England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
George Nympton St George

The Parish

The parish of George Nympton lies in northern central Devon about 2 1/2 miles southwest of the market town of South Molton. George Nympton is a small and relatively compact village which sits a similar distance west of the B3137 road which connects South Molton with Witheridge. George Nympton sits on slopes above the channel of the River Mole in undulating countryside dotted with farms mostly engaged in pastoral farming as they would have done at the time of this transcript, The River Mole drains the parish westwards, soon reaching the Taw and turning back to the north and the Irish Sea through the port of Barnstaple. The upper parts of George Nympton, on the lane heading for South Molton, sit at 110 metres above the sea whilst passing through the village involves a descent of over 50 metres towards the Mole. Local heights rise a little further topping 134 metres on nearby Narracott Down. One of the smaller parishes within its area, George Nympton covered roughly 1,700 acres and would have supported a population of just over 250 parishioners. In Domesday times George Nympton was one of the holdings of Odo son of Gamalin, a rather obscure Norman with a few Devon holdings, it was a middling sort of place offering 8 ploughs together with the usual meadows, pastures & woodland.

The Church

St George's church sits on the southern side of the village tucked away behind fronting premises. Whilst documentary evidence relates a 13th century church there is nothing remaining of that building except tantalising hints in the door frame of the porch. The present building is a product of that great church-building era of the Perpendicular and built within the 15th century, dates of 1470 to 1490 are indicated. The nave and chancel, augmented by a three-bay arcade and aisles are all built in stone and are contemporaneous. The western tower was rebuilt in 1673 following a catastrophe when the original tower shed its bells following what is believed to be a lightning strike, the damage extended to the earliest registers which were burned at the same time. The tower, unusually for its area was rebuilt in brick. The usual Victorian restoration took place in 1882 and saw the eastern wall of the chancel rebuilt as its major piece of work. Like many Devon villages, the lanes surrounding are narrow and parking is best requested from the Castle Inn, a squeeze between the fronting properties leads through into an open and uncluttered churchyard with no obstacles to photography.