Widecombe in the Moor, Devon Family History Guide
Widecombe in the Moor is an Ancient Parish in the county of Devon.
Other places in the parish include: Leusdon, Poundsgate, Dunstone, Venton, Watergate, and Uppacott.
Parish church: St. Pancras
Parish registers begin: 1560
Nonconformists include: Independent/Congregational, Wesleyan Methodist, and Wesleyan Methodist Association.
Table of Contents
Adjacent Parishes
Parish History
Widecombe in the Moor
Leonard’s Gazetteer of England and Wales 1850
Widecombe-in-the-Moor, 6 m. N.W. Ashburton. P. 1106
Source: Leonard’s Gazetteer of England and Wales; Second Edition; C. W. Leonard, London; 1850.
A Topographical Dictionary of England 1848
WIDECOMBE-in-the-Moor (St. Pancras), a parish, in the union of Newton-Abbott, hundred of Haytor, Teignbridge and S. divisions of Devon, 5¾ miles (N. W. by N.) from Ashburton; containing 1106 inhabitants.
It is bounded on the west and south by the river Dart, and comprises about 12,800 acres, of which one-half is open common; the soil is light and sandy, and the parish is more adapted to rearing live-stock than to the purposes of agriculture. The surface is varied, consisting of several valleys bordering on Dartmoor, inclosed with rugged hills, and watered by three streams which flow into the river Dart.
Tin has been found, and there are remains of ancient stream-works of considerable extent; granite is also abundant on the commons. Many of the inhabitants are employed in weaving serges at their own dwellings.
The living is a vicarage, valued in the king’s books at £25. 13. 9.; net income, £268; patrons and appropriators, the Dean and Chapter of Exeter. The church was greatly injured by lightning during the performance of divine service, on Oct. 21st, 1638, when portions of the stone and woodwork fell in.
There are places of worship for Calvinists and Wesleyans. The last Lord Ashburton, of the Dunning family, and the late Gilbert Dyer, of Exeter, who collected the most extensive library in the west of England, were natives of the parish.
Source: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis 1848
Leusden
Comprehensive Gazetteer of England and Wales 1895
Leusden, a chapelry in Widecombe-in-the-Moor parish, Devonshire, on the E side of Dartmoor, 6 miles NNW of Ashburton station on the G.W.R.
It was constituted in 1864. Post town and money order and telegraph office, Ashburton. Population, 378.
The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Exeter; net value, £215 with residence. Patron, the Dean and Chapter of Exeter. The church was erected in 1863, and is a building in the Perpendicular style.
There is a Wesleyan chapel.
Source: Comprehensive Gazetteer of England and Wales; Brabner, John Henry Fryden; Volume: 4; William Mackenzie, London. 1895.
Parish Records
FamilySearch
Administration
- County: Devon
- Civil Registration District: Newton Abbot
- Probate Court: Court of the Bishop (Consistory) of the Archdeaconry of Totnes
- Diocese: Exeter
- Rural Deanery: Moreton
- Poor Law Union: Newton Abbot
- Hundred: Haytor
- Province: Canterbury