England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Cruwys Morchard Holy Cross

The Parish

The parish of Cruwys Morchard lies in east central Devon about 5 miles west of the market town of Tiverton. The unusual name of the village comes from the Cruwys family name, this family had their seat here from the 12th century. Cruwys Morchard sits just south of the B3137 road which connects Tiverton through Witheridge to South Molton. There is very little to modern day Cruwys Morchard, a scattered settlement with no real village centre but properties lying across the parish as farms and cottages. The area around the parish is strongly indented from a general plateau level of around 200 metres above the sea with the rivers and streams cut into steeply sided valleys and with much woodland remaining. The principal income of the parish would have come from pastoral farming albeit that woodland supplied local needs for charcoal and building materials. Devon has two river Dart, the shorter drains Cruwys Morchard southeastwards to quickly join the Exe and thence through to the English Channel through the Exe Estuary. Cruwys Morchard is sited at about 220 metres above the sea by the church and, as stated, sits on what geographers would recognise as an incised peneplain at or slightly above that height but deeply cut into by the river valleys. Cruwys Morchard parish was one of the larger by area in this part of Devon, it covered just under 5,800 acres and would have supported a population of close to 700 parishioners. In Domesday times Cruwys Morchard was shared between two landholders, the majority holding was in the hands of the curiously named William the Goat (presumably a man and not a grazing animal), the balance being held by Bishop Geoffrey of Coutances, collectively the parish could offer 13 ploughs as well as extensive meadows, pastures & woodland.

The Church

Holy Cross church sits some 400 metres from the B3137 at the head of a small tributary of the Dart. The church has its origins in the 14th century showing styles of the Decorated period as well as early Perpendicular. The curiosity of the church is the contrasting top to its western tower occasioned when a lightning strike caused a fire in the late 17th century, the brick top being completed in 1689. Whilst the external appearance is typical of central Devon it is internally that Holy Cross is unusual. During the 18th century the nave, chancel & aisle were given a white plaster paneling, the wagon roof was also plastered over and a new screen, described by Pevsner as the "best early 18th century screen in Devon, was erected; the whole set piece is worth a visit in its own right. As is usual alterations were made in the 19th century to result in today's church. The church sits on a southeasterly running narrow lane passing Cruwys Morchard House behind a typical Devon hedged bank, a lychgate grants entry to a churchyard which is large and with few obstacles to photography.