BRIDESTOWE IN KELLY'S DIRECTORY OF 1902 |
Bridestowe (i.e. Bridgetstowe) is a parish in the road from Okehampton to Launceston, with a station 1½ miles south of the village, on the main line of the London and South Western Railway and 6 miles SW from Okehampton, 11 N of Tavistock, 12 NE from Launceston and 204 from London, in the Western Division of the county, Lifton Hundred and petty sessional division, Okehampton union and county court district and in the rural deanery of Okehampton, archdeaconry of Totnes and diocese of Exeter.
The church of St Bridget is an ancient building of stone, in the decorated and perpendicular styles, and consists of chancel, nave of three bays, aisles, south porch and an embattled western tower with pinnacles, containing 6 bells, all cast from a smaller peal, with additions, in 1828, when the tower was also heightened. There is hagioscope* in the south aisle and a piscina and sedila in the chancel. The choir stalls and pulpit are of carved oak; the doors to the old rood stairs still exist but the rood screen was removed in 1869. The stained east window was a memorial to J. H. M. Stewart Menzies and his two sons was erected by Mrs. Stewart Menzies in 1866. A mural tablet, dated 1663 has some quaint lines to Honora (Fortesque) relict of Sir H Prideaux, Kt. and 2nd wife of Sir Shilston Calmady Kt. of Langdon; and there is another with armorial shields to John Wrey, ob.1576. The church was partially restored in 1890, under the care of Messrs Fulford and Harvey, architects, of Exeter, at a cost of £620; the church was new-roofed in 1893 and the tower thoroughly restored in 1890 at a cost of £500; there are 200 sittings. At the south entrance to the churchyard is an ancient stone archway of the transition period between Norman and Early English.
*Sometimes called a SQUINT - a small hole in the wall through which say, a nun or a monk, could see and hear the service but remain apart. |
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An arch said to be the remains of the original church on this site ©Richard J Brine |
The register dates from the year1696. The living is a rectory, net yearly value £426, with 79 acres of glebe in land and residence, in the gift of the Bishop of Exeter, and held since 1889 by the Rev. John Loveband Francis BA of Worcestershire College, Oxford. There is a chapel for Bible Christians.
Leawood is the residence of Mrs Charles Holley and Millaton that of John Gubbins Newton Esq. The Rector for the time being is lord of the manor of Bridestowe sanctuary. The principal landowners are Mrs. Charles Holley, the trustees of the late Ven. Archdeacon Woollcombe MA and Rev.Tom Bidlake Esq. of Lydford and John Butters Newton Ashford Esq.
The soil is clay; subsoil shale. The chief crops are oats and barley, but a great deal of the land is used as pasturage. The parish contains 5676 acres of land and 11 of water. Rateable value £4241. The population in 1901 was 453. By a Local Government Board Order (16405) which came into operation on 25 March 1884, a detached part of this parish known as Longham was amalgamated with Coryton in the Tavistock Union.
Parish Clerk: James Joyce Sexton: Isaac Spear Post office (Railway sub-office): Miss Mary Ann Peard, post mistress. Letters received at 4.56 am; disptached at 7.45 pm. Postal orders are issued here but not paid. The nearest Money Order Office is at Lydford and Telegraph Office at the Railway station, at which business is transacted on behalf of the Post Office. Wall letter box: (near Bearcott) cleared 6.45 pm weekdays only. National School (mixed and infants): erected in 1850 and enlarged in 1895 for 164 children. Average attendance 120. Tom Sly master; Miss Laura Sly, mistress; Miss Lucy Tickell, Infant's mistress. County Police: John Davey, constable Railway Station: Walter Thomas Smith, station master. |
PRIVATE RESIDENTS Bevan, Mrs Brown, Miss, Bridge House Cotton, William, FSA, Bearcott Francis, Rev. John Loveband, BA, Rector, The Rectory Holley, Mrs Charles, Leawood May, Joseph Anderson JP, Linkstor House Newton, John Gubbins, Millaton Routley, Mrs, East Bridge Wyatt-Edgell, Arthur (hon. lieut-col) DL, JP, Bungalow COMMERCIAL Alford Brother, blacksmiths, Coombow Ash, Mary Ann (Mrs) & Son, farmers, Battishill Ash Thomas & Sons, farmers, Way Barton Barkell, John Henry, shopkeeper Bevan, William Coombe, farmer & cattle dealer Bray, William, shoe maker & shop keeper Bridestowe Men's Social Club (Hon Sec: Rev. J L Francis BA) Brook, Robert, farmer, Woodhead Cole, John, shoe maker Crabbe, George, farmer, Cranford Davey, Michael, farmer, Fernworthy Down, Grace (Mrs), farmer, Fernworthy Down, Richard, farmer, Woodford Down, Edward, farmer, Coombow Gale, John Oliver, cowkeeper, Watergate Gale, William, farmer, Point, Coombow Heggadon, Stephen, farmer, Brambleham Hooper, Thomas, butcher Johns, William, cattle dealer & farmer, Ivy Cottage Joyce, James, saddler Lavis, William, farmer, Great Cranford Lintern, Samuel, mason Newton, John, farm bailiff to Rev. Woollcombe MA, Kersford Barton Norrish, Albert William, Royal Oak Public House & farmer Orchard, George Rowe, farmer, Little Cranford. Orchard, Richard, Fox and Hounds Public House Palmer, John Durant, lime merchant & farmer, Great Close Parish, Joseph, gamekeeper to R. Smith Esq, Keeper's Cottage Pike, James, shoe maker Powell, Edmund, farmer, Raddon Reep, Jonathan, farmer, Standon Rice, Thomas farmer, Churndon Scott, Frederick, White Hart Inn, cab proprietor & farmer Surcombe, John, cattle dealer & farmer Voaden, Matthias, farmer, Higher Ebbsworthy Town Voaden, William, farmer, Lower Ebsworthy Town Voyzey, William, cowkeeper, Watergate Walter, Thomas, miller (water), Leawood Mill Weeks, Samuel, carpenter White, George, mason, Coombow Worden, Nicholas, farmer & carpenter Yelland, David, farmer, Beara Yelland, John, farmer, Cobhamwick |
© M.E. Brine. This page last updated
21 May, 2010
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