MARWOOD

[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868)]

"MARWOOD, a parish in the hundred of Braunton, county Devon, 3 miles N.W. of Barnstaple, its post town. The village, which is wholly agricultural, is situated on the Ilfracombe road. The parish is of large extent, and includes a considerable tract of common and woodland. The soil is a light loam, resting on a substratum schist rock. Two small brooks irrigate the lower grounds. The living is a rectory* in the diocese of Exeter, value £635, in the patronage of St. John's College, Cambridge. The church, dedicated to St. Michael, is an ancient- stone structure, with a square embattled tower containing six bells. The interior of the church has a carved screen, inscribed with the name of Sir John Beapul. There were formerly two chapels-of-ease, one at Patsford, and the other at Whitefield, but they have long been ruins. The charities produce about £26 per annum. There is a free school for both sexes, with an endowment of £8 per annum; also a school of industry for females. Judge Littleton is said to have been born at Middle Marwood."