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KINGSKERSWELL

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

"KINGSKERSWELL, (or Kinkerswell), a parish in the hundred of Haytor, county Devon, 2½ miles S. of Newton Abbott, its post town, 3 N. of the Tor railway station, and 1½ mile S. of the junction of the Plymouth and Exeter lines. It is a station on the Torquay branch of the South Devon railway. It is situated on the turnpike road between Exeter and Torquay. There are some limestone quarries. The land is chiefly arable. It is noted for its excellent cider. The village is considerable but chiefly agricultural. The appropriate tithes were commuted for a rent-charge of £210, and the vicarial for £145. The living is a perpetual curacy* in the diocese of Exeter, value £105, in the patronage of the Vicar of St. Mary Church, who built the curate's residence in 1837. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, is a stone structure with a turret. In the interior are an ancient oaken screen and a monument to Sir John Dynham. The charities produce about £19 per annum. There is a National school for both sexes, in which a Sunday-school is also held. The Wesleyans and Baptists have places of worship. There is also a Samaritan society supported by subscriptions. Barton Hall, the principal residence, is the seat of Henry Langford Brown, Esq., who is lord of the manor and principal landowner. Many Roman coins were dug up in a piece of waste land near the church in 1840.

Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003