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

The Parish

The parish of Eggesford lies in central Devon about 3 miles south of the large village of Chulmleigh. Eggesford is a dispersed settlement, there being no real village centre, which sits just west of the £77 road connecting Barnstaple & Crediton. Eggesford is a mere scatter of farms and cottages on the western banks of the River Taw, a route which has given a focus in that it is followed by the Barnstaple to Exeter rail line and Eggesford has a station, remarkable given it has no real village. Like most Devon parishes Eggesford would have been engaged in pastoral farming with dairy & beef cattle in the dominance. The Taw drains the parish northwestwards and reaches the Irish Sea through the joint Taw & Torridge Estuary after passing through Barnstaple. Eggesford sits at between 60 & 80 metres above the sea, land rises steadily westwards to reach local heights of 180 metres just beyond the larger settlement of Wembworthy. Eggesford parish was one of the smaller in its area, it covered just over 1,100 acres and would have supported around 150 parishioners. Eggesford is not mentioned in Domesday Book.

The Church

All Saints church sits in splendid isolation on a dead-end road leading to the farm of Eggesford Barton and the visitor attraction of Eggesford gardens. Whilst outwardly mediaeval in nature the church was almost completely rebuilt in 1867 at the expense of the Earl of Portsmouth. There are some pieces which were clearly reused and these indicate a building of circa 1400 for the original church. The arch leading to the northeastern chapel is also from the original and that shows a style of the Perpendicular period. From Eggesford station you head towards Wembworthy, carrying straight on when that road bends westwards, shortly after a brown sign points towards the gardens, a lane followed by the local Tarka Trail. After 200- 300 yards there is a large parking area just before the church. The churchyard, which has few obstacles to photography, has a low wall topped with post and rail fencing with metal gates flanked by stone piers granting entry.