Churston Ferrers is an area and former

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 borough of

Torbay Torbay is a unitary authority with a borough status in the ceremonial county of Devon, England. It is governed by Torbay Council, based in the town of Torquay, and also includes the towns of Paignton and Brixham. The borough consists 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, situated between the south coast towns of

Paignton Paignton ( ) is a seaside town on the coast of Tor Bay in Devon, England. Together with Torquay and Brixham it forms the unitary authority, borough of Torbay which was created in 1968. The Torbay area is a holiday destination known as the Engli ...

and

Brixham Brixham is a coastal town and civil parish in the borough of Torbay in the county of Devon, in the south-west of England. As of the 2021 census, Brixham had a population of 16,825. It is one of the main three centres of the borough, along with ...

. Today it is administered by local government as the Churston-with-Galmpton ward of the

unitary authority A unitary authority is a type of local government, local authority in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Unitary authorities are responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are ...

. It contains the coastal village of ''Churston'', the now larger village of Galmpton and the Broadsands area. The place-name 'Churston Ferrers' is first attested 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086, where it appears as ''Cercetone'', meaning 'church town or settlement'. The manor was held by Hugh de Fereris in 1303, according to ''Feudal Aids'' records, giving the second part of the name. Churston Ferrers was a

in the Totnes Rural District until 1 April 1968 when the parish was abolished. The more built-up northern part of the parish, including the village itself, became part of the new parish and county borough of Torbay. The more rural southern part was transferred to the parish of Kingswear. Churston residents tend to associate mostly with Brixham, though those in the northern part of the Churston-with-Galmpton ward often think of themselves as part of Paignton. Churston railway station is on the Paignton and Dartmouth Steam Railway from which steam trains run daily. It is served by the frequent "Hop 12" service between Brixham and Newton Abbot operated by Stagecoach South West. In Churston Ferrers is situated the well regarded Churston Ferrers Grammar School. The president of Churston Ferrers

golf club A golf club is a club used to hit a golf ball in a game of golf. Each club is composed of a shaft with a grip and a club head. Woods are mainly used for long-distance fairway or tee shots; irons, the most versatile class, are used for a variety o ...

Ray Reardon Raymond Reardon (8 October 1932 – 19 July 2024) was a Welsh professional snooker player who dominated the sport in the 1970s, winning the World Snooker Championship six times and claiming more than a dozen other professional titles. Due to h ...

, the Welsh six-time world snooker champion and former world number one

snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sport played on a rectangular Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, billiards table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets: one at each corner and ...

player. Churston Court, the former

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...

of Churston Ferrers and today a hotel, is a

Grade II* listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

situated to the immediate west of the parish church. Within the parish, off the Brixham Road, is situated Lupton House, a

Palladian Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...

Country house image:Blenheim - Blenheim Palace - 20210417125239.jpg, 300px, Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhou ...

. Both houses were seats of the Yarde-Buller family, created Baron Churston in 1858.

Cultural references

The novelist

Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English people, English author known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving ...

was a regular guest of Lord Churston at Churston Court. In her

Hercule Poirot Hercule Poirot (, ) is a fictional Belgian detective created by the English writer Agatha Christie. Poirot is Christie's most famous and longest-running character, appearing in 33 novels, two plays (''Black Coffee (play), Black Coffee'' and '' ...

mystery '' The A.B.C. Murders'', the third murder takes place in Churston. Agatha Christie commissioned the installation of a stained glass window on the eastern side of the parish church in the 1950s.Morgan J, 'Agatha Christie: A biography,' HarperCollins, p313

References

Villages in Devon Former civil parishes in Devon Unparished areas in Devon Torbay {{Devon-geo-stub