and was subsequently given to Sion College, London; it is in the early English style, with some good later English windows. The parish was the residence of the lords Dinham, remains of whose mansion still exist.