DESCRIPTION OF BRAMPFORD SPEKE - 1883

From Worth's Tourist Guide to Devonshire 1883:

"Brampford Speke (population 479) has acquired some notoriety a generation since by the controversy which arose on the presentation of the Rev. G. C. Gorham to the living. The then Bishop of Exeter, Dr. Phillpotts, refused to institute Mr. Gorham because of his views on baptismal regeneration. The law was appealed to, and after discussions for and against, it was at length decreed by the Privy Council that Mr. Gorham was to be instituted, and instituted he was accordingly. The fine old church was restored during his vicariate.

The Spekes, after whom the parish is named, were once a family of great note, and according to tradition reserved certain paths for their private use, which were thence called "Speke's paths". Cowley Bridge, in this parish is only 2 miles from Exeter."