England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Revelstoke St Peter the Poor Fisherman

The Parish

The parish of Revelstoke lies in the extreme southwest of Devon, indeed it forms part of Devon's English Channel coastline. Revelstoke is a dispersed settlement spread over a peninsula of the Devon coastline with the small fishing village of Noss Mayo as its primary population centre. Stoke, itself, is a small coastal settlement today dominated by a large holiday park which incorporates the parish church site. Revelstoke is located in lanes about 6 miles southeast of the port of Plymouth and is reached by narrow winding lanes from the A379. The coastal sections of the parish incorporate a large stretch of the South West Coastal Trail, Britain's longest designated trail. The area would have largely been dominated by pastoral farming with some income from inshore fishing out of the Yealm estuary which it shares with Newton Ferrers. The parish is drained merely by small streams which flow down the steep slopes of the coastal hills. Revelstoke is sited from sea level by the church up to the long ridge of the peninsula which reaches just over 100 metres above the sea, the slopes are characteristically steep and grassy. South Devon parishes are rather small and revelstoke was no exception, it covered just under 1,500 acres and supported a population of just over 600 parishioners. There is no specific mention of Revelstoke in Domesday Book.

The Church

St Peter's church sits almost upon the shoreline of the English Channel and is reached through the grounds of Revelstoke Park. The church has been deconsecrated and is cared for by the Redundant Churches Fund, a public footpath follows the main access road of the holiday park and the church can be visited. The building is a restored partial ruin, abandoned in 1882 when a new church was built in Noss Mayo, the major centre of population. The architectural style indicates features back to the Decorated period of architecture of the late 13th and early 14th century, the windows of the northern transept are of this period. The footpath is a metalled track and just beyond the chalets and caravans you come to the church site, the building is tightly hemmed in by trees and views are somewhat restricted.