England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Shaldon St Nicholas

The Parish

The parish of Shaldon, also know as St Nicholas, lies in eastern south Devon, indeed it forms part of Devon's coastline with the English Channel. Shaldon is a substantial seaside village sitting on the southern banks of the Teign Estuary opposite the holiday resort of Teignmouth and connected by both foot ferry and bridge. Shaldon is located about 5 miles east of the market town of Newton Abbot and sits on the A379 coast road which connects Teignmouth with Torquay. At the time of this transcript Shaldon would have made its living principally from the sea, a small fishing community with those incomes topped up by pastoral farming on the inland areas of the parish. Today Shaldon is a touristy location and popular retirement home and has many bungalow estates for the retired to enjoy the sunshine of this part of Devon's coastline. Tourism is boosted by the presence of the South West Coastal Trail which passes through the village and across the foot ferry. As a coastal settlement Shaldon drains immediately into the Teign's estuary. Shaldon is sited on a steeply rising slope with the lower parts almost at sea level, the modern higher developments rise to almost 60 metres above the sea, the landscape is deeply indented with steep coombes running to the sea and local heights rising to almost 170 metres on "The Beacon". Shaldon parish was one of the smaller in the area, it covered just under 600 acres and within that small area it supported over 500 parishioners. In Domesday times the area was enumerated under the hamlet of Ringmore, held by one Baldwin the Sheriff it could offer just 6 ploughs with small meadows and pastures, a very small place indeed.

The Church

St Nicholas' church lies within the hamlet of Ringmore over a miles from Shaldon's beachfront. Shaldon itself has St Peter but this was only constructed in the late 19th century so all events listed here would have occurred at St Nicholas. Little more than a small chapel, the church, nevertheless, has early origins having been first constructed in the 13th century. However there have been two significant rebuilding events since that date to result in today's building. The first rebuild dates from 1622, the second came in 1894 and both were major reworking of the original chapel. St Nicholas is somewhat hidden away from the main lane running through Ringmore, on a right-angled bend a narrow lane squeezes between the cottages heading for a white sign board and lychgate granting entry. The churchyard almost sits on the banks of Teign Estuary and is open and with few restrictions to photography.