Clovelly Contents & Search

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CLOVELLY is a picturesque village on the sea coast of Bideford bay, extending down the cliffs through a ravine to the quay or harbour, and is a parish 9 miles west from Bideford station on the Torrington branch of the London and South Western railway, and 5 east-northeast from Hartland, in the North Western division of the county, Hartland hundred, Bideford petty sessional division, union and county court district, rural deanery of Hartland, archdeaconry of Barnstaple and diocese of Exeter. The church of All Saints is an ancient building of stone in mixed styles, consisting of chancel, nave, north aisle, south porch of Norman date and an embattled western tower containing 5 bells, 3 of which were cast in 1758 : there are several memorials to the Cary family, one of which has been curiously imposed upon another of earlier date ; this is a large slab about 6 feet by 2, incised with a tall floriated cross, and marginal inscription, now much worn, to Hugh Myghellstowe or Michelstowe, ob. 1488 : on the head of the cross has been' placed the brass effigy of a man in armour, and over his head an inscription to Robert Cary esq. ob. 15 June, 1540; on the floor of the sacrarium are two small brass effigies of knights in armour, the larger of which has been assumed to represent Sir William Cary kt. killed at Tewkesbury, May 4, 1471, and the other Robert Cary esq. his son, ob. 1545 ; there is also a monument to Robert Cary esq. ob. 1586; a brass inscribed to George Cary esq. ob. 10 July, 1601 William Cary J.P. ob. 1652; Sir Robert Cary kt. ob. 1675, and other memorials to George Cary S.T.P. dean of Exeter, ob. Feb. 2, i<6Bo ; Sir George Cary kt. ob. 6 Jan. 1684-5, and several other members of this family: there are also monuments to the Williams family and a memorial window to Sir James Williams, erected by his daughters: the east window is a memorial to the late Nevile Fane esq. and the west window to the late Rev. William Harrison M.A. rector here 1883-99: the font, a very ancient work and supposed to be Saxon, is in a good state of preservation; a new organ was erected in 1890 at a cost of 300 : in May, 1893, a brass was placed in the chancel to the memory of the Rev. Charles Kingsley M.A. rector of Eversley and canon of Westminster, the distinguished poet, preacher and novelist, who died 23 Jan. 1875; the church was restored in 1866, and has 350 sittings. The register dates from the year 1686. The living is a rectory, net yearly value ,2160, with residence, in the gift of Mrs. Hamlyn, and held since 1899 by the Rev. Thomas Leonard Vowe Simkin M.A. of St John's College, Cambridge. The late Rev. Charles Kingsley spent a portion, of his boyhood in Clovelly, of which his father was rector for four years. There is a Wesleyan Methodist chapel in the village, and a Bible Christian chapel, built in 1859, on the borders of the parish. The village, approached from Bideford through a wood known as the Hobby, is romantic and singular in its arrangement, being built in a ravine, up which the narrow street is carried almost by a succession of steps; it is much celebrated for its herring fishery. On the south side of the village are the remains of a circular encampment, called Clovelly Dykes, an ancient British encampment, situated on very high ground, commanding the only practicable coast road in this part of the country : Wilderness especially is a delightful walk, and at the termination of the grounds are Gallantry Bower and Mouth Mill, the latter exhibiting curious geological contortions and remarkable arrangements of strata, where the rock scenery, surrounded by majestic woods, is extremely fine. The hills around Clovelly rise in successive elevations, and between the different elevations and spurs are densely wooded glens through which numerous streamlets make their way : to the west, along the shores of Bideford Bay, the Carboniferous rocks extend in dark heavy masses; and to the north the coast of Pembrokeshire can be made out, with Lundy Island in mid-channel. Here is a Reading Room, with a library of about) 500 volumes. Clovelly Court, near the village, built in 1780, is the seat of Fredk. Hamlyn esq. D.L., J.P. who is lord of the manor and sole landowner. The soil is various; the subsoil is clay and rock. The chief crops are oats and wheat. The area is 3,395 acres of land and 100 of foreshore; rateable value, 2,428 ; the population in 1901 was 621.

Parish Clerk, Caleb Littlejohns.

