AXMOUTH IN KELLY'S DIRECTORY OF 1889 |
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Axmouth's main street in 2008 © Richard J. Brine |
Axmouth is a parish and a village situated near the mouth of the River Axe, 10 miles south-east from Honiton, 6 south-west from Axminster and 1 north-by-east from Seaton Station on the Seaton branch of the London and South Western Railway, in the eastern Division of the county, Axminster Hundred and petty sessional division , union and county court district, rural deanery of Dunkeswell and Honiton, and archdeaconry of Exeter.
The church of St. Michael is an edifice of stone, in the Norman, Early English, Early Decorated and Perpendicular styles, consisting of chancel, nave, south aisle, north porch and an embattled western Perpendicular tower, with a turret at the north-east angle and containing 3 bells; in the church is an ancient monument. The Norman portions are the south aisle and north doorway; the Early decorated chancel contains the stone effigy of a priest, fully vested, placed within a recess formed by a rather lofty obtuse arch: beneath is a similar arch, canopied and with perforated cusps. The effigy probably represents one of the priors of the Benedictine Priory of Lodres, Dorset, to which this church belonged in the 14th century. There are 220 sittings. The register dates from the year 1603. The living is a vicarage, tithe rent charge £242, net yearly value £210, including 41 acres of glebe, with residence, in the gift of William Trelawney Hallett Davis JP and held since 1874 by the Rev. Samuel Clement Davis MA, of Caius College, Cambridge. Here is a Baptist chapel erected in 1861. A pleasure fair is held yearly on Shrove Tuesday.
On Christmas Day 1839, in consequence of a landslip*, 45 acres of arable land were lost to cultivation , two cottages situated on the lower part of the cliff were destroyed and a great chasm formed, more than 300 feet broad, 170 feet deep and three-quarters of a mile long. Two of the coastguard standing on Culverhole Beach on the night when this occurred, observed the sea to be in an extraordinary satate of agitation; the beach on which they stood rose and fell amidst the breakers near the shore, and something dark appeared to be rising from the bottom of the sea, accompanied by the deafening noise of crashing rocks. In 1840 another landslip occurred at Whitlands but of much smaller extent.
A coastguard station, with houses for the chief officer, and the men and their families, all enclosed with a stone wall, was ereceted by the late Sir Walter C. Trevelyan bart. on an elevated site near the seacoast in this parish. A handsome stone bridge of three arches, erected by the late Sir Walter C. Trevelyan Bart. crosses the Axe and connects this parish with Seaton.
William Trelawny Hallett Esq. JP of Stedcombe, who is lord of the manor, Edward Levi Ames Esq JP of Clevelands in this parish, and Sir Henry William Peek Bart. JP of Wimbledon house, Surrey, are the chief landowners. The soil is flint with chalk, the subsoil is marl. The area is 4533 acres of land and 150 of water. Rateable value £4496. The population in 1881 was 679.
POST OFFICE: Mrs. Ann Beer, sub-postmistress. Letters received from Axminster at 9.10 am; dispatched at 4. 10 pm. Seaton is the nearest Money Office and Telegrpah Office. COAST GUARD STATION: Henry Jenkins, Chief Officer. National School (mixed for 100 children); average attendance 71; Miss Annie Hillman, mistress. Go to THE AXMOUTH LANDSLIP to read more about the geological event which took place on Christmas day 1839. |
RESIDENTS Ames, Edward Levi JP, Clevelands Butt, William, Burrough House Craigie, John, MB; CM, physician, Southcott Villa William Dampier Davis, Rev. Samuel Clement MA, The Vicarage Hallett, Colonel Clements, Haven Cliff Hallett, William Trelawny JP, Stedcombe Leigh, Miss, Brook House COMMERCIAL Bagwell, Grace (Mrs), tailoress Bartlett, William, Ship Inn Beer, Arthur, farmer Beer, Bryan, shoe maker Beer, Mary Ann (Mrs) Harbour Inn Boles, Robert, blacksmith Chrichard, James & Son, carpenters Coles, farmer, Bosshill Froom, Thomas, Bosshill Harris, Robert, farmer, Whitlands Jenkins, Henry, Chief officer HM Coastguard Kibby, John, farmer, Crabhayne Love, Samuel, boot & shoemaker Morey, William, farmer Newbery, John, farmer, Higher Brookland Norman, William, sen., Haven Farm Norman, William jnr.,farmer Pearcy, George, farmer, Hay Pile, Walter Robert, farmer, Combe Farm Real, John, shoe maker & grocer Restorick, Levi, shopkeeper Sloman, John farmer, Dowlands Symes, Alfred farmer Webber, Edward, blacksmith Wills, Walter, farmer |
© M.E. Brine. This page last updated
31 July, 2009
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