Kingsbridge is a market town 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
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
, with a population of 6,116 at the
2011 census. Two
electoral wards
The wards and electoral divisions in the United Kingdom are electoral districts at sub-national level, represented by one or more councillors. The ''ward (subnational entity), ward'' is the primary unit of English electoral geography for civil pa ...
bear the name of ''Kingsbridge'' (East & North). Their combined population at the above census was 4,381. It is situated at the northern end of the
Kingsbridge Estuary, a
ria that extends to the sea south of the town. It is the third largest settlement in the South Hams and is southwest of
Torquay
Torquay ( ) is a seaside town in Devon, England, part of the unitary authority area of Torbay. It lies south of the county town of Exeter and east-north-east of Plymouth, on the north of Tor Bay, adjoining the neighbouring town of Paignt ...
and southeast of
Plymouth
Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...
.
History

The town formed around a bridge which was built in or before the 10th century between the royal estates of
Alvington, to the west, and
Chillington, to the east, hence giving it the name of Kyngysbrygge ("King's bridge"). In 1219
[ W. G. Hoskins, ''Devon'', 1954] the Abbot of
Buckfast was granted the right to hold a market there, and by 1238 the settlement had become a
borough
A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
...
.
The manor remained in possession of the abbot until the
Dissolution of the Monasteries, when it was granted to Sir William Petre. Kingsbridge was never represented in Parliament or incorporated by charter, the local government being by a
portreeve
A portreeve (, sometimes spelt Port-reeve) or port warden is the title of a historical official in England and Wales possessing authority (political, administrative, or fiscal) over a town. The details of the office have fluctuated and evolved co ...
. It lay within the
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 Stanborough.
[Parishes – Kelly – Knowstone , British History Online]
/ref>
Kingsbridge is in fact a combination of two towns, Kingsbridge and Dodbrooke. Dodbrooke was granted its own market in 1257 and had become a borough by 1319. While Dodbrooke was originally considered to be the dominant of the two, Kingsbridge later expanded to include it. The town consists of two ecclesiastical parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...
es: St. Edmund's in the west and St. Thomas Becket
Thomas Becket (), also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London and later Thomas à Becket (21 December 1119 or 1120 – 29 December 1170), served as Lord Chancellor from 1155 to 1162, and then as Archbishop of Canterbury fr ...
at Dodbrooke in the east. St. Edmund's Church, in mainly Perpendicular
In geometry, two geometric objects are perpendicular if they intersect at right angles, i.e. at an angle of 90 degrees or π/2 radians. The condition of perpendicularity may be represented graphically using the '' perpendicular symbol'', � ...
style, retains some 13th-century features including a font
In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a ''typeface'', defined as the set of fonts that share an overall design.
For instance, the typeface Bauer Bodoni (shown in the figure) includes fonts " Roman" (or "regul ...
, but was enlarged and reconsecrated around 1414 and was mostly rebuilt in the 19th century. The parish church of St. Thomas Becket displays a particularly well-preserved rood screen
The rood screen (also choir screen, chancel screen, or jubé) is a common feature in late medieval church architecture. It is typically an ornate partition between the chancel and nave, of more or less open tracery constructed of wood, stone, o ...
, restored in 1897.
In 1798 the town mills were converted into a woollen manufactory, which produced large quantities of cloth, and serge Serge may refer to:
*Serge (fabric), a type of twill fabric
*Serge (llama) (born 2005), a llama in the Cirque Franco-Italien and internet meme
*Serge (name), a masculine given name (includes a list of people with this name)
*Serge (post), a hitchi ...
manufacture was introduced early in the 19th century. During the 19th century the town had an active coastal shipping trade, shipbuilding, a tannery, other industries and a large monthly cattle market. The chief exports were cider, corn, malt, and slate.[
Kingsbridge was used by ]Anthony Trollope
Anthony Trollope ( ; 24 April 1815 – 6 December 1882) was an English novelist and civil servant of the Victorian era. Among the best-known of his 47 novels are two series of six novels each collectively known as the ''Chronicles of Barsetshire ...
as the setting for his novel ''Rachel Ray'' (1863) and by Rachel Joyce as the setting for her 2012 novel '' The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry''. In October 2021 Embankment Films started filming in Kingsbridge for the big screen version of ''The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry'', starring Jim Broadbent, Penelope Wilton, Monika Gossmann and Bethan Cullinane. The film was released in April 2023.
The town centre retains many 18th and 19th century buildings. The Shambles, or market arcade, was rebuilt in 1796 but retains its 16th century granite piers. The former grammar school, now a museum, was founded and built by Thomas Crispin in 1670.
Modern day
Kingsbridge has been the main market town in the area for centuries. Being situated within the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and with its proximity to the south Devon coast and sailing venues such as Salcombe
Salcombe is a resort town in the South Hams district of Devon, south west England. The town is close to the mouth of the Kingsbridge Estuary, mostly built on the steep west side of the estuary. It lies within the South Devon Area of Outstand ...
and Hope Cove, the town has developed into a popular tourist destination. Its attractions include several restaurants, pubs, a cinema housed in the old Kingsbridge Town Hall
Kingsbridge Town Hall is a municipal building in Fore Street, Kingsbridge, Devon, England. The town hall, which is currently used as a cinema, is a Grade II listed building.
History
The town hall was built and financed by a specially formed com ...
building, and a museum devoted to the chemist William Cookworthy who was born in the town in 1705.
