England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Christow St James

The Parish

The parish of Christow lies in the southeastern portion of central Devon roughly 7 miles southwest of the city of Exeter. Christow lies within the valley of the River Teign some quarter mile west of the B3193 road which links Exeter with Newton Abbot. Christow is a rather curiously shaped village, like a letter "G" partly lying on its side, a curving lane forming the western arm with a concentration in the east around the church. The village had a diverse economy, pastoral farming of mainly dairy cattle underpinned that but there were also extractive ventures exploiting deposits of both manganese and lead; in addition the area is renowned locally for its cherries grown in numerous small orchards hereabouts. Modern developments have come and gone, the route of the B3193 at one time being closely followed by a branch railway line nor closed and dismantled. Christow is drained southwards by the Teign before turning east north of Newton Abbot to make its way to the English Channel as the Teign Estuary. Christow is a valley side settlement in an area of steep slopes as the Teign is cut deeply into its course, the lower parts of the village, around the church, stand at around 80 metres above the sea whilst the end of the "G" stands at over 140 metres. Land continues to rise steeply on Christow Common which tops out at 289 metres whilst heights of over 300 metres are found a little further north. Christow Common forms also 700 of the parish's 3,200 acres and is home to sheep rather than cattle, the total 3,200 acres would have supported a population of close to 600 parishioners. Christow is not mentioned in Domesday Book.

The Church

St James' church sits tucked away from Village Road, the main lane of the village's lower end, along a winding pathway and sits some distance from the road. Whilst the church's font is 12th century there is nothing here of that vintage, the earliest fabric belongs to the late medieval period and even later still. A few parts of the nave and aisles remain from the 15th century and are Perpendicular in style. It is the prominent western tower that is the church's stand-out feature, a landmark for many a mile given its 80 foot height. this feature is, however, from the Tudor era of the 16th century which is an unusual period for major church building events. Much of the remainder of what we see dates from the major restoration of 1862 whence the chancel was completely rebuilt, as was the porch and the vestry added. As this rebuild followed after the transcription period the church would be largely unfamiliar to these participants. A triangular parking area sits outside the metal gates of the churchyard, from here a pathway heads east and then north to the church. For the photographer the southern aspects are available being open from this direction, in contrast the northern aspects are closed by dense trees set closely around the northern and eastern sides of the building.