England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Loxhore St Michael

The Parish

The parish of Loxhore lies in northern Devon about 6 miles northeast of the port of Barnstaple. Loxhore sits just over a mile east of the A39 road which connects Barnstaple with Lynton. Loxhore has 3 distinctive clusters of properties scattered at various heights across a deeply incised landscape. Loxhore Cott, the lowest settlement, sits beside the River Yeo, Lower Loxhore sits higher in a side valley whilst around St Michael's church can also be found a small grouping of farms and cottages. Also within the parish and of some debated antiquity is Roborough Castle, a small motte with extensive views. The principal economy of the parish would have been pastoral farming, the damp climate and poor soils not lending themselves to arable production. The river Yeo drains the parish southwestwards eventually passing through Barnstaple to join the Taw Estuary and the Irish Sea. The three settlements vary wildly in height, Loxhore Cott at 80 metres, Lower Loxhore at 110 and the church at 190 and land continues upwards to top out at 261 metres within a mile or so, the landscape being deeply incised by the river valleys with land rising to the moors of Exmoor in close proximity. By Northern Devon standards Loxhore was a relatively small parish by acreage, covering close to 1,250 acres it would have supported a population of around 300 parishioners. In Domesday times Loxhore was a relatively small place held by Baldwin the Sheriff it could muster just 6 ploughs but had extensive meadows and woodland.

The Church

St Michael's church, as already mentioned, sits high on a hill above the Yeo valley at 190 metres above the sea with extensive views, a dead-end lane leads up to the church from that leading to Blackmoor Gate. The church's age is a little uncertain, Pevsner being reticent as to the earliest features but Historic England tentatively give the earliest fabric of nave and chancel a provisional 13th century date. The reasons for this uncertainty come because of the long history of restoration and rebuild. Pre-Victorian work saw much change upon the main body whilst successive restorations of 1844 (described as being an almost complete rebuild), 1882 (targeting the chancel) and 1900 (for the nave) wrought the changes bringing about today's building. The narrow lane leading to the church ends outside the lychgate with a small turning and parking area, a few trees mask the broad churchyard which, once within, has few obstacles for the photographer.