Clovelly Devon Family History Guide

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Clovelly is an Ancient Parish in the county of Devon. 

Parish church:

Parish registers begin:

  • Parish registers: 1686
  • Bishop’s Transcripts: 1610

Nonconformists include: Bible Christian Methodist and Wesleyan Methodist.

Adjacent Parishes

Parish History

Red Lion Hotel Clovelly Devon 1950s
Red Lion Hotel Clovelly Devon 1950s

The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870

CLOVELLY, a village and a parish in Bideford district, Devon.

The village nestles in a woody nook of a picturesque sea-cliff, about 500 feet high, 11 miles W by S of Bideford r. station; is one of the most extraordinary and romantic seats of population in the kingdom; has a post office under Bideford, a small harbour, and an inn; and carries on a fishery in prime herrings and many other kinds of fish.

The parish comprises 3,502 acres. Real property, £2,188. Pop., 825. Houses, 193.

The manor belonged once to the Giffords; passed, in the time of Richard II., to Sir John Cary; and belongs now to Sir J. H. Williams, Bart.

The cliffs on the coast and many parts inland both exhibit splendid scenery, and command magnificent views. Buckish-mill-glen makes a fine break in the cliffs; and the freshwater rivulet forms a pretty cascade over them to the shore.

Clovelly Court, the seat of Sir J. H. Williams, is a handsome edifice of 1780, on the site of a previous mansion destroyed by fire; and stands amid grounds surpassingly picturesque, with woods, crags, water-falls, and other features of distinctive interest.

Clovelly Dykes, situated on very high ground, is an ancient British camp, 360 feet long and 300 broad, with three trenches or dykes.

The living is a rectory in the diocese of Exeter. Value, £244. Patron, Col. Fane. The church is an ancient structure, with a low tower; was made collegiate, in 1387, by Sir William Cary; and contains a brass and monuments of the Carys.

There are chapels for. Wesleyans and Bible Christians.

Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].

Administration

  • County: Devon
  • Civil Registration District: Bideford
  • Probate Court: Court of the Bishop (Consistory) of the Archdeaconry of Barnstaple
  • Diocese: Exeter
  • Rural Deanery: Hartland
  • Poor Law Union: Bideford
  • Hundred: Hartland
  • Province: Canterbury