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BRANSCOMBE

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"BRANSCOMBE, a pleasant village, on the coast of the English channel, at the mouth of a rivulet, 5 miles E. by N. of Sidmouth, and S.W. of Colyton, has in its parish 956 souls, and 3422A. 3R. 18P. of land, including Dean and Weston hamlets, and many scattered houses. The Dean and Chapter of Exeter are lords of the manor, owners of most of the soil, appropriators of the great tithes, and patrons of the vicarage, valued in K.B. at £18. 15s. 10d., and in 1831 at £190, and now enjoyed by the Rev. S.H. Peppin, B.A., who has 10A. of glebe, and an ancient residence, mantled with ivy and vines. The great tithes were commuted in 1843, for £242, and the vicarial for £225 per annum. The Church (St. Winifred,) is a cruciform Gothic structure, with a tower and five bells. The Stuckey and Bartlett families were long seated at Weston Barton, as lessees of the manor; and Edge Barton was anciently the seat of the Branscombes, one of whom was sheriff of the county for five years, in the reign of Edward III. Many women and girls in this neighbourhood are employed in making lace, and here are quarries of excellent freestone. The Wesleyans have a small chapel in the village." [From White's Devonshire Directory (1850)]
A parish under the Peculiar jurisdiction of the Dean and Chapter of Exeter.

General information:

Biography

Skinner, A.J.P. Thomas Puddicombe, vicar of Branscombe, 1794-1827. Devon & Cornwall Notes & Queries 7:4, (1912) pp.128. [Refers to vol.2, p.37, par.28. See also vol.7, p.177.]
Tristram, Emma. Who Was Duggan?, Devon Family Historian, vol. 124, (2007) pp.36-37. [Concerns a letter, headed "Maycoes, Branscombe", whose author signs herself "Duggan", but who was probably a daughter of a Sir Arthur Tansley.]

Cemeteries

MIs for this parish are included in the Incledon index - see under Cemeteries on the main Devon page.
Whitmore, J.B. Devonshire Monumental Inscriptions, MS at Society of Genealogists (1951). [Extracts]
Branscombe MIs, Devon and Cornwall Record Society, (1913)

Census

Surname index to 1851 Census.

Surname index to 1881 Census.

Church History

Branscombe - from J. Stabb. Some Old Devon Churches (London: 1908-16).

Photographs of the parish church and the parish, provided by Michael Wright.

A Guide to the Church of Saint Winifred, Branscombe, by Ronald Branscombe with drawings by Angela Lambert.

Fox, Rev. J. Charles, The Church of Branscombe, in The Reliquary and Illustrated Archaeologist (January 1909) Bemrose and Sons, London.
Prideaux, Edith K., Branscombe Church, Devon, in Devon and Cornwall Notes and Queries 7 (1912-1913), James G. Commin, Exeter. 1913.
Ward, Agnes M. Early History of Methodism in Branscombe, The Author (1954). [DFHS Library - p287/BRA]

Church Records

Parish Registers going back to 1539 are held in the Devon Record Office - for details see Parish Registers in the Devon Record Office.

Transcripts of the Parish Registers going back to 1539 are held in a special collection in the Westcountry Studies Library - for details see Parish Registers in the Devon & Cornwall Record Society's Collection.

The Devon FHS publishes indexes covering (as of June 2004): Marriages 1545-1837, Burials 1813-1837 - for details see their book list.

Other churches and chapels (with pre-1840 records):

Entered into the IGI (as of Jan 1993): Parish Church Christenings 1539-1812, Marriages 1545-1812.
Granville, Roger & Mugford, W.E. (eds.) Branscombe, 1607 and 1614. Abstracts of the Existing Transcripts of the Lost Parish-Registers of Devon, 1596-1644, and short notes on the extant pre-reformation registers of all the parishes in the county, from particulars furnished by the several incumbents thereof. Vol. 1 A-Bra. Exeter: W. Pollard (1908). [Full text]
The register of baptisms, marriages & burials of the parish of Branscombe, Devon, 1539-1812. Exeter: The Devon and Cornwall Record Society (1976 1913) x, 308 pp. (Includes Memorial Inscriptions in Branscombe Church, by A.J.P. Skinner and E. Chick [Index].)

Description and Travel

Ronald Branscombe's Branscombe page.

Bird, Sheila. Seaton, Axmouth, Colyton, Colyford, Beer and Branscombe companion (2nd rev. ed.), Lyme Regis, Bird of Freedom (1988) 56p: ill, map. [ISBN 0951223623] [Westcountry Studies Library pB/SEA/1986/BIR]
Cady, Michael (Ed.), AA/Ordnance Survey Leisure Guide to Devon and Exmoor, AA/Ordnance Survey (1988). ISBN: 0-86145-6653.

Directories

Extract from White's Gazetteer for 1850, provided by Ronald Branscombe.

Gazetteers

The transcription of the section for this parish from the National Gazetteer (1868), provided by Colin Hinson.

History

The Branscombe Project website contains transcripts of the Branscombe census (1841-1901) and the parish registers (1538-2003), photographs, historical accounts, a publication list and much else.

Branscombe Timelines, before 1000 AD, by Ronald Branscombe.
Barber, Chips and Barber, Sally. Around & about Seaton and Beer featuring Colyton, Colyford and Branscombe. Pinhoe, Obelisk (1993). ISBN: 0946651779
Burnham, E.J. A Guide to Seaton and District: Including Axmouth, Colyford, Colyton, Beer and Branscombe. (1912) [Westcountry Studies Library, Devon & Exeter Inst., Plymouth Central Library]
Butters, Reverend F.C., Branscombe, the Parish and the Church, E.R.D. Publications, Exmouth, reprint 1991 (first published 1949).
Chick, Elijah, A Short Sketch of the History of the Parish and Church of Branscombe, Devon (1906).
King, Reverend Arthur Steele, Branscombe, its Church and Parish, fifth edition, Beverley, 1930.
Moreshead, J.Y. Anderson. Our four parishes: Sidmouth, Sidbury, Salcombe Regis and Branscombe. Trans. Devon Assoc. 35 (1903) pp. 146- 155.
Sutton, Anna. A story of Sidmouth and the villages of Salcombe Regis, Branscombe, Sidbury and Sidford. Chichester: Phillimore (1973) 205p: ill.

Land and Property

Digitised 1840 tithe maps, including one of this parish, are available on the East Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Partnership's website.

Elliot, John. Devon homes - Bovey House, Branscombe. Devon Life vol. 10 no. 89 (1973) pp.27-29; ill.

Names, Personal

Branscombe contributors to a 1678 brief for the rebuilding of St Paul's Cathedral.

Branscombe Apprentices Register - 1808-1833, Exeter, Devon Family History Society A052. [Names included in the overall index published as "Rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief" (CD 023).

Occupations

Tomlinson, Margaret, Three Generations in the Honiton Lace Trade, Sovereign Printing, Sidmouth (1983). ISBN: 0-9508574-0-8

Schools

McWilliam, Ethel. 100 years of a Village School, 1878-1978. Sidmouth: Sidmouth Printing Works (1978). [Raymond: Includes various lists of staff and pupils.]
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Last updated: 1 Oct 2011 - Brian Randell

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