England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Mamhead St Thomas

The Parish

The parish of Mamhead is located in central southern Devon not too far from its English Channel coast. Mamhead is located roughly 8 miles south of the city of Exeter and sits just over 2 miles east of the A380 road which links Exeter with Newton Abbot. Mamhead is an estate parish with no village as such, most of the parish lies within the grounds of the Mamhead House estate. acquired in 1823 by a wealthy Dartmouth merchant and landscaped by the architect Anthony Salvin. Beyond the estate there are just a scatter of farms and cottages across the wider parish. The economy would, of course, have been totally dependent upon the needs of the estate, farming in the main with a mainly pastoral content, flax production was an important local trade and some quarrying of the local sandstone for building. Mamhead lies barely 3 miles west of the outer Exe estuary and a small rushing stream descends that short distance to drain the parish. Much of the parish lies on a steeply sloping site with the eastern parts of the estate at 60 metres rising to 230 metres by the western edges, the western edges form part of the Haldon Hills topping out at 250 metres. Mamhead parish was small even by Devon standards, covering only a little over 1,100 acres it would have supported close to 250 parishioners. In Domesday times Baldwin the Sheriff held Mamhead, a relatively small place offering 7 ploughs plus meadows, woodland and pasture.

The Church

St Thomas' church lies within the estate accessed along its private driveway from the south. The church has its origins in the 13th century, the southern transept shows signs of this period as do a few windows in the chancel. Both tower and northern aisle date from the 15th century Perpendicular period but it is to the work of Salvin that much of the building lies. Following the acquisition of the estate in the early 1830s major repairs were made to the church which was bordering on dereliction. Further work in both 1854 and 1914 resulted in much of what we see today. Access is normally permitted to the church along the private entranceway. The churchwardens do ask politely for contact in advance if visiting from afar, the friends of St Thomas web site giving further details. The entranceway is marked by a thatched building in stunning black and white paint, the lane wanders a bit for some distance before arriving at the churchyard. The churchyard is small and tightly enclosed by bordering trees making for a challenge to adequately capture the building.