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KINGSBRIDGE

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

"KINGSBRIDGE, a parish, market and post town, in the hundred of Stanborough, county Devon, 9½ miles from Kingsbridge Road station on the South Devon railway, 20 S.E. of Plymouth, and 34 S.W. of Exeter. It is situated on the summit and declivities of a hill at the head of Salcombe Haven, and formerly belonged to the Courtenays, Petres, &c. The parish, which is exceedingly small, comprising only 30 acres, chiefly laid out as gardens and orchards, is separated from Dodbrooke on the E. by a small rivulet. It is a petty sessions town, and polling-place for the southern division of the county. The streets are well paved and lighted with gas, and the houses are generally well built. It contains sonic shops, with a townhall, lecture hall, joint stock bank, a branch of the South Devon and Cornwall Bank, also gas-works, and the union workhouse. The townhall is a stone structure erected in 1850, consisting of a commodious room in which the petty sessions are held, county court, lecture hall, &c. The corn and malt trade is also carried on in the above building to a considerable extent. The large manufactory, formerly for woollen goods, has been converted into extensive steam and flour mills, the former trade having decayed. A brisk trade is carried on in timber, coals, leather, slate, and cider. A portion of the inhabitants are engaged in fishing. The town is under the jurisdiction of the county magistrates, but a portreeve, or chief officer, is appointed at Michaelmas, when a court-leet is held by the lord of the manor. The living is a vicarage annexed to that of Churchstow, in the diocese of Exeter. The church is situated about the centre of the town. It is an ancient structure, dedicated to St. Edmund, with an embattled tower, crowned with a spire and containing six bells. The interior of the church has been entirely restored. The charities produce about £449 per annum, of which £369 is Duncombe's bequest, for lectures, exhibitions, &c. There are National and British schools, also Crispin's free grammar school. The Independents, Wesleyans, Baptists, and Plymouth Brethren, have each a chapel. Tolley, a scholar of Henry VIII.'s time, was a native of this place. A newspaper called the Kingsbridge Gazette is published monthly. Market day is Saturday. A fair for cattle and live stock is held on the 20th July and two following days."

Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003