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Countisbury

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"A small village on the coast of the Bristol Channel, near the borders of Somersetshire, 2 miles E of Lynton & 14 miles West of Minehead, has in its parish 185 souls & 2941 acres of land including WILSHAM hamlet, & part of LYNMOUTH. The Rev. W. S . Halliday is lord of the Manor & owner of a great part of the soil, & has a pleasant seat called "Glynthorn" ... facing the sea. "East Lynmouth House" belongs to the Rev. Thomas Roe & a few smaller owners have estates in the parish. The Church (St. John) was repaired & the tower rebuilt about 14 years ago, when a school was built near it." [From White's Devonshire Directory (1850)]

A parish in Shirlwell Hundred, the Archdeaconry of Barnstaple, and Diocese of Exeter, 15½ miles N.E. of Ilfracombe, which had 187 inhabitants in 1831. According to Peskett, it was united to (but with separate registers from) Lynton before 1858, and Lynmouth chapel was annexed to it in 1886.

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Cemeteries

MIs for this parish are included in the Devon FHS and Incledon indexes - see under Cemeteries on the main Devon page.

Dwelly, E. (ed.). Devon M. I. vol. 1., being all the monumental inscriptions in the parishes of Countisbury, Brendon, Martinhoe, etc. E. Dwelly: Fleet, (1918). pp. v. 226. BL 9918.aaa.1. [SoG Library]

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Census

Snetzler, M.F. North Devon Surname Index to the Census. Microfiche: M.F. Snetzler. [Covers 1881 census records for this parish]

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Church Records

Parish Registers going back to 1676 are held in the Devon Record Office.

Transcripts of the Parish Registers going back to 1676 are held in a special collection in the Westcountry Studies Library.

The Devon FHS publishes indexes covering (as of June 2004): Baptisms 1813-1839, Marriages 1754-1837, Burials 1813-1837 - for details see their Devon Parish List.

Entered into the IGI (as of Jan 1993): Parish Church Christenings 1676-1850 and Marriages 1676-1850.

Phillimore, W. P. W. (William Phillimore Watts). "Marriages at Countisbury, 1676-1757", In Devonshire parish registers, vol. 1. London: Phillimore & Co., 1909 (Phillimore's parish register series, vol. 112), pp. 57-62. [Full text]

Day, Fred. Parish accounts. Devon & Cornwall Notes & Queries 9:8, (1917) pp.247. [Transcript]

An index of baptisms, marriages and burials in the parishes of Arlington, Ashford, Berrynarbor, Bittadon, Bratton Fleming, Braunton, Brendon, Challacombe, Charles, Combe Martin, Countisbury, East Buckland, East Down, Georgeham, Goodleigh, Heanton Punchardon, High Bray, Ilfracombe, Kentisbury, Loxhore, Lynton, Martinhoe, Marwood, Mortehoe, Parracombe, Shirwell, Stoke Rivers, Trentishoe, West Buckland and West Down. With photographs of the churches and extracts from White's Directory (1850) and Kelly's Directory of Devonshire (1902), CD-ROM, Exeter, Devon FHS (2015). [Arlington Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1755-1836, Bur: 1814-1837; Ashford Bapt: 1813-1840, Mar: 1747-1837, Bur: 1813-1837; Berrynarbor Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1755-1837, Bur: 1813-1837; Bittadon Bapt: 1813-1843, Mar: 1754-1835, Bur: 1815-1843; Bratton Fleming Bapt: 1813-1840, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1800-1837; Braunton Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1813-1837; Brendon Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1813-1837; Challacombe Bapt: 1813-1840, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1822-1848; Charles Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1813-1837; Combe Martin Bapt: 1813-1840, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1813-1837; Countisbury Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1755-1837, Bur: 1813-1837; East Buckland Bapt: 1813-1838, Mar: 1755-1836, Bur: 1813-1839; East Down Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1754-1839, Bur: 1813-1852; Georgeham Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1813-1837; Goodleigh Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1813-1837; Heanton Punchardon Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1800-1837; High Bray Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1756-1837, Bur: 1813-1837; Ilfracombe Bapt: 1813-1840, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1813-1837; Kentisbury Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1754-1841, Bur: 1813-1837; Loxhore Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1813-1837; Lynton Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1813-1838; Martinhoe Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1813-1839; Marwood Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1813-1837; Mortehoe Bapt: 1813-1840, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1750-1837; Parracombe Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1598-1838, Bur: 1813-1838; Shirwell Bapt: 1813-1840, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1813-1837; Stoke Rivers Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1813-1839; Trentishoe Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1813-1837; West Buckland Bapt: 1813-1840, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1813-1851; West Down Bapt: 1813-1840, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1813-1840.]

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Description & Travel

Section on Countisbury from Samuel Lewis: A Topographical Dictionary of England (1831), provided by Mel Lockie.

You can see pictures of Countisbury which are provided by:

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Directories

Transcript of entry in White's Devonshire Directory of 1850.

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Gazetteers

The transcription of the section for this parish from the National Gazetteer (1868), provided by Colin Hinson.

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Genealogy

Lynmouth is one of the growing number of places for which the Devon Heritage website provides census or parish register transcriptions, articles, and/or illustrations, etc.

Halliday, U. Glenthorne - A Most Romantic Place, Dulverton, Somerset, Exmoor Books (1995) [ISBN NO - 0 86183 285 X] [Glenthorne house and the Halliday family]

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History

Chanter, John F. The parishes of Lynton and Countisbury. Trans. Devon. Assoc. 38, (1906), plates: illus, maps, pp. 114-168, 169-224. [Index to Part 1, Index to Part 2]

Chanter, J.F. On Certain Documents Relating to the History of Lynton and Countisbury. Trans. Devon Assoc. 38 (1906) pp.225-254.

Chanter, John F. The History of the Parishes of Lynton and Countisbury, their antiquities, manors, churches and families, and some account of the natural history and botany of the neighbourhood. J. G. Commin: Exeter, (1907). 192p, plates: ill, maps. BL 010358.k.19. [LDS film 1426109 Item 8] [Contains genealogies of Barbor; Wichehalse; Welsh; Dart; Salisbury; Venner; Lovering; Rolle; Acland; Popham; Berry and Knight families]

 Gray, H. St. George. A Survey of Old Burrow Camp, Exmoor. With Notes on the Excavations conducted there in 1911. Trans. Devon. Assoc., vol. 44, (1912), illus. pp. 703-717. [Index]

The Lyn Journal: a chronological record of the events which occurred in the parishes of Lynton, Lynmouth and Countisbury. Photocopy (1956) 2 vols. [Westcountry Studies Library - xB/LYN 3/0001/LYN]

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Manors

Halliday, Ursula J. Glenthorne: a most remarkable place. Dulverton: Exmoor Books (1995) 174p,plts: ill,ports.

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Maps

View a map of the boundaries of this town/parish.

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SS747498 (Lat/Lon: 51.233586, -3.796093), Countisbury which are provided by:

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Names, Personal

Countisbury contributors to a 1678 brief for the rebuilding of St Paul's Cathedral.