In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Dunkeswell like this:
DUNKESWELL, a parish in Honiton district, Devon; near one of the sources of the river Culm, 5 miles N by W of Honiton town and r. station. It has a post office under Honiton. Acres, 5, 160. Real property, £3, 056. Pop., 492. Houses, 99. The property is divided among a few. The manor was known to the Saxons as Doduchewell; was held by Henry Fitzwilliam; was mortgaged by him to a Jew called Amadio; was redeemed by William Lord Brewer, a favourite of Richard I.; and was made the site of a Cistertian monastery, founded by Lord Brewer in 1201, and vested with the profits of Dunkeswell parish church by the Bishop of Exeter, nephew of Lord Brewer, in 1242. ...
The monastery was valued, at the dissolution, at £294; and was given, in 1539, to Lord Russell. The church was built of flint; and two stone coffins, containing perfect skeletons, were found in the choir of it in 1852. Wolford Lodge is the seat of Mrs. Simcoe, and was the seat of the late General Simcoe. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Exeter. Value, £42.* Patron, Mrs. M. Graves. Dunkeswell Abbey is a separate benefice and a p. curacy. Value, £50. Patron, Mrs. E. P. Simcoe. The parish church is cruciform, With low western tower; was rebuilt in 1817; and contains a very ancient font, probably Saxon. Dunkeswell Abbey church is modern; consists of nave, chancel, and north aisle, with bell-turret; and also contains a very ancient font. There is a Wesleyan chapel.
Dunkeswell through time
Dunkeswell is now part of East Devon district. Click here for graphs and data of how East Devon has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Dunkeswell itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Dunkeswell in East Devon | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/4840
Date accessed: 18th April 2024
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