Modbury

from

Kelly's Directory for Devonshire 1935

 

Transcribed by Sheila Jones

(E-mail: sheila.jones[at]liverpool.ac[dot]uk)

MODBURY is a small but important market town and large parish, in the Totnes division of the county, hundred of Ermington, petty sessional division of Ermington and Plympton, union and county court district of Kingsbridge, rural deanery of Plympton, archdeaconry of Plymouth and diocese of Exeter. The town is built of the slopes of a rivulet which runs into the river Erme, and consists of four streets, intersecting at right angles; it is 5 miles south-east from Ivybridge station on the South Devon section of the Great Western railway. It is 12 miles east from Plymouth, with which it is connected by a frequent service of Western National Company's motor omnibuses, and 7½ north-west from Kingsbridge. The town is supplied with water by the Kingsbridge and Salcombe Water Board and by conduits from several springs, and has been lighted with electricity since 1932. The church of St. George stands on an eminence, and is a fine embattled structure in a Gothic style of the 13^th and 14^th centuries, consisting of a chancel and nave, with aisles to both, transepts, south porch and a tower, re-erected in 1622, with spire 134 feet in height, and containing a clock and six bells: in the south transept are two recessed canopied arches, in one of which is placed the recumbent effigy of a knight in plate armour, possible representing Sir John Champernowne, c. 1488; within the other arch lies the mutilated effigy of a crusading knight: in the north aisle is another canopied recess of more elaborate character, containing the effigy of a lady in flowing robes, c. 1250-1310, and fragments of the effigy of another crusader; these earlier figures are assumed to represent members of the Okeston family, once the possessors of this place, or of the Prideaux family: at the back of this recess, restored by Mr. Prideaux-Brune, of Prideaux, Cornwall, is a quatrefoil window, which has been filled with the arms of the Prideaux family in stained glass: in the south aisle is a memorial window to the Ven. Archdeacon Froude: the east window is a memorial to the Rev. Nutcombe Oxenham, a former vicar: in 1858 the interior was restored and reseated and in 1873 a new organ was erected: the oak reredos was erected in 1925 in memory of the late Miss Emma Green, daughter of a former vicar: the south chapel was furnished and brought into use in 1928: there are 600 sittings. The register dates from the year 1601. The living is a vicarage, net yearly value £379, including 9 acres of glebe, with residence, in the gift of Eton College, and held since 1927 by the Rev. Archibald Calder, D.S.O, M.A., Mus. Bac. of St. Catharine's College,Cambridge. The impropriate tithe rent-charge of the parish of Modbury, payable to Eton College, is commuted at £900. Near the church once stood the ancient priory of Modbury, founded by the Champernowne family as a cell to the Abbey of St. Pierre Sur Dives, in Normandy, and dedicated to St. Gregory; the revenues at the dissolution were estimated at £70. Of the mansion of the ancient family of Champernowne, small portions still exist. There is a Baptist chapel, founded in 1791, with sittings for 260 persons, and a Methodist chapel. The Literary and Scientific Institute, in Brownston street, founded by Richard King in 1840, is a building of stone, with Doric columns and portico, and has a good sized billiard room. Two endowments of £500 each were left for the benefit of the Institute by the late John Andrews esq. and the late Samuel Spry esq. The cattle market is held the second Monday in every month, and is largely attended. The stock fair is on or immediately after the first Tuesday in May. Woollen serge was formerly manufactured here, but the trade is wholly discontinued; agricultural pursuits now form the chief employment of the inhabitants. The chief charities are one of £5 per annum for the improvement of the town, and £5 per annum to provide coal for poor people. The educational charities consist of £27 3s. 10d. per annum, being interest of £1,086 14s. 4d. 2½ per cent. Consols, £6 10s. of which goes to the vicar for religious education and the balance to trustees for school prizes &c. The principal was chiefly bequeathed by John Andrews esq. Joseph Wriford and a few others. Hill's charity of £2 8s. per annum is devoted to nursing. Here in Feb. 1642 or 43, Sir Ralph Hopton and Sir Nicholas Slanning, with a force of about 2,000 men, were attacked and defeated by a body of Parliamentary troops from Plymouth, under Col. Ruthven, and a number of the leaders captured. Whympston is the property of the Plymouth Co-operative Society Limited. Arthur Crawley Pode esq. is lord of the borough and manor of Great Modbury. Lt.-Col. Lord Mildmay of Flete P.C., T.D., D.L., J.P. is lord of the manor of Orcherton, the manor house of which was the ancient sear of the Prideaux family. Lt.-Col. Lord Mildmay of Flete P.C. (lord lieut.), the Plymouth Co-operative Society Limited, John Andrews esq. J.P. and Messrs. Charles Choake and Sons are the principal landowners. The kennels of the Modbury harriers are in this parish; a committee are the masters; the pack comprises 12 couples of about 21-inch harriers, and hunts Tuesdays and Fridays; Modbury and Ivybridge are convenient centres; Ivybridge, 5 miles distant, is the nearest railway station to the kennels. The soil is a rich loam; sub-soil, various. The area is 5,871 acres of land, 5 of water, 16 of tidal water and 49 of foreshore; rateable value, £9,703; the population in 1931 was 1,110 in the civil and 1,177 in the ecclesiastical parish.
By Local Government Board Order 16,313, a detached part of Kingston, near Strayland Green, was added to this parish; and Penquit, Caton and Ludbrook House transferred from the parish to Ermington, March 24, 1884, for civil purposes.

