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West Down
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"DOWN, (WEST) a pleasant village, on a bold acclivity, near a rivulet, 6 miles N.N.W. of Barnstaple, has in its parish 637 souls, and 4059 acres of land, including the small hamlets of Willincott, Dean, and Trimstone. Anthony Loveland, Esq., is lord of the manor of Bradwell; and Dr. Yeo is lord of that of Stowford, which was the seat of Bishop Stowford, who built Pilton bridge. The Langdon, Parminter, Griffiths, Coats, and other families have estates here. The Church (Holy Trinity,) is an ancient fabric, and the living is a vicarage, valued in K.B. at £8. 14s. 9d., and in 1831 at £211, in the patronage of the Bishop of Exeter, and the incumbency of the Rev. H.J. Drury. . . ." [From White's Devonshire Directory (1850)]
A parish in Braunton Hundred, the Archdeaconry of Barnstaple, and the Diocese of Exeter.
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Thorne, Tim. Volcanoes, Plagues and Poverty, Devon Family Historian, no. 185, (2023) pp.54-55. [Henry Thorne (1749-1829)]
MIs for this parish are included in the Incledon index - see under Cemeteries on the main Devon page.
Snetzler, M.F. North Devon Surname Index to the Census. Microfiche: M.F. Snetzler. [Covers 1841, 1861, 1871 and 1881 census records for this parish]
Parish Registers going back to 1582 are held in the Devon Record Office.
Transcripts of the Parish Registers going back to 1583 are held in a special collection in the Westcountry Studies Library.
The Devon FHS publishes indexes covering (as of June 2004): Marriages 1754-1837 - for details see their Devon Parish List.
Entered into the IGI (as of Jan 1993): Parish Church Christenings 1583-1812 and Marriages 1584-1812.
Brock, Bob and Ann. From Cradle to Grave 1900-1919, 20 years of Birth, Marriage and Death Notices Taken from the 'North Devon Journal' for the parishes of Ashford, Bittadon, Heanton Punchardon, Georgeham, Marwood, Morthoe and West Down Braunton Museum, The Bakehouse Centre, Caen Street, Braunton, N. Devon EX33 1AA (2002?) 60p.
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.]
Section on West Down from Samuel Lewis: A Topographical Dictionary of England (1831), provided by Mel Lockie.
Transcript of complete entry in White's Devonshire Directory of 1850.
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 West Down to another place.
Dennys, R. Cheglinch, in the parish of West Down, Devon, Devon & Cornwall Notes & Queries 23 (1), 1947, pp. 24-6.
Pyne, Frederick Wallace. The John Pyne family in America being the comprehensive genealogical record of the descendants of John Pyne (1766-1813) of Charleston. Baltimore: Gateway Press (1992) xx, 204p: ill. ISBN 0963253905.
Thomas, Margaret. West Down: a history and memories of the past. Twitchen, Twitchen Farm, West Down: Margaret Thomas,1995, 271 pp. ill., 1 facsim., 1 map, ports. ISBN: 0952633701 (pbk).
View a map of the boundaries of this town/parish.
You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SS516420 (Lat/Lon: 51.157954, -4.12351), West Down which are provided by:
- OpenStreetMap
- Google Maps
- StreetMap (Current Ordnance Survey maps)
- Bing (was Multimap)
- Old Maps Online
- National Library of Scotland (Old Ordnance Survey 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)
- GeoHack (Links to on-line maps and location specific services.)
- All places within the same township/parish shown on an Openstreetmap map.
- Nearby townships/parishes shown on an Openstreetmap map.
- Nearby places shown on an Openstreetmap map.
West Down contributors to a 1678 brief for the rebuilding of St Paul's Cathedral.
West Down Apprentice Register 1803-1833. [Devon]: Devon Family History Society (2013). [Foreword]