Ashton

from

A Topographical Dictionary of England

by

 Samuel Lewis (1831)

Transcript copyright Mel Lockie (Sep 2016)

ASHTON, a parish in the hundred of EXMINSTER, county of DEVON, 3¾ miles (N. by W.) from Chudleigh, containing 258 inhabitants. The living is a rectory, in the archdeaconry and diocese of Exeter, rated in the king's books at. £11. 10. 2½, and in the patronage of the Rev. Thomas Hole. The church contains a very finely carved wooden screen and rood-loft. The parish is bounded by the river Teign, the sudden inundations of which frequently occasion much damage. Here are several mines of manganese, worked by contractors from Cornwall, who pay to the lord of the manor a duty on the tonnage: large quantities of this mineral are supplied to the Manchester and other manufacturers, for bleaching their goods. Jane Shepherd, in 1734, gave 12s. per annum for teaching two poor children of this place; and John Stooke, in 1691, gave £4. 4. per annum to the poor in the almshouse.