England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Whimple St Mary

The Parish

The parish of Whimple lies in eastern Devon roughly 9 miles northeast of the city of Exeter. Whimple is located about 1 1/2 miles north of the A30 road which links Exeter with Honiton. Whimple is a mid-sized village with two distinct blocks of properties each lying either side of the London Waterloo to Exeter railway line, the main village centre complete with the church being south of the line; in addition there are smaller hamlets at Knowle Green to the north and at Strete Raleigh on the A30 to the south. The farming regime in this more gentle area of the county was varied, the pastures underpinned the economy but arable was also present as were the iconic orchards of cider apples renowned from the area. As already mentioned the modern development of the railway line connecting London's Waterloo via Yeovil to Exeter passes through granting Whimple a station and growing a small commuter population traveling mainly to Exeter for employment. A small tributary of the River Clyst drains the parish westwards to meet that river at Clyst Honiton, the Clyst meets the Exe Estuary at Topsham and thence to the English Channel. Whimple is sited at around 50 metres above the sea in rolling countryside that touches 100 metres in a few spots between Whimple and Ottery St Mary. Eastern Devon parishes tend to be either rather small or modestly large, Whimple parish being one of the latter it covered around 3,000 acres and would have supported a population of close to 800 parishioners. In Domesday times Whimple was shared between Baldwin the Sheriff and the amusingly named William the Goat (actually tenant in chief for over 40 manors in this area of the county), collectively the assets totalled 10 ploughs backed by substantial meadows, pastures and woodland.

The Church

St Mary's church sits at the heart of the village on the square which it shares with a few shops and commercial premises. The church was originally a product of the latest medieval period of the Perpendicular but was extensively rebuilt in Victorian times such that only a few pieces remain untouched. Of those pieces the western tower and its arch are both of the Perpdicular style and carry a mason's date of 1571, Historic England question whether the tower is really of that late time, perhaps it only marks some repairs and not the original completion. The tower is built from a volcanic ashlar, solid and somewhat formidably dark in colour. Also remaining and from the 15th century are the arcades of 5-bays also in the stone from Beer. The remainder of the church dates from the 1845 rebuild which not only altered much of the main body of the church but also extended eastwards to the point where the eastern end of the intentionally short chancel butts up against the churchyard wall and almost overhangs the road, in addition the work added  a southern aisle to match the Perpendicular northern arcade. There are several spaces for parking at the square, if unfortunate a free car park lies 175 yards away and is signed. The church has a cramped site dominating the square to its south whilst the northern aspects are only mildly inconvenienced by small trees.