COUNTISBURY, or Countesbury, a parish in Barnstaple district, Devon; on the coast, at the boundary with Somerset, 15½ miles E by N of Ilfracombe, and 17½ NE of Barnstaple r. station. Post town, Lynton, under Barnstaple. Acres, 3,512; of which 285 are water. Real property, £2,268. Pop., 176. Houses, 38. The manor belonged, in the time of Edward the Confessor, to Ailmar, a Saxon; was given, at the Conquest, to William Chieire, a follower of the Conqueror; passed through various hands; and belongs now to the Hallidays of Glenthorne. The land rises steeply from the sea; attains a height of 1,146 feet, at Barney-barrow, in the vicinity of the church; and is elsewhere hilly. Many remains of Roman camps are seen; and a great number of Roman coins have been found. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Exeter. Value, not reported. Patron, the Bishop of Exeter. The church consists of nave and chancel, with a belfry; and was rebuilt within the present cent.
Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].
Parish Registers
Marriages at Countisbury 1676-1757
Marriages at Countisbury 1676-1757: Devonshire Parish Registers: Marriages. Edited by W. P. W. Phillimore, B.A., B.C.L. Vol. 1. 1909.