There are two supermarkets
A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. Strictly speaking, a supermarket is larger and has a wider selecti ...
in Kingsbridge: a Morrisons
Wm Morrison Supermarkets Limited, trading as Morrisons, is the List of supermarket chains in the United Kingdom, fifth largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. As of 2021, the company had 497 supermarkets across England, Wales and Sco ...
and a Tesco
Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom at its head offices in Welwyn Garden City, England. The company was founded by Jack Cohen (businessman), Sir Jack Cohen in ...
Store, which opened in 2010. It also has a large secondary school, Kingsbridge Community College, which has over 1,000 pupils and serves the surrounding area. Kingsbridge was home to "the only nightclub in the South Hams", ''Coast'' (which has since closed), with the next nearest club being in Torquay
Torquay ( ) is a seaside town in Devon, England, part of the unitary authority area of Torbay. It lies south of the county town of Exeter and east-north-east of Plymouth, on the north of Tor Bay, adjoining the neighbouring town of Paignt ...
.
The town is linked to Plymouth
Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...
and Dartmouth by the A379 road, and to Salcombe
Salcombe is a resort town in the South Hams district of Devon, south west England. The town is close to the mouth of the Kingsbridge Estuary, mostly built on the steep west side of the estuary. It lies within the South Devon Area of Outstand ...
and Totnes
Totnes ( or ) is a market town and civil parish at the head of the estuary of the River Dart in Devon, England, within the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is about west of Paignton, about west-southwest of Torquay and ab ...
by the A381. For seventy years it had a railway station until the branch line
A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Branch lines may serve one or more industries, or a city or town not located ...
, via South Brent, was closed in 1963 as part of the Beeching cuts
The Beeching cuts, also colloquially referred to as the Beeching Axe, were a major series of route closures and service changes made as part of the restructuring of the nationalised railway system in Great Britain in the 1960s. They are named ...
. An industrial estate now occupies the site of the former station yard, but a railway bridge and a short section of overgrown embankment can still be seen.
Kingsbridge has its own Parish Council with an elected Town Mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...
.
Twin town
* Weilerbach
Weilerbach is a municipality in the district of Kaiserslautern, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated approximately 11 km north-west of Kaiserslautern.
Weilerbach is the seat of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' ("collective municipality" ...
,
A twinning arrangement with Isigny-sur-Mer
Isigny-sur-Mer (, literally ''Isigny on Sea'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Calvados (department), Calvados Departments of France, department and Normandy (administrative region), Normandy Regions of France, region of north-western Fra ...
in Normandy
Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy.
Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...
, France, ended in 2019 after 58 years.
Cultural associations
A song titled "Farewell to Kingsbridge" was collected by Sabine Baring-Gould
Sabine Baring-Gould (; 28 January 1834 – 2 January 1924) of Lew Trenchard in Devon, England, was an Anglican priest, hagiographer, antiquarian, novelist, folk song collector and eclectic scholar. His bibliography consists of more than 1,240 pu ...
at Lydford, Devon. It belongs to the years 1778–80 when soldiers stationed here had to depart for North America.[Reeves, James (1960) ''The Everlasting Circle''. London: Heinemann; p. 110]
Geography
Notable residents
* William Cookworthy (1705–1780), the discoverer of English china clay
Kaolinite ( ; also called kaolin) is a clay mineral, with the chemical composition aluminium, Al2Silicon, Si2Oxygen, O5(hydroxide, OH)4. It is a layered silicate mineral, with one tetrahedron, tetrahedral sheet of silica () linked through oxygen ...
and producer of the first English porcelain
Porcelain (), also called china, is a ceramic material made by heating Industrial mineral, raw materials, generally including kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The greater strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to oth ...
, was born in the town.
* John Wolcot (1738–1819), poet and satirist who wrote under the name of "Peter Pindar", was born here.
* George Montagu (1753–1815), naturalist, after whom the bird Montagu's harrier was named, lived before his death at Knowle House, Kingsbridge, having been born in Wiltshire.
* John Scoble (1799– d. after 1867), anti-slavery campaigner in Britain and Canada, was born in Kingsbridge.
* William Henry Squire (1871–1963), composer, was educated in Kingsbridge.
* Vincent Harris
Emanuel Vincent Harris (26 June 1876 – 1 August 1971), often known as E. Vincent Harris, was an English architect who designed several important public buildings in traditional styles.
Early life
He was born in Devonport, Devon, Devon ...
(1876–1971), architect, was educated in the town.
* Maurice Fox-Strangways, 9th Earl of Ilchester (1920–2006), RAF officer and nuclear weapons engineer, was educated here.
* Sir William Mitchell (1925–2002), physicist, was born here.
* Mark Ellis (born 1988), professional footballer who made his name with Torquay United
* Giselle Ansley (1992–), England and Great Britain hockey player
* William Stone (1900-2009), Last Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
Veteran
A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in an job, occupation or Craft, field.
A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in the military, armed forces.
A topic o ...
of the Great War
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
living in the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
.
See also
* South Hams Hospital
References
(Some text may have been edited).
Further reading
* Fox, Sarah Prideaux (1874) ''Kingsbridge Estuary: with rambles in the neighbourhood''. Kingsbridge, Devon: Cookworthy Museum, 1982 (reissued)
* --do.-- (1974) ''Kingsbridge and its Surroundings''. Plymouth (England): Printed for the compiler by G. P. Friend (first edition published as "Kingsbridge estuary, with rambles in the neighbourhood")
External links
{{authority control
Towns in Devon
Market towns in Devon
Civil parishes in South Hams