England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Ringmore All Hallows

The Parish

The parish of Ringmore lies on Devon's southern English Channel coastline roughly 6 miles west of the town of Kingsbridge. Ringmore sits about 1 mile west of the B3392 road which links Modbury with Bigbury on Sea. Ringmore is a compact ridge-top village about a half mile from the coast with most properties gathered around both church and the Journey's End Inn. Like most Devon parishes the land would have been primarily set to pasture with traditionally cattle the main livestock, in addition the coastal setting enabled a small fishing fleet targeting the local mackerel and pilchard stocks, the underlying slate was also quarried mainly for facing stone for the local properties. Today it is the coastline which draws income to the village, the two bays of Westcombe Beach and Ayrmer Cove proving attractive for trippers whilst the roller-coaster cliff line is followed by the South West Way National Trail bringing many day hikers and through walkers to the village. Ringmore is drained the short distance to the English Channel by small fast-flowing streams to both west and east. Ringmore is sited at between 40 & 70 metres above the sea, the ridge on which it sits rises steadily inland topping out at 144 metres at nearby Seven Stones Cross on the B3392. Ringmore parish was typically sized for this area covering close to 1,400 acres and supporting a population of around 350 parishioners. In Domesday times Ringmore was held by Iudhael of Totnes, who held almost 100 manors in the Devon South Hams, its assets of just 5ploughs backed by small meadows & pastures indicate a modest rural manor.

The Church

All Hallows church sits at the main crossroads at the upper heights of the village where the main access to the village from St Ann's Chapel meets the built area. All Hallows is an unusually early church for Devon where most are of the later medieval period, by contrast All Hallows is essentially a 13th century church in the Early English Gothic style. The tower stands south of the nave rather than in the normal western position, this is caused by the ground level falling away westwards, the tower has the characteristic lancet windows of the style and is topped with battlements and a little spire. The main body of the church, also primarily 13th century, has the nave and chancel augmented with transepts and also has lancet styled windows with pointed trefoil heads. During the Victorian era the church had a long-serving incumbent, Reverend Hingeston-Randolph, who oversaw not only a distinct phase of restoration between 1862 &1863 but also carried out minor repairs and changes throughout his long tenure of over 50 years. The church is best visited by using the village car park at the southern end of the village as the lanes surrounding are typically narrow. The churchyard has thick hedging to the roads and is entered by a paved pathway directly from the junction, there are no significant obstacles for the photographer.