Weare Giffard Devon Family History Guide
Weare Giffard is an Ancient Parish in the county of Devon.
Other places in the parish include: Gammaton and Huxwill.
Alternative names: Wear Gifford
Parish church: Holy Trinity
Parish registers begin:
- Parish registers: 1583
- Bishop’s Transcripts: 1607
Nonconformists include: Wesleyan Methodist
Table of Contents
Adjacent Parishes
Parish History
The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870
WEAR-GIFFORD, a parish, with a village, in Torrington district, Devon; on the river Torridge, 3 miles S by E of Bideford r. station. It has a post-office under Torrington, North Devon.
Acres, 1,587. Real property, £2,375. Pop., 494. Houses, 102. The manor belonged to the Giffords; passed to the Denzells; and, with W.-G. House, an interesting ancient mansion, belongs now to Earl Fortescue. There are several neat villas, and a small woollen manufactory.
The living is a rectory in the diocese of Exeter. Value, £180. Patron, Earl Fortescue. The church is plain.
There are three Methodist chapels and an endowed British school.
Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].
A Topographical Dictionary of England 1848
WEAR-GIFFORD (Holy Trinity), a parish, in the union of Torrington, hundred of Shebbear, Great Torrington and N. divisions of Devon, 3 miles (N. N. W.) from Torrington; containing 576 inhabitants.
The parish comprises 1360 acres by admeasurement, and is situated on the river Torridge, which forms about two miles of the boundary line, and is navigable for coalbarges when the tide is up. Good building-stone is abundant; and there is a small woollen-factory. The ancient manor-house, built by the Denzells in the 15th century, is a stone building, lately repaired, and fitted up in the original style; the hall is ceiled with oak richly carved.
The living is a rectory, valued in the king’s books at £13. 5., and in the gift of Earl Fortescue: the tithes have been commuted for £175; there is a parsonage-house, and the glebe consists of 8 acres of coppice, and 4 of arable land. The church contains the figures of a cross-legged knight and his lady, carved in stone, and now placed in an erect position against the wall; they were formerly recumbent on an altar-tomb, and most probably represent members of the Gifford family.
Here are two places of worship for Wesleyans; and 16 children are taught to read for £15 per annum, the bequest of John Lovering in 1671.
Source: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis 1848
Parish Records
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England, Devon, Weare-Gifford
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Administration
- County: Devon
- Civil Registration District: Torrington
- Probate Court: Court of the Bishop (Consistory) of the Archdeaconry of Barnstaple
- Diocese: Exeter
- Rural Deanery: Hartland
- Poor Law Union: Torrington
- Hundred: Shebbear
- Province: Canterbury