BERRY POMEROY

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

"BERRY POMEROY, a parish in the hundred of Haytor, in the county of Devon, 2 miles to the E. of Totnes, its post town. It is pleasantly situated on the eastern side of the river Dart, not far from the coast of Tor Bay, and includes the township of Bridgetown. This parish takes the name Pomeroy from a Norman family, to one of whom, Ralph Pomeroy, numerous manors in this county were granted by William the Conqueror. The manor of Berry was the principal one and was the head of the barony. A castle was erected here soon after the Conquest. The scenery of the neighbourhood is remarkably picturesque. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Exeter, of the value of £360, in the patronage of the Duke of Somerset. The church, which contains a screen beautifully carved, a rood-loft, and several monuments of the Seymours, ancestors of the Duke of Somerset, is dedicated to St. Mary. The vicarage was held by John Prince, author of the book entitled "The Worthies of Devonshire," and who died here in 1720. The remains of the castle, consisting chiefly of the south front, stand on a hill rising steeply from a branch of the river Dart, which flows along a narrow valley, and a lofty ridge of hills partly covered with oak woods rises on the opposite side of the valley. This castle remained in the possession of the founder's family till the reign of Edward VI., when it was purchased with the manor of Berry by Edward Seymour, first Duke of Somerset, from whom it has regularly descended to the present noble owner. It was burnt down during the civil war in the reign of Charles I. The village is a meet for the South Devon hounds."

"BRIDGETOWN, a township in the parish of Berry-Pomeroy, hundred of Haytor, in the county of Devon, 2 miles to the E. of Totnes. It is pleasantly situated near the river Dart."