BRADNINCH

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

"BRADNINCH, a parish and decayed borough in the hundred of Hayridge, in the county of Devon, 2 miles to the S.S.W. of Cullompton, its post town. It is pleasantly situated on the small river Culme, about 1 mile from the Hele station of the Bristol and Exeter railway. Its ancient name was Bradenesse or Branies, and it was once of sufficient importance to send representatives to parliament in the reign of Edward II. It is still governed under an ancient charter, renewed and extended by James I., by a mayor, 12 masters, and a recorder. The town suffered greatly during the Civil War, being held alternately by the royalists and parliamentarians, and has been several times partly burnt down. The town contains a guildhall, a prison, and a court-house of recent erection. Quarter and petty sessions are held here. The inhabitants are chiefly employed in the pursuits of agriculture, but some are engaged in the two large paper-mills. The living is a perpetual curacy* in the diocese of Exeter, value £102, in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter of Windsor. The church, erected in the reign of Henry VII., is dedicated to St. Dionysius. It is in the perpendicular style, with a tower of later erection, and contains a fine screen of carved oak and a rood-loft. It has been recently restored, at a cost of £1,100. The Baptists and Wesleyans have chapels in the town. The charitable endowments of the parish amount to £70 per annum. There is a National school. Bradninch gives the title of baron to the dukes of Cornwall."