England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Whitestone St Catherine

The Parish

The parish of Whitestone lies in east central Devon about 4 miles west of the city of Exeter. Whitestone is a compact village sitting on the lane which connects Exeter with Tedburn St Mary and runs parallel and roughly a mile north of the modern A30, the route through Whitestone village being the former route of that road. Whitestone is built on the ridge which is followed by that route through steeply rolling countryside. Whitestone would have been largely a farming community at the time of this transcript, with a high proportion of arable farming, too, for this area of Devon. Pastoral farming was also supplemented by orchards growing the famous or should that be notorious Devonian cider apples. Whitestone is drained eastwards by the Nadder Brook which runs quickly down to reach the Exe and thence the English Channel. Whitestone is at between 140 and 150 metres above the sea, although the church, which stands on the next ridge to the north is at 195 metres and local heights rise nearby to almost 250 metres above the sea. Whitestone parish was rather large for its area, it covered almost 4,100 acres and would have supported a healthy population of almost 700 parishioners. In Domesday times Whitestone was shared between Baldwin the Sheriff and William of Eu, it was a smaller place then offering just 6 ploughs together with small meadows and woodlands.

The Church

St Catherine's church sits over a half mile away from Whitestone's main centre of habitation on a narrow lane rising onto Waddles Down. Pevsner is fairly reticent as to the age of the church, it being the subject of major changes during the Perpendicular era and also at the hands of the usual Victorian restorers. The plan of the church is early but most remaining features date from either the 14th - 15th centuries or are Victorian modifications. Restorations took place in the 1860s and were followed by more modern changes in 1915 to result in today's church. The church sits just to the west of a "T" junction which holds a central triangular area within it and is slightly elevated above road level and also well screened by trees. Those trees do, unfortunately, somewhat restrict the angles available for photography.