England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
West Alvington All Saints

The Parish

The parish of West Alvington lies in the extreme south of Devon roughly a mile west of the market town & port of Kingsbridge. West Alvington sits on the A381 road which links Kingsbridge with Salcombe. West Alvington is a roadside village with most properties lying alongside the A381, to the east, on the Kingsbridge Estuary, West Alvington also had a small port in the area contiguous with Kingsbridge. For most of the medieval period West Alvington was a typical Devon farming parish, mostly arable, despite the strongly undulating landscape, mixed with pastures, the area was also noted for its cider. A market was granted to West Alvington in 1270 but, in time, that role was lost to Kingsbridge. It was the combination of the small port and the extraction of the local slate that lead to West Alvington's development, the local slate being exported both nationally & internationally, especially to the Netherlands. Today West Alvington is merely a western extension of Kingsbridge, albeit one still with a gap between the two, it relies on the tourism trade that visits the broader South Hams area, the estuary being popular with sailing enthusiasts especially. West Alvington is drained the short distance to the Kingsbridge estuary by a small fast-flowing stream, the estuary leads to the English Channel at Salcombe. West Alvington is sited between sea level and 70 metres above in strongly undulating countryside where most hilltops reach just over 100 metres but they are carved into by steep sided valleys. West Alvington is a large parish covering almost 3,700 acres and would have supported a population of close to 1,000 parishioners. By way of contrast Domesday West Alvington was a rural farming manor held by King William offering just 6 ploughs together with pastures & woodland and just 19 households.

The Church

All Saints' church stands on the northern side of the A381 roughly midway through the village. Whilst the church has its origins in the 13th century very little of the early simple church that would have been here survives, the piscina within the chancel is the most notable feature from that era whilst the chancel, itself, is early 14th century Decorated in style. Most of today's church is a product of the great church-building period of the Perpendicular and was largely constructed as a single phase of building in the 15th century. The nave, both northern & southern aisles, the southern porch and the notable western tower were all from this phase of building. The western tower is a fine example of the type coming complete with big, polygonal pinnacles. Most of the fabric is local slate rubble but the 6-bay arcades make notable use of Beer Stone dressings. By the middle Victorian period the church had fallen into decay and a major restoration of 1866 was required to bring the church back to good order , the work involved repairing the roofs, installing new wooden screens, entirely re-seating the nave, and restoring much of the window tracery. The A381 which passes the church is rather narrow for an A-road but is much used by locals for parking on the southern side especially, the churchyard stands well above head-height and is reached by a flight of steps from the eastern end, once within, however, there are no further obstacles for the photographer in an open and uncluttered churchyard.