England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Starcross St Paul

The Parish

The parish of Starcross was created in 1828 from parts of the parishes of both Kenton & Dawlish. Starcross is located on the western banks of the Exe estuary about 3 miles north of the seaside resort of Dawlish. Starcross sits astride the A379 road which follows the western shore of the Exe from Dawlish to Exeter. Starcross is a compact small settlement stretching for a half mile of the shore and a few hundred yards up the hill to the west. The main economic activity for the area would have been mixed between fishing and pastoral farming. Starcross has developed more recently with the arrival of the railway and it's own station, it is also the home of a summer-only ferry crossing the Exe to Exmouth much frequented by walkers on the South West Way coastal trail. Numerous small brooks drain the hills through to the Exe and as a coastal settlement Starcross is sited at just a metre above the sea level, rising to 5 metres in the western edges of the settlement. Starcross' acreage and population are not separately enumerated in contemporary gazetteers. There is no mention of Starcross specifically in Domesday Book.

The Church

St Paul's church sits, appropriately enough, on the southern side of Church Lane and just a few metres from the sea. The church was built in 1826 ready for the creation of the new parish, originally in a Grecian style it was modified to the Romanesque manner in 1854 whence the chancel and belfry were added. The church is clearly of little architectural interest for Pevsner dismisses the building within a handful of lines commenting only that the western belfry was "imposing". The church sits behind a low local stone wall and entry is gained by a metal gate at the eastern end of the site. The church sits rather flush to the wall on its northern side and views are best obtained from the street or solely from the southern and western sides.