Abbots Bickington - barns at Court Barton - geograph

Abbots Bickington is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below district ...

in the English county of

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

, located north-northeast of Holsworthy and near the

River Torridge The River Torridge is a river in Devon in England; it rises near Meddon. The river describes a long loop through Devon farming country where its tributaries the Lew and Okement join before meeting the Taw at Appledore and flowing into the Bristol ...

Etymology

The name Bickington is derived from an "estate associated with a man named Beacca" plus the Old English practice of adding "ing" and "tūn" to create a place name. In 1086, it was recorded as Bicatona, in 1107 Bechintona, and in 1580 Abbots Bekenton, to reflect the possession by Hartland Abbey.

Overview

The village is located in the Torridge local authority area. It is within the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

's Deanery of Holsworthy and the

Diocese of Exeter The Diocese of Exeter is a Church of England diocese covering the county of Devon. It is one of the largest dioceses in England. The Cathedral Church of St Peter in Exeter is the seat of the diocesan Bishop of Exeter. It is part of the Provinc ...

. In the late 19th century it was reported that blue limestone was quarried in the village for building construction, and trustees of Mark Rolle were patrons of the church.

History

Normans

The village was held by Goda the priest in the time of King Edward the Confessor before the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conq ...

of 1066. The area was part of the Black Torrington Hundred and had 10 households, 8 were smallholders and 2 were slaves. It is recorded in the ''

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

'' of 1086–7 as ''Bichetone'', when it was held by Gerald the Chaplain, the

tenant-in-chief In medieval and early modern Europe, the term ''tenant-in-chief'' (or ''vassal-in-chief'') denoted a person who held his lands under various forms of feudal land tenure directly from the king or territorial prince to whom he did homage, as opp ...

and

lord Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or ...

. He was also associated with two other locations in Devon: Stoke and Shapley.

Abbey and manor

Hartland Abbey

In the 12th century, the manor was given to

Hartland Abbey Hartland Abbey is a former abbey and current family home to the Stucley family. It is located in Hartland, Devon. The current owner is Sir Hugh George Copplestone Bampfylde Stucley, 6th Baronet. History Hartland Abbey was built in 1157 and co ...

by Geoffrey de Dinant, as part of the abbey's initial endowment. It remained as property of the abbey until dissolution in 1539. The church was built as a "cell" of the abbey.

Manor

Hugh Prust contracted for a 40-year lease of the manor. By 1871, Mark Rolle owned most of the 1078 acres of Abbots Bickington and was lord of the manor. At that time, there were 50 people living in 8 households. Rolle paid for the 1868 renovations to the church, including installation of new seats and construction of a new roof.

Church of St James

The village church was built about 1300 of stone rubble and

lancet window A lancet window is a tall, narrow window with a pointed arch at its top. It acquired the "lancet" name from its resemblance to a lance. Instances of this architectural element are typical of Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and ...

s. In the 15th century, stained glass were added, featuring St Anthony and St Christopher. There is also a monument to Thomas Pollard in the church. The

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. ...

and

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-typ ...

, west tower and south

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building with ...

were all built about the same time. It has the original

piscina A piscina is a shallow basin placed near the altar of a church, or else in the vestry or sacristy, used for washing the communion vessels. The sacrarium is the drain itself. Anglicans usually refer to the basin, calling it a piscina. For Roman ...

. Medieval

Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town in North Devon, England, at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool and won great wealth. Later it imported Irish wool, but ...

tiles, some with

fleur-de-lys The fleur-de-lis, also spelled fleur-de-lys (plural ''fleurs-de-lis'' or ''fleurs-de-lys''), is a lily (in French, and mean 'flower' and 'lily' respectively) that is used as a decorative design or symbol. The fleur-de-lis has been used in the ...

pattern, cover the chancel floor. In 1863 and 1868 the church went through processes to reseat and restore the church. The church of St James is described as "an unspoilt example of a small early church, modest in size but with a number of interesting features and very picturesque appearance."

Population and parish governance

The population was 68 in 1801, 61 in 1901, and 35 in 2001. Because of low population, there is no parish council; instead, there is a

parish meeting A parish meeting, in England, is a meeting to which all the electors in a civil parish are entitled to attend. In some cases, where a parish or group of parishes has fewer than 200 electors, the parish meeting can take on the role of a parish cou ...

Etymology

Overview

History

Normans

Abbey and manor

Hartland Abbey

Manor

Church of St James

Population and parish governance

Transportation

Notes

References

External links