Paignton

from

A Topographical Dictionary of England

by

 Samuel Lewis (1831)

Transcript copyright Mel Lockie (Sep 2016)

PAINGTON, a parish in the hundred of HAYTOR, county of DEVON, 5¾ miles (E.) from Totness, containing 1796 inhabitants. The living is a vicarage, to which the perpetual curacy of Marldon is annexed, in the peculiar jurisdiction of the Bishop of Exeter, rated in the king's books at £52. 1. 0½., and in the patronage of the Rev. John Templar. The church, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, has an enriched Norman door, the upper part of the tower and the transept being in the later English style; there are also a screen of elegant tabernacle-work, and a stone pulpit, richly ornamented with foliage. There is a place of worship for Independents. Paington was anciently held in demesne by the Bishops of Exeter, who had here a palace, of which some fragments still remain. It is situated on Torbay, at its western extremity, and carries on a considerable trade in cider, for shipping which and discharging coal, &c., vessels come close up to the village. A small fair is held on Whit-Tuesday. John Kellond, in 1692, gave £100 for teaching, and Charles Kellond, in 1690, £50 for apprenticing, poor children. In 1800, Allan Balfield bequeathed £1000 three per cents, for the education of twenty poor children.