England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Halberton St Andrew

The Parish

The parish of Halberton lies in eastern Devon roughly 3 miles east of the market town of Tiverton. Halberton sits around a mile south of the A361 road (North Devon Link Road) which connects Tiverton with the M5 motorway. Halberton is a mid-sized village which consists of a core at its western end with a lengthy tail of properties eastwards, the whole lying parallel with the course of the Grand Western Canal, to the southwest is a discrete cluster, Lower Town. Halberton sits within an extensive parish which is largely farmed by pastoral methods, the red sandstone characteristic of the area was also extensively quarried for building stone much being used in the construction of the nearby Canal. Modern developments have come aplenty to the parish, the Canal being just the first to arrive, it is still navigable but largely used by leisure boast today, a branch railway line linking Tiverton with the main Great Western Railway once passed through but has closed and parts re-purposed as a cycleway. finally to the east the modern M5 motorway linking to Bristol & the Midlands passes through accompanied by that major railway line. Halberton is drained southeastwards by small feeder streams of the River Culm which is soon met, the Culm heads south and finally southwest to meet the Exe before passing through Exeter & along its estuary to the English Channel. Halberton is sited at around 80 metres above the sea, to the south land is relatively gentle for Devon, to the north and beyond the A361 it rises more steeply onto hills which top out at around 263 metres on hill-fort topped Huntsham Castle. Covering almost 8,000 acres Halberton was one of the largest parishes in Devon, that acreage would have supported a population of close to 1,750 parishioners. Even by Domesday times Halberton was already a substantial settlement its 66 households being sufficient to place it into the top 20% of settlements by population, held directly by King William it also had formidable assets of 27 ploughs, meadows, pastures and woodland augmented with 2 mills making for a very wealthy holding indeed.

The Church

St Andrew's church sits embedded within the core of the main area of settlement surrounded on all sides by the village and only accessible by a couple of very narrow lanes, Church Path & Pond Hill. St Andrew is a church of the later medieval period but much altered in Victorian times. The core of the church is 14th & 15th century and largely Perpendicular, the western bays of the arcades (despite rebuilding) are originally 14th century, the eastern bays of the 15th. Similarly the lower stages of the western tower show similar 15th century dates. Despite these medieval origins much of the church dates from almost a rebuilding carried out between 1847 & 1849 followed by exterior re-facing of 1887. The 1840s restoration added the topmost stage to the tower including the battlementation, restored most of the church and replaced many of the windows. The 1887 work restored/rebuilt the chancel and overlaid the current rich red sandstone facing to the church giving it its characteristic colouring. There are a few spaces for parking on Church Path and a turning circle at the village school but one would have to be fortunate to secure one, it is recommended to park in Lower Town and walk to the church which sits within a broad, open and unobstructed churchyard with all aspects available for the photographer.