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High Bray
Click on map to view parish boundaries in detail.
"A pleasant village on the Eastern activity of the Bray valley, 6 miles NW of South Molton has in its parish 314 souls and 4259 acres of land, including part of Brayford hamlet & a number of scattered farms. Sir P.F. Acland, Bart, is lord of the manor and patron of the rectory valued in KB at £14. 6s. 8d and in 1831 at £300, & now in the incumbency of the Rev Charles Melhuish, who has a neat small residence & nearly 64A of glebe. The tithes were commuted in 1842 for £360 per annum.The church is an ancient structure in the perpendicular style with a tower & 4 bells. The Rev J.W.Bryan, R Harding Esq. & a few smaller owners have estates in the parish." [From White's Devonshire Directory (1850)]
A parish in Shirlwell Hundred, the Archdeaconry of Barnstaple, and Diocese of Exeter, which includes part of Brayford, the rest of which is in Charles parish.
Cemeteries
MIs for this parish are included in the Incledon and NDA North Devon indexes - see under Cemeteries on the main Devon page.
Census
Snetzler, M.F. North Devon Surname Index to the Census. Microfiche: M.F. Snetzler, Barcott, Buckland Brewer, Bideford, Devon EX39 5LN. [Covers 1881 census records for this parish]
Churches
You can also perform a more selective search for churches in the High Bray area or see them printed on a map.
Church History
Jones, Winslow. High Bray and its rectors. Notes and Gleanings vol. 5, (30th April 1892). 7p.
Church Records
Parish Registers going back to 1605 are held in the Devon Record Office.
Sue Budlong offers lookups of High Bray PRs.
The Devon FHS publishes indexes covering (as of June 2004): Marriages 1754-1837, Burials 1813-1837 - for details see their book list.
Other churches and chapels (with pre-1840 records):
- Wesleyan Chapel: Registers for c1807-37 - see Barnstaple Circuit (PRO RG 4/954)
Nothing entered into the IGI (as of Jan 1993).
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.]
Description and Travel
Brayford Parish Council website.
Section on High Bray from Samuel Lewis: A Topographical Dictionary of England (1831), provided by Mel Lockie.
You can see pictures of High Bray which are provided by:
Directories
Transcript of entry in White's Devonshire Directory of 1850.
Gazetteers
The transcription of the section for this parish from the National Gazetteer (1868), provided by Colin Hinson.
Ask for a calculation of the distance from High Bray to another place.
Click here for a list of nearby places.
Genealogy
The Online Parish Clerk for this parish is Sue Budlong, who invites queries and lookup requests. (Resources: Baptisms.)
Historical Geography
You can see the administrative areas in which High Bray has been placed at times in the past. Select one to see a link to a map of that particular area.
Land and Property
Sue Budlong offers lookups of High Bray Land Tax Assessments.
Kain, Roger J.P. Landscape and Farming in the Mid-Nineteenth Century: extracts from the Tithe Files of two Moorland Edge Parishes - Holne (Dartmoor) and High Bray (Exmoor). In Devon Documents (ed. T. Gray). Tiverton: Devon & Cornwall Notes & Queries, Special Issue (1996) [ISBN 0925836203] pp.108-110.
Maps
You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SS689343 (Lat/Lon: 51.092981, -3.873468), High Bray which are provided by:
- This place shown on a Google map.
- Google Streetview
- StreetMap (Current Ordnance Survey maps)
- OpenStreetMap
- Bing (was Multimap)
- OldMaps (Old Ordnance Survey maps.)
- Old Maps Online (Other old maps.)
- National Library of Scotland (Best site for old maps)
- Vision of Britain (Click "Historical units & statistics" for administrative areas.)
- English Jurisdictions in 1851 (Unfortunately the LDS have removed the facility to enable us to specify a starting location, you will need to search yourself on their map.)
- Magic (Geographic information) (Click + on map if it doesn't show)
- Elgin Road Works
- GeoHack (Links to on-line maps and location specific services.)
- All places within the same township/parish shown on a Google / Openstreetmap map.
- Nearby townships/parishes shown on a Google / Openstreetmap map.
- Nearby places shown on a Google / Openstreetmap map.
Names, Personal
Ryall, David. Lest We Forget, War memorials around South Molton. South Molton Archive, 68pp. [ISBN 0 951236 1 4] [Provides an indexed list of names]
Occupations
High Bray Apprentice Register 1817-1845. [Devon]: Devon Family History Society (2013). [Foreword]
Probate Records
Transcription of the will of Margaret Gibbons (1658) provided by Christine Gibbins.
Transcription of the will of Thomas Pasmore (1529) provided by Desmond Painter.
Transcriptions of the wills of Henry Hearder (1568) and William Hearder (1592) provided by Ian Hearder.