HARTLAND

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

"HARTLAND, a parish and town in the hundred of the same name, county Devon, 14 miles S.W. of Bideford, and 46 W.N.W. of Exeter. It is situated on Barnstaple Bay, on the Bristol Channel, near Hartland Point, a bold promontory 350 feet high, supposed to be the Hercules Promontory of the Phoenicians. The town was anciently a market town, and is governed by a portreve. The inhabitants are employed in the fisheries, and in the malt and lime trade. The soil is clayey, and the subsoil chiefly shelving rock. There is a landing quay under the cliffs, but much exposed to the waves. The living is a perpetual curacy* in the diocese of Exeter, value £97, in the patronage of the governors of the Charterhouse, London. The church is situated on a hill about 1½ mile from the town. It is a cruciform structure, dedicated to St. Nectan, with a lofty tower at the W. end, and has been recently restored. It contains several painted windows, a stone altar, rood screen, and two brasses. The old market-house, which is situated in the town, has been converted into a chapel-of-ease. The Independents, Wesleyans, and Bible Christians have each a chapel. The parochial charities produce about £75 per annum, part of which is the revenue of Mill's almshouses. There are two schools, one of which belongs to the Independents. On the site of the old abbey, founded by Githa, Earl Godwin's wife, is the seat of Colonel Buck. Lewis W. Buck, Esq., is lord of the manor, and chief landowner. Fairs are held on the second Saturday in March, on Easter Wednesday, and 25th September."

"ABBEY, near Hartland, in the parish and hundred of Hartland, in the county of Devon, 46 miles W.N.W. of Exeter. The seat of Mrs. Orchard, a mansion built on the site of the abbey founded by Githa, wife of Earl Godwin, in the 11th century, and rebuilt by Geofrey Dinant in 1184. It passed at the Reformation to Serjeant Abbot."