Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for KILKHAMPTON

KILKHAMPTON, a village, a parish, and a sub-district, in Stratton district, Cornwall. The village stands 2¾ miles W of the river Tamar at the boundary with Devon, 3½ E of the coast near Lower-Sharpnose point, and 4 N by E of Stratton town and r. station; was once a market town; and has a post office under Stratton, and fairs on Holy Thursday, the third Thursday after that day, and 26 Aug. The parish extends to the coast, and comprises 8, 077 acres of land, and 195 of water. Real property, £5, 682. Pop., 1, 198. Houses, 223. The property is divided among a few. The manor belonged, from the Conquest till 1711, to the Grenvilles, who became Earls of Bath; went then to the last Earl's aunt, the widow of George Lord Carteret; and passed, through her, to Lord John Thynne. A magnificent mansion, called Stowe, was built on the site of a previous mansion, in 1680, by one of the Grenvilles; was demolished in 1720; and is now represented by only a moated site. A picturesque ravine, called Combe-Valley, commences immediately N of the village; goes thence to the sea; and terminates there between lofty cliffs. The adjacent parts of the coast are grandly picturesque. The reservoir of the Bude canal is on the border. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Exeter. Value, £487.* Patron, Lord John Thynne. The church is partly Norman; shows interesting features; has a pinnacled tower; was recently restored; contains carved seats, and costly memorials of the Granvilles; and was the scene of Harvey's " Meditations among the Tombs, '' while he served here as curate. There are chapels for Wesleyans and Bible Christians, a national school, and charities £39.—The sub-district contains also Moorwinstow parish. Acres, 16, 228. Pop., 2, 066. Houses, 412.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a village, a parish, and a sub-district"   (ADL Feature Type: "populated places")
Administrative units: Kilkhampton AP/CP       Kilkhampton SubD       Stratton RegD/PLU       Cornwall AncC
Place: Kilkhampton

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