Post, M. 0. & T. 0., T. M. 0., S. B., Express Delivery & Parcels & Annuity & Insurance Office. Mrs. Grace Pengilly Howard, sub-postmistress.
Letters from Bideford received at 9.25 a.m. & dispatched at 4.30 p.m. & 3.30 p.m. on Sunday
Wall Letter Box, Turnpike Gate, cleared at 5 p.m.; Sundays,

Life Boat Station, Beach, Robert Badcock, coxswain ,
Coast Guard Station & Rocket Life Saving Apparatus, Dan Pearce, chief officer & 6 men

A School Board of 5 members was formed Feb. 12, 1873
James Lott, Wrinklebury, clerk to the board
Board School (mixed), built in 1872, & since enlarged, for 159 children; average attendance, 91; John Hobbs Seldon, master
Carriers. Eli Braund & Frederick Robins, to Bideford, tues. thurs. & sat

Mail wagonette daily, 5 p.m. Sundays 4 p.m. from Turnpike gate, taking passengers

Andrew Thomas, Lower Sierra
Bakewell Misses
Bate- Mrs. Terranova cottage
Burnard John
Hamlyn Frederick esq. D.L., J.P. Clovelly court
Hamlyn Mrs. Clovelly court
Jewell William
Mills Richard
Simkin Rev. Thomas Leonard Vowe M.A. Rectory
Walker Robert

COMMERC1AL
Allen Thomas, farmer, Blagdon
Andrew William, farmer, Burnstone
Bailey Catherine (Miss), apartments
Baker John, farm bailiff to Frederick Hamlyn esq. J.P. Court farm
Bartlett Thomas, farmer, Hugglepit
Bate Charles Hy. master mariner
Bate Charlotte (Mrs.), apartments
Bate William, apartments
Becklake James, farmer, Eastacott
Beer Mary (Mrs.), farmr. Low. Sierra
Beer William, head gamekeeper to F. Hamlyn esq. D.L., J.P
Berriman James, New Inn hotel
Braund Eli, carrier, Wrinklebury
Bragg Thomas, farmer, & carriages on hire, Lower Sierra
Bromell John, farmer, Stetworthy
Burman Harriet (Mrs.), apartments
Burman Richard, blacksmith, Sierra
Burrow Joseph, farmer, Higworthy
Cann Samuel, builder, brick, lime & coal merchant & ship owner; & at Hartland
Cleave Thomas, farmer, East Dyke
Cruse T. (Miss), farmer. West Dyke
Elliott William, farmer, Slade
Harding Mary A. (Mrs.), apartments
Harris Mary Ann (Mrs.), laundress
Heard Eleanor (Miss), apartments
Howard Grace Pengilly (Mrs.), grocr. Post office
Jeffery Elizabeth (Mrs.), apartments
Jennings Thomas, farmer, Sierra
Jennings William, farmer, Buscott
Jewell John, farmer, Wrinklebury
Jewell John B. shopkeeper
Lewis Emma (Mrs.), apartments
Littlejohns Caleb, shoe maker, Sierra
Lott James, estate carpenter & clerk to the School Board, Wrinklebury
Marshall Charles, master mariner
May John, carpenter & farmer. Dyke
Mills Mary (Mrs.), apartments
Moss Capt. John, harbour master & smack owner
Moss John, jun. coal dlr. & apartments
Moss Mary (Mrs.), apartments
Moss Sarah (Mrs.), apartments
Paddon Richard, carpenter & farmer, Lower Sierra
Parsons Fanny (Mrs.), laundress
Parsons Joseph, farmer, High. Sierra
Pedler Elizabeth (Mrs.), apartments
Pengilly Elizabeth (Mrs.), apartments
Pengilly Sarah (Mrs.), apartments
Pennington Grace (Mrs.), apartments
Pickard Susan (Mrs.), grocer & drapr
Reading Room & Library (Mrs. Hamlyn, hon. sec)
Robins Frederick, carrier & farmer, Wrinklebury
Robins Henry, farmer, Clifford
Shepherd Catherine (Mrs.), apartments, Rose cottage
Slee John, farmer, Downland
Smale Mary (Mrs.), apartments
Tuke Harry, head gardener to F. Hamlyn esq
Vanstone James, farmer, Burford
Vine Lydia (Mrs.), Red Lion hotel
Walker Robert F.H.C.S. & L.R.C.P. Edin. surgeon & admiralty surgeon & agent &  , surgeon to the coastguard
Whitefield James, carpenter & boat builder
Woodley George, stud groom to F. Hamlyn esq. D.L., J.P. Clovelly court.

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Last updated: 9 Apr 2008 - Brian Randell