England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Venn Ottery St Gregory

The Parish

The parish of Venn Ottery lies in eastern Devon not too far from its English Channel coastline. Venn Ottery is located about 3 miles south of the small market town of Ottery St Mary and as both names suggests it lies on the western banks of the River Otter. Venn Ottery sits, in lanes, about a mile north of the A3052 road which connects Exeter with Lyme Regis in Dorset and which forms the coastal road for this area of Devon, albeit well back from the strongly undulating coastline. Venn Ottery is a small and compact village sitting in a shallow side valley of the Otter. The economy of this region would have been dominated by pastoral farming interspersed with orchards for cider and perry, the parish was, however, described as being almost 1/3 "common or waste". The Otter drains the parish the short distance south to the English Channel meeting the latter at Budleigh Salterton. Venn Ottery is sited at around 40 metres above the sea on strongly rising ground, local heights of almost 160 metres are reached on nearby Aylesbeare Common. Venn Ottery parish was one of the smaller in the area, it covered only just 900 acres and would have supported just over 100 parishioners. Venn Ottery has no mention within Domesday Book.

The Church

St Gregory's church hides away behind modern properties with an access along Barton Mews. The church has been extensively rebuilt and little remains of the mediaeval village church that once would have stood here. Only the western tower remains, in the Perpendicular style of the 15th century it roughhewn sandstone typical of the area. The remainder of the church is a product of a restoration of 1882 that saw almost the complete body rebuilt. Whilst some 15th and 16th century fabric was incorporated into that rebuild most is 19th century work. Barton Mews is a modern development of housing, at its western end the church sign greets you and grants access to a crowded churchyard with few angles available for photography.