England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Thorverton St Thomas a Becket

The Parish

The parish of Thorverton lies in the eastern portion of central Devon roughly 6 miles north of the city of Exeter. Thorverton sits just under 2 miles west of the A386 road which links Exeter with Tiverton along the valley of the River Exe. Thorverton is a large village, it was once sufficiently large enough to hold bi-annual sheep fairs, which is also rather compact, it sits out of the immediate valley of the Exe on top of the valley slopes, the village is largely built around two north to south running lanes which form a diamond shape and, cross in a double cross-roads, that lane running west to east. The presence of sheep fairs is indicative of one of the main staples of the economy, sheep were supplemented by cattle on the richer grazing of the Exe valley which lay within the wider parish. In addition there was some quarrying of the local stone used mainly for road-mending and locally as a building stone. Modern developments came and went from Thorverton, a railway line along the Exe valley from Exeter to Tiverton being now closed and largely dismantled. The Exe drains the parish southwards to pass through Exeter and into the English Channel through its estuary. Thorverton is sited at around 60 metres above the sea, some 20 metres above the river, whilst local heights rise steeply westwards onto the local isolated hilltop of the Haddon Hills which top out at 235 metres. Thorverton was an extensive parish, one of the larger in its county, covering close to 4,000 acres it would have supported a population of around 1,450 parishioners. Thorverton is not mentioned in Domesday Book.

The Church

St Thomas' church (the dedication is alternatively to "a Becket" or "of Canterbury") sits north of the main centre of the village by 150 yards or so and sits where The Bury becomes Dinneford Street and on the western sides thereof. St Thomas is a church of the later medieval period being largely built during the 15th century and in the Perpendicular style of that century, there has been much later restoration to that core period, however. The western tower is that portion of 15th century work which is left closest to its original form, the main core of nave & chancel, augmented by both northern & southern aisles, a northern vestry and also a northern transept, was largely rebuilt during major restorations crossing the end of the Georgian and start of the Victorian period, this major phase lasted from 1834 through to 1840 and saw almost a complete rebuild of the main body. Further restorations followed in 1864, targeting the transept, in 1884, rebuilding the vestry and into the modern period with phases in the 1950s and 1970s to complete today's church. Dinneford Street is well used by street parkers and space may well sits immediately outside the gates or in a triangular area of The Bury to the south. The church sits within a compact churchyard where it is slightly tricky to get back sufficiently far to encompass the full landscape view.