CHARLES

Kelly's Directory Devonshire 1935

Transcribed by Deborah Carmichael

Charles is a parish and village on a hill above the picturesque valley of the river Bray, 3 miles north from Filleigh station on the Taunton and Barnstaple branch of the Great Western railway, 6½ north-by-west from South Molton, and 9 east from Barnstaple, in the South Molton division of the county, Sherwill hundred, petty sessional division, rural district, county court district and rural deanery of South Molton, archdeanery of Barnstaple, and diocese of Exeter. The church of St John the Baptist is an ancient building of stone in the Perpendicular style, consisting of chancel, nave, south porch and an embattled western tower containing 5 bells, rehung in 1897: at the east end is a memorial window erected in 1925 to celebrate the centenary of R.D. Blackmore, the novelist, who wrote some of his best-known works at Charles rectory: in the church is an inscribed brass to George Kellie M.A. rector, ob. March 10, 1649, and Ursula, his wife, ob. November 13, 1636: the church was restored in 1891, and affords 100 sittings. The register dates from the year 1531. The living is a rectory, net yearly value 450 pound, in the gift of Sir Percy Elly Bates bart., G.B.E. and held since 1916 by the Rev. Walter William Joyce M.A. of Hatfield Hall, Durham, and A.K.C.L. The old chapel, dedicated to St. Petrox in 1424, has been converted into the rectory. There is a Methodist chapel at Charles Bottom. There is an ancient stone circle in the parish. The farmers mostly own the land. The soil is light and good; subsoil, skillett rock. The chief crops are oats, roots and pasturage. The area is 2,400 acres of land and 10 of water; population in 1931 was 215.

Brayford is a hamlet, 1½ miles north, on the west bank of the Bray, over which is a bridge of one arch. There is a Methodist chapel here and a Baptist chapel built in 1815, with 130 sittings

Letters through Barnstaple, West Buckland nearest M.C.   Brayford nearest T. office

Brian Randell, 8 Jan 2009