England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Brixton St Mary

The Parish

The parish of brixton lies in the extreme southwest of Devon quite close to its southern coast, indeed Brixton sits at the first bridging point of the Yealm estuary so technically it forms part of Devon's southern, English Channel, coast. Brixton is a substantial and compact village located about 5 miles east of the port of Plymouth and sits astride the A379 road which connects Plymouth to Kingsbridge & Dartmouth and forms the southern coastal road of the county. Brixton had a mixed economy at the time of this transcript, pastoral farming would have been an important mainstay whilst extractive industries added wealth from the mining of slate and the local marble, brixton was also a small port with shallow-draught vessels coming up the narrow and winding creek to the village. The Yealm estuary forms the main drainage of the parish, Brixton being some three miles from it mouth. Brixton is sited at some 50 metres above the sea on a knoll of land high above the creeks, land rises around to over 100 metres in the undulating coastal fringe to Dartmoor which lies to the north. Brixton parish was of a fairly typical size for parishes in this area, it covered around 2,800 acres and would have supported a population of just over 800 parishioners. In Domesday times Brixton was a small place indeed, it was held by one Ralph of Pomeroy and could offer just 2 ploughs and small meadows & pastures.

The Church

St Mary's church sits immediately north of the A379 and set back from the busy main road by a small parking area for the church & local businesses. Much of the church dates from the late 15th century and is Perpendicular in style although it is believed that the chancel contains the remains of a much earlier building. The building, however, fell into some disrepair and there were extensive restorations in the 1880s and 1890 which have masked or removed many original features from the mediaeval period. The church sits in an elevated position above the road and is set behind a high local stone wall. To the left of the village post office is an arched metal gateway granting access to the site. There are few restrictions to photography once within the churchyard.