Awliscombe (St. Michael)
AWLISCOMBE (St. Michael), a parish, in the union of Honiton, hundred of Hemyock, Honiton and N. divisions of Devon, 2 miles (W. by N.) from Honiton; containing 590 inhabitants. It comprises 2127 acres, of which 183 are common or waste, and is bounded by the river Otter on the south; the surface is hilly, and the soil in general a rich productive marl, chiefly laid out in pasture. The living, which before the Dissolution was attached to the abbey at Tavistock, is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £12. 10. 10.; patron, the Duke of Bedford. The vicarial tithes have been commuted for £200, and £170 are paid to the trustees of Kelland's charity; the glebe consists of thirty acres, with a house. The church was erected about the time of Henry VI., and has a handsome stone screen, and a magnificent window finely ornamented: it is in excellent order, having been repaired in 1838, at an expense of nearly £500. The remains of a large encampment supposed to be Roman, and called Hembury fort, are in the parish.
Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.