Sidbury is a large village 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 ...

north of

Sidmouth Sidmouth () is a town on the English Channel in Devon, South West England, southeast of Exeter. With a population of 13,258 in 2021, it is a tourist resort and a gateway to the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site. A large part of the town has ...

, now in the parish of Sidmouth, in the

East Devon East Devon is a local government district in Devon, England. Its council is based in the town of Honiton, although Exmouth is the largest town. The district also contains the towns of Axminster, Budleigh Salterton, Cranbrook, Ottery St M ...

district, in the county 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. In 2011 the

built-up area Buildup may refer to: * Atomic buildup In atomic physics and quantum chemistry, the Aufbau principle (, from ), also called the Aufbau rule, states that in the ground state of an atom or ion, electrons first fill Electron shell#Subshells, sub ...

had a population of 457. It is situated on the A375 road and the

River Sid The River Sid, situated in East Devon, is often claimed to be the shortest complete river in England. It flows for southwards from a source in Crowpits Covert ( OSGB36 Grid reference SY138963) at a height of 206 metres above sea level. Thsourceis ...

, which rises at Crowpits Covert (OSGB36 grid reference ) and runs for to

Lyme Bay Lyme Bay is an area of the English Channel off the south coast of England. The south western counties of Devon and Dorset front onto the bay. The exact definitions of the bay vary. The eastern boundary is usually taken to be Portland Bill on ...

at Sidmouth. Above the village is

Sidbury Castle Sidbury Castle is a substantial Iron Age hill fort near Sidbury in Devon, England. It occupies a large hilltop overlooking the town and the River Sid The River Sid, situated in East Devon, is often claimed to be the shortest complete river in E ...

, the site of an Iron Age hill fort. Sidbury is mentioned 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 ...

as the manor of Sideberia, held by Bishop Osbern of

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

. The Church of St Peter and St Giles has a Norman tower topped with a spire, a Saxon

crypt A crypt (from Greek κρύπτη (kryptē) ''wikt:crypta#Latin, crypta'' "Burial vault (tomb), vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, Sarcophagus, sarcophagi, or Relic, religiou ...

, a gunpowder storage room dating from the Napoleonic era and a 500-year-old

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 ...

. The tower has eight bells, the earliest dating from 1662 and 1663. Six more were hung in 1712, 1750, 1752, 1776 and two in 1947 to complete the present eight. Both the tower and the rest of the church are Norman but the tower was accurately rebuilt in 1884. The north aisle is possibly 13th century and the south porch

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'', � ...

. The windows are medieval and of various periods; the octagonal font is Perpendicular. The church is a Grade I listed building. The actress

Joan Hickson Joan Bogle Hickson (5 August 1906 – 17 October 1998) was an English actress of theatre, film and television. She was known for her role as Agatha Christie's Miss Marple in the television series '' Miss Marple''. She also narrated a number of ...

, known for her lead role in the television series ''

Miss Marple Miss Jane Marple is a fictional character in Agatha Christie's crime novels and short stories. Miss Marple lives in the village of St Mary Mead and acts as an amateur consulting detective. Often characterised as an elderly spinster, she is one ...

'', is buried in the churchyard under her married name of Joan Bogle Butler. The village has a primary school, a village hall, a pub (the Red Lion), and one butcher's shop also selling groceries and newspapers. There is a working watermill in the village. The

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 ...

Sidbury Manor Sidbury Manor is a privately owned 19th-century country mansion situated at Sidbury, Sidmouth, East Devon. It is a Grade II listed building. Built in 1879, the country house is a red brick building with a slate roof, including two towers, one sq ...

, lies northwest of the village centre. There is a regular bus service to Sidmouth and Exeter. A small hamlet of

Sidbury Sidbury is a large village and former civil parish north of Sidmouth, now in the parish of Sidmouth, in the East Devon district, in the county of Devon, England. In 2011 the built-up area had a population of 457. It is situated on the A375 r ...

in the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape ( ; ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, and its largest city is Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Due to its climate and nineteenth-century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also kno ...

province of South Africa, was founded by Lt. Richard Daniell, R.N. He had been native of this Devon village and was leader of Daniell party of

1820 Settlers The 1820 Settlers were several groups of British colonists from England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, settled by the government of the United Kingdom and the Cape Colony authorities in the Eastern Cape of South Africa in 1820. Origins After th ...

to South Africa. He also helped found the Anglican church there and named it after his home church.

Civil parish

In 1951 the parish had a population of 2,507. On 1 April 1974 the parish was abolished and merged with Sidmouth.

Notable people

*Major

Cyril Raikes Cyril Probyn Napier Raikes (1875–1963) was a British Army officer who was awarded the Military Cross in the World War I Mesopotamian campaign flying in the British army's Royal Engineers monitoring the oil pipelines there. He had previously fou ...

References

External links

Village website
* {{authority control Villages in Devon Former civil parishes in Devon Former manors in Devon Sidmouth