Bigbury is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the

South Hams South Hams is a non-metropolitan district, local government district on the south coast of Devon, England. Its council is based in the town of Totnes, although the largest town is Ivybridge. The district also contains the towns of Dartmouth, ...

district of

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

, England. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 582, compared to 260 in 1901, and decreasing to 500 in 2011. The southern side of the parish lies on the coast, and it is surrounded clockwise from the west by the parishes of Ringmore,

Modbury Modbury is a large village, ecclesiastical parish, civil parish and former manor in the South Hams district of the county of Devon in England. Today due to its large size it is generally referred to as a "town" although the parish council has ...

, Aveton Gifford, and on the opposite bank of the estuary of the River Avon, Thurlestone. Road access to the parish is via the A379 and the B3392. The parish council meets on the second Wednesday of every month at 7.30pm in Bigbury Memorial Hall (excluding August & January). The village of Bigbury has a ) and is near the coastal village of Bigbury-on-Sea, just offshore of which is

Burgh Island Burgh Island is a tidal island on the coast of South Devon in England near the small seaside village of Bigbury-on-Sea. There are several buildings on the island, the largest being the Art Deco Burgh Island Hotel. The other buildings are thre ...

. The parish also includes the eastern part of the small bay and beach at Challaborough.

History

In 1086 the parish was recorded as ''Bicheberie'' in the ancient

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...

of Alleriga. When Alleriga Hundred was partitioned, Bigbury parish became part of

Ermington Hundred The Hundred (county subdivision), hundred of Ermington was the name of one of thirty two ancient administrative units of Devon, England. It was active until the end of the 19th century when more specialized governmental units assumed its many role ...

. Bigbury's church, dedicated to St Lawrence, is partly early 14th century and partly as rebuilt by J. D. Sedding in 1872. Apart from the western tower topped by a spire very little is obviously medieval. The two monumental brasses are early 15th century. The

baptismal font A baptismal font is an Church architecture, ecclesiastical architectural element, which serves as a receptacle for baptismal water used for baptism, as a part of Christian initiation for both rites of Infant baptism, infant and Believer's bapti ...

sedilia In church architecture, sedilia (plural of Latin ''sedīle'', "seat") are seats, typically made of stone, located on the liturgical south side of the altar—often within the chancel—intended for use by the officiating priest, deacon, an ...

and

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. Lutherans and Anglicans usually refer to the basin, calling it a pisci ...

are early 14th century, while the

lectern A lectern is a standing reading desk with a slanted top, on which documents or books are placed as support for reading aloud, as in a scripture reading, lecture, or sermon. A lectern is usually attached to a stand or affixed to some other form of ...

and

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, accesse ...

date from the following century. Both the lectern and pulpit were moved here from Ashburton church: the lectern is attributed to Thomas Prideaux and thought to be a donation of the Bishop of Exeter ca. 1510-15.Pevsner, N. (1952) ''South Devon''. Harmondsworth: Penguin; p. 52

References

External links

Former Parish Council website
{{South Hams parishes Villages in South Hams Civil parishes in South Hams