Parish Clerk, Henry William Andrews.

BROWNSTON is a hamlet, 3 miles north-east. St. John's chapel of ease, erected in 1844, is a building of stone in the Gothic style, and has a gift of £20 yearly from Eton College, the patrons of the mother church: in 1870 John Andrews also left £12 10s. yearly to the curate: in the chapel is an exceedingly interesting clergy stall, with an almost unique (in England) carving of the Holy Trinity; tradition asserts that it came from one of the ships of the Spanish Armada. Here is a small Methodist chapel.

LEIGH, 2 miles east-by-north, is also a hamlet in this parish.

Post, M.O., T. & T.E.D. Office - Broad street (letters should have Devon added).

PUBLIC ESTABLISHMENTS

Literary and Scientific Institution, Brownston street, G. Close, hon. sec.; Mrs. Hext, librarian.
Police Station

PUBLIC OFFICERS

Collector of Income and Land Tax for Modbury, E. Birch, Phoenix chambers, Princess square, Plymouth
Rating Officer & Clerk to the Parish Council, George Fox, Brook house
Registrar of Births and Deaths, Modbury Sub-District, William H. Trinnick, 5 Church street
Town Crier, Frederick Wood, Galpin street

PLACES OF WORSHIP

St. George's Church, Rev. A. Calder D.S.O., M.A., Mus. Bac. vicar
St. John's Chapel of Ease, Brownston
Baptist, Church street, Rev. C.E. Sparrow
Methodist, Chapel place, New road (South Devon Mission)
Methodist, Brownston

CONVEYANCE

Western National Co. omnibus service to Plymouth.

CARRIER TO PLYMOUTH

S.W. Bartlett, tues. thurs., fri. & sat. 9 a.m. (motor)

PRIVATE RESIDENTS

(for T.N.'s see general list of Private Residents at end of book)

