England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Meavy St Peter

The Parish

The parish of Meavy lies in southwestern Devon roughly 6 miles southeast of the market town of Tavistock. Meavy sits about 2 miles east of the A386 road which links Tavistock with Plymouth. Meavy takes its name from the River Meavy which flows down from Dartmoor via the Burrator Reservoir, there are two main settlements, Meavy, itself on the northern bank, is a small and compact village with most properties lining a lane which parallels the river, to the southwest lies Hoo Meavy, on the eastern bank built rising up a side valley. Like most Devon parishes Meavy is mostly pastoral in its farming economy, being on the edge of Dartmoor there was also much rough upland grazing so the livestock were a mixture of the usual cattle and hardy moorland sheep. The parish also contained almost 400 acres of coppiced woodland which would have been managed for typical products. Modern developments came and went from the parish, the former Plymouth & Dartmoor Railway came through to the north of Meavy but has closed leaving only traces of its former infrastructure. Meavy is drained west and then south by the River Meavy which meets the Plym south of Hoo Meavy which continues south to reach the English Channel on the eastern edges of Plynouth. Meavy is sited at around 140 metres above the sea at the parish church but the parish encompasses much upland which rises to 271 metres on Wigford Down whilst eastwards Dartmoor rises to 350 metres at Gutter Tor, the parish being strongly undulating. Like most upland parishes Meavy was extensive, covering a little under 3,400 acres it would have supported a population of close to 350 parishioners. In Domesday times Meavy was largely held by Iudhael of Totnes and offered just 4 ploughs but extensive meadows, pastures & woodland.

The Church

St Peter's church sits on the northern side of the main lane through the village next door to the Meavy Oak Inn which is named for the venerable (believed to be c900 years old) oak tree which stands, albeit propped up by steel supports, on the village green and which possibly pre-dates the church. Pevsner identifies 12th century Norman fabric in the northern respond of the chancel arch and much of the northern wall of the main core. In the 13th century, the Early English Gothic era, the chancel received its east window  and in the early 14th the southern chapel was added in the Decorated style. The main changes to the church came, however, in the Perpendicular era when the western tower was raised in the 15th century, the original southern transept walling was breached to create the southern aisle, a 4-bay arcade created as well as a southern porch. Meavy was the home of the legendary Sir Francis Drake and his family funded an early 18th century door into the southern transept chapel and it became the Drake chapel. Pevsner records 2 Victorian restoration phases in 1874 & 1884 without detailing the work conducted. Whilst the lane passing is narrow it is well-used by locals for parking for the church and inn. The churchyard is mostly obstacle free except for close properties to the west.