England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Dunterton All Saints

The Parish

The parish of Dunterton lies in the extreme west of Devon forming a stretch, here formed by the course of the River Tamar, with neighbouring Cornwall. Dunterton is located roughly 5 miles southeast of the Cornish market town of Launceston and sits on the B3362 road which links Launceston through to the A390 west of Tavistock. Dunterton is a tiny place, little more than a hamlet of scattered farms and cottages with no real village to speak of. Dunterton is a farming parish with pastoral methods, usually dairy cattle, dominant. Much of the south of the parish is formed by Dunterton Wood which occupies a tight meander in the Tamr and would have been managed for woodland products. Dunterton is drained southwards by the Tamar which heads into Plymouth Sound and then the English Channel. Dunterton is sited at around 140 metres above the sea at its parish church, some 100 metres higher than the Tamar, which sits on a rising ridge eastwards with land topping out at 203 metres to the northwest of Milton Abbot in strongly undulating countryside with deeply etched river valleys. By the standards of western Devon Dunterton was a small parish covering just over 1,300 acres it would have supported a population of close to 200 parishioners. In Domesday times Dunterton was equally small and rural, held by Baldwin the Sheriff its assets of 5 ploughs backed by meadows, pastures and woodland reflect today's size and usage.

The Church

All Saints' church stands alone in a field south of the B3362 surrounded by pastureland. The church is a product of the 14th century having been substantially rebuilt in c1460 in the Perpendicular style. The church is unusual in having a tower which is taller than the main body is long. Prior to 1460 the church was merely a chantry for Tavistock's monastery, that there had been an earlier church is evidenced by the rood loft stairs which are dated to c1330. To the basic mid 14th century church a southern porch was added in the 15th century in a more mature Perpendicular style. There is evidence of an 18th century rebuild of the eastern wall of the chancel but much remained unchanged until the typical Victorian restoration of 1890 which merely refreshed the church without adding major change. The B3362 has no verge for safe parking so care is needed when parking as there is no safe space outside the gates. A path leads across the field to the churchyard which is open and uncluttered with no obstacles for the photographer