Andrews John J.P. Traine house, Brownston street
Andrews William Henry, Brick ho, Brownston street
Broadhurst Harry Cecil, M.B. Palm Cross Green
Calder Rev. Archibald M.A., Mus. Bac., D.S.O. (vicar), The Vicarage
Choake Charles Cridland, Hillside, Brownston street
Choake Henry, Madeira vale
Coyte Frank J.P. 23 Church street
Close George, School house
Evans William Henry, 28 Church st
Fox Francis A. 4 Church street
Fox George, 7 Church street
Green Miss, 17 Church street
Langworthy Mrs. 16 Church street
Pearse Thomas, 19 Church street
Pode Arthur Crawley B.A. The Barracks
Robins Mrs. John, Trevere
Rogers Miss Florence, 22 Brownston street
Rogers Misses, 43 Brownston street
Sambell Alfred, Poundwell house, Poundwell street
Sparrow Rev. Charles E. (Baptist), The Manse, Church street
Treneer William Francis, Lloyds Bank house, Broad street
Trinick William H. Church street
Woodleigh, H.B. Brownston
Wroth Mrs. Austin, Erme house, Church st

COMMERCIAL

Early closing day Wednesday
Marked thus * farm 150 acres or over

Ash Wm. & Son, monumental masons, New rd
Barons Wm. Fras. farmer, Oldaport
Barratt Geo. farmer, Shearlangstone
Bartlett Sidney Ward, carrier, 3 Galpin st
Beard Sydney, blacksmith, Back st
Bickford Edward James, miller (water), Sheepham
*Blackler Geo. farmer, West Leigh
Blake Jas. boot & shoe mkr. 8 Brownston st
Blowey Wm. farmer, Shearlangston
Broadhurst Harry Cecil, M.B., B.S. Durh. Physcn. & surgen. Palm Cross Green T.N. 12
Brown Francis, china & glass dealer, 11, & grocer, 12, Broad street
Bruce Roland, Modbury inn, Brownston st
Burring Jn. boot maker & correspondent to School Management Committee, 60 Brownston st
*Camp Bertram David, farmer, Widland
Camp Ernest Wm. Farmer, Higher Sheepham
Caunter Albt. Edwd. farmer, Stoliford
Cawsey Bert, Exeter inn, Church st T.N. 39
Cawsey Chas. Hy. draper & postmaster, 1 Broad st
Cawsey Herbt. Jas., baker, 2 Church st & 45 Galpin st T.N. 16
Choake Chas. & Son, fellmongers, New rd T.N. 6
Clapham Art. Jn grocer, 8 Church st
Coyte Owen, butcher, 63 Brownston st T.N. 18
*Coyte Sydney, farmer, Butland
Crocker Jn. dairyman, Old Traine
Davis Alfd. Chas. wheelwright, Poundwell st
Davis John, farmer, Bearscombe
Ellis Charles, farmer, Higher Spriddlescombe (postal address, Ugborough)
*Ellis Geo. Rt., farmer, Coombe
Ellory Clarence Short, newsvendor, Brownston st
Exeter inn (Bert Cawsey, propr.), Church st T.N. 39
*Fairweather Hy. farmer, Shilston Barton
Ford Alex, dairyman, Brownston st
Ford Percy G. saddler & cycle agent, 48 Brownston st
Forresters Ancient Order of (Devonshire & Cornwall United district) (No. 9095, John Andrews) (A. Hooper, sec.), Poundwell st
Fox Geo. farmer, & rating officer & clerk to Parish Council, Church st, Little Stoliford
Fox Phillip Hy. dairyman, 4 Church st
FURZLAND JOHN, painter and house decorator, picture frame maker and glazier; & motor car painting a speciality, Galpin street T.N. 36
Gloyn Jn. farmer, Weeke
Great Western Hotel (David Main, propr.), Broad st T.N. 62
Groves Wm. H. draper, 2 Broad st
*Harris Sydney, farmer, Spriddlescombe manor
Harvey J.H. Fuge, A.L.A.A. accntnt. 6 Church st
Helmer Harry H. farmer, Fancy
Hine Clement, boot mkr. Poundwell st
