England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Butterleigh St Matthew

The Parish

The parish of Butterleigh lies in eastern Devon about 3 miles southeast of the market town of Tiverton. Butterleigh sits a littl over 2 miles east of the A395 road which connects Tiverton through to Exeter. Butterleigh is a small and relatively compact village sitting around lanes in the upper valley of the Burn River. Like many of the parishes hereabouts Butterleigh was a farming village with the emphasis upon pastoral farming of the local dairy cattle. The local landscape is characterised by small hedged fields dotted around the steep slopes of the valleys. The Burn River drains the parish southwestwards towards the nearby River Exe which makes its way through Exeter to the English Channel. Butterleigh is sited at around 110 metres above the sea in picturesque and incised landscape where local heights rise to just over 200 metres within a mile or two. Butterleigh was one of Devon's smallest parishes covering barely 450 acres in which a population of close to 150 parishioners could be supported. In Domesday times Butterleigh was a very small place indeed, held by a local man Edwin it had just a pair of ploughs and a small wood.

The Church

St Matthew's church sits at the heart of Butterleigh on the eastern edge of the main centre of property. Whilst the church has its origins in the 13th century much of the fabric dates from the Victorian restoration which was significant and amounted almost to a rebuild. The western tower and nave show the remaining portions of remaining 13th century work, being early Decorated in style. The northern arcade also shows per-restoration work but is probably early 19th century Georgian work as evidenced by the thin piers. It was 1861 that the major work began with the chancel almost rebuilt and most of the windows replaced throughout. Forge Lane leads east off the main street and ends at a large car-park shared by the church and village hall. Metal gates to the right of that hall lead through to the churchyard which is open, uncluttered and with no obstacles for the photographer.