ST. THOMAS THE APOSTLE

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

"ST. THOMAS THE APOSTLE, a parish in the hundred of Wonford, county Devon, 1 mile S.W. of Exeter, its post town. The village is situated on the river Exe, which is here crossed by a bridge connecting it with Exeter. Near the river is the site of a small priory of Black Canons, founded in Henry III.'s reign as a cell to Plympton. The Poor-law Union comprises 49 parishes or places. The living is a vicarage* in the diocese of Exeter, value £237. The church, dedicated to St. Thomas, was erected in 1412, and enlarged in 1829. There are also chapels-of-ease at Exwick and Oldridge. The charities produce about £15 per annum, of which £10 belong to William Gould's school for 24 children.

Exwick is a hamlet in this parish and is a suburb of Exeter, being half a mile N.W. of the railway station, and situated on the river Exe. Blankets and serge are manufactured here, and there is a paper-mill. The church, or chapel-of-ease, is a modern stone structure, dedicated to St. Andrew, and has the interior very handsomely fitted up. James W. Buller, Esq., is lord of the manor. The hamlets of Foghay and Foxhays are within a short distance.

"COWICK, a hamlet in the parish of St. Thomas the Apostle, in the county of Devon, within the limits of the city of Exeter. It was the site of a Benedictine cell to Bee Abbey, founded by William Fitz-Baldwin in the 12th century."

"OLDRIDGE, a chapelry in the parish of St. Thomas the Apostle, hundred of Wonford, county Devon, 3 miles S. by W. of Crediton. The village is small and chiefly agricultural. The living is a perpetual curacy in the diocese of Exeter, value £60. The church is a modern edifice."