England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
East Ogwell St Bartholomew

The Parish

The parish of East Ogwell lies in southern Devon roughly 1 1/2 miles southwest of the town of Newton Abbot. East Ogwellis a mid-sized and compact village sitting a mile west of the A381 road which links Newton Abbot with Totnes. Early maps show East Ogwell as a rather linear village of properties running eastwards for a quarter mile from St Bartholomew's church, the village's proximity to Newton Abbot on onwards to Exeter has made it a popular place for communting with much new build to the northwest of the previous concentration.  Whilst the economy was underpinned by pastoral farming of mainly cattle, exploitation of the local limestone for both local building stone and also for fine marble employed some of the village. East Ogwell sits on a hill above the valley of the River Lemon, a small stream drains north the short distance to the latter which flows east to merge with the Teign and the English Channel through the latter's estuary. East Ogwell is sited on a rising site, the church sits at 60 metres whilst the eastern end is some 30 metres higher, the landscape is strongly undulating with local heights rising to almost 130 metres within a mile or so. Even by lowland English standards East Ogwell parish was on the small size, covering a little under 1,400 acres it would have supported a population of close to 350 parishioners. East Ogwell is not specifically mentioned in Domesday Book.

The Church

St Bartholomew's church sits at the western end of the village, cheek-by-jowl with the manor house which stands extremely close to the western tower. Three distinct ages are shown within the church's fabric, the earliest being of the 13th century Early English Gothic period. This era of the early medieval is best seen in that western tower and its tower arch which is remarkably plain in feature. The southern window of the chancel, despite later restoration, also shows the style of this early period. The classic church building era is that of the late 14th and 15th centuries in a Perpendicular style and this style, too, is shown by the church notably in the northern aisle. Like most churches the third era of fabric comes from the Victorian restoration, in this case it was made in the mid-1880s and largely rebuilt the church's roofs and also raised the chancel floor to its present level. Like many Devon villages parking is something of an issue, perhaps one could seek permission of the Jolly Sailor Inn for their car-park. The church is accessed down the dead-end lane of Church Road where the tower's position relevant to the manor house is well illustrated. Metal gates grant access to the churchyard which, while rather lacking in southern area nevertheless provides adequate views for the landscape aspect.