Hodder Alfd. Philip, farmer, Leycombe
Hooper Josephine (Mrs.). White Hart hotel. Church st T.N. 21
Irish Jn. farmer, Edmeston
Lakeman's Stores, grocers, 4 Broad st T.N. 5
Lee Maurice J. M.P.S. chemist & druggist, 5 Broad st T.N. 15
Lethbridge Ernst, threshing machine propr. Churchlands
Lloyds Bank Ltd. (branch) (Wm. Fras. Treneer, manager); open daily, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; market days to 4 p.m.; Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 12 noon, Broad st (T.N. 23); head office, 71 Lombard st. London EC3
Luscombe J. A. & Sons, farmers, Chapple Brownston, Higher Brownston & Brownston
Luscombe Arth. Farmer, Glebe, Brownston
*Luscome Ernest J., farmer, Little Orcheton
Luscombe Herbt. farmer, Trehele
*Luscombe Wm. Geo. farmer, Yarnacombe
May Frank, tailor, 3 Church st
May James, farmer, The Priory
May Wm. farmer, Sheepham
Meathrel Jn. plumber, 8 Galpin st T.N. 37
Midland Bank Ltd. (sub-branch to Kingsbridge) (open mon. & thurs. 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; market days, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.), Church st; head office, Poultry, London EC2
Modbury Club (W.H. Evans, hon. sec.), 31 Church st
Modbury Harriers (Capt. W. Conran, Woolston, Loddiswell & Jn. Hodder, Harraton, Aveton Gifford, Kingsbrdige, hon. secs.)
Modbury Literary & Scientific Institution (George Close, hon.sec.; Mrs. Hext, librarian), Brownston street
Moysey Edwd. Stranger, painter, Church st
Mumford Fredk. Geo. butcher, 35 Church st T.N. 22
Perkins Wm. Jn. Shopkpr. 1 Broad st
Phillips Wm. Jn. Purdey, cowkeeper, 59 Brownston st
Plynouth Co-operative Society Ltd. Church st (T.N. 13) & farmers, Whympston
Rickman Hubert, farmer, 62 Brownston st
Rogers Albert Chas. Pinhey, butcher, 6 Church st
Rogers Edmund Geo. farmer, Lower East Leigh
Rogers Frank Rd. farmer, Lower Brownston
*Rogers Jn., farmer, East Leigh
Rogers Phillip, farmer, Croppins Combe
Roper Wm. Hy. tobaccnst. 9 Broad st
*Savory Lewis, farmer, Stockenridge
*Sherrell Jn. & Co. farmers, Little Modbury
Steer Ernest & Sons, agricultrl. implement mkrs. Back la T.N. 26
Steer George, carpenter, New road
Stevens' Garage (W. Stevens & Sons, proprietors); motor engineers & accessories; any make of car supplied; high-class cars for hire; funerals by motor hearse; 14, 20 & 24 seater sun saloon charabancs T.N. Modbury 11
Stevens Sidney Jn., confectnr. 10 Broad st
Stone Wm. H. hairdrssr. 2 Church st
Tarr Stuart Wilfred Gordon, farmer, Sheepham
Thorns Edwd. M. electrcl. Contrctr. 5 Church st
Treneer Wm. Fras. manager, Lloyds Bank Ltd. Broad st
Triggs Cyril, insur. Agnt. 9 Church st
Trinick Wm. Hy. printer, & registrar of births & deaths, Modbury sub-district, Kingsbridge registration district, 5 Church st T.N. 19
Walters Thos. motor garage, New rd T.N. 35
Whiddon Wm. school attendance officer, Church st
Whitford Hawke & Partners, estate agents & valuers, Pen Parks
Williams Rd. Chas. farmer, Orcherton mills
Wilshaw Edwd. A. M.R.C.V.S. veterinary surgn. & inspector to Devon county council, Church st T.N. 10
Williams Rd. Chas, farmer, Orcheton mills
*Williams Saml. J. farmer, Great Orcherton
Wood Fredk. town crier, Galpin st

Brian Randell, 13 Aug 2002