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

The Parish

The parish of Chudleigh is located in east central Devon not too far from its English Channel coast and on the eastern side of Dartmoor. Chudleigh is located in the valley of the River Teign about 9 miles southwest of the city of Exeter. Chudleigh is a small market town which sits astride the A38 (Exeter to Plymouth) road which thankfully now bypasses the town to its west. Chudleigh is largely linear and most properties either line or are not too far from the former line of the main road. Chudleigh was granted its market in 1309 but the town remained relatively small for a market town despite local industries being present. The proximity of good marble & limestone led to much employment as well as production of woolen cloth and, of course, the area is famous for its "scrumpy" cider. Otherwise the main employment would have been in pastoral farming of cattle on the rich red Devon soils. Chudleigh met with something of a disaster in the early 19th century when a major fire destroyed many properties in the town and its had to be largely rebuilt as a result to the detriment of its architectural heritage. The Teign drains the parish, it lies just over a half mile west of the town, and flows south and then east to reach the English Channel through Teignmouth. Chudleigh is sited some 20 metres higher than river level at some 70 metres above the sea but Devon is rolling and there are heights of over 200 metres within a couple of miles of the town. By southern Devon standards Chudleigh parish was quite large, it would have covered almost 5,200 acres and supported a healthy population of over 2,400 parishioners. There is, however, no specific mention of Chudleigh in Domesday Book.

The Church

St Martin & St Mary's church sits on the southeastern side of the former route of the A38, here named Fore Street. The church is large as befits a market town with the basic nave, chancel and western tower layout augmented by aisles and a northern transept. Documentary evidence dates the buildings consecration as 1259 but only the western tower shows features consistent with that period. The church has been enhanced and restored many times during the centuries. The chancel shows features of the Decorated style prevalent during the 14th century, whilst the seven bay southern aisle is clearly Perpendicular which could be 14th but more likely 15th century. Much else dates from the extension restorations effected in the 1840s and again in the 1860s which were sensitive but mask many original features. The church stands in a slightly elevated site, a solid looking wall of near head-height buttresses its churchyard. There are entrances to both north and south of the site, the main one being to the north where a short set of steps leads through a metal gateway. The site is relatively open with few restrictions to photographic angles.