England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Bridford St Thomas a Becket

The Parish

The parish of Bridford lies in south central Devon, between Dartmoor and the Exe, about 4 miles east of the market town of Moretonhampstead. Bridford is a small and compact village lying a little over 2 miles south of the B3212 road which connects Moretonhampstead through to Exeter. Bridford sits in strongly undulating countryside high on a hill above the deeply cut valley of the River Teign in a network of steep & winding lanes. Whilst the predominant economic activity was pastoral farming, the extractive industries were also present, the granite that characterises this area would have been quarried whilst shafts were also sunk in exploration for lead & manganese. A steeply rushing stream drains Bridford eastwards the short distance to the River Teign, this runs south to Newton Abbot before turning east to meet the English Channel through the Teign Estuary. Bridford is sited on a strongly sloping site at between 200 and 230 metres above the sea, land some 150 metres higher than the nearby Teign valley, northwest of Bridford land continues rising to reach 315 metres at Heltor Rocks, a precursor of nearby Dartmoor. Parishes in this area are rather large in extent and Bridford parish covered close to 4,100 acres and that would have supported a population of just over 500 parishioners. In Domesday times Bridford was a much more significant place than today's small village, shared almost equally between Baldwin the Sheriff and a local strongman Iudhael of Totnes the parish could offer a mightily impressive 21 ploughs as well as extensive meadows, pastures and woodland, its 59 households made it into the top 20% of settlements recorded in that tome.

The Church

St Thomas a Becket's church sits at the heart of the village tucked away behind fronting properties and accessible by climbing or descending Bridford's steep lanes. Built from the local granite which gives it a formidable grey colour the church is largely a creation of the 14th century and is completed in a mixture of both Decorated and Perpendicular styles. Pevsner's account is light on dating detail, perhaps he distrusts what is original and what is the work of Victorian restorers. The only clear date given is that for the chancel which shows the earlier Decorated style of the early 14th century. The nave shows Perpendicular style windows from the latter half of that century but otherwise his account is mere description of the layout. Parking in the village is in short supply such are the constraints of steep and narrow lanes, perhaps the best option is to approach from Oxenpark Gate, the lane to the north, find parking and walk down Church Lane to the site. Once within there are few obstructions to photography.