Bicton, Devon

Description
Bicton, a parish in Devonshire, on the river Otter, near the coast, 4 miles WSW of Sidmouth station on the L. & S.W.R. It includes the hamlet of Yettington, and its post town is Budleigh-Salterton, under Exeter; money order and telegraph office, East Budleigh. Acreage, 1305 ; population, 121. The property belongs to the Clinton family. The manor was given by William the Conqueror to W. Porto; went through various families to Sir Robert Dennys, and passed by marriage to Sir Henry Bolle, the ancestor of Lord Rolle. Bicton House, the family seat, is an elegant mansion, in one of the finest parks in England. The gardens were noted by the late Mr. London as among the best he had ever seen; an arboretum in the park is one of the choicest and largest in the kingdom; and there is a noble avenue of auracarias. The jail for the county was provided in terms of the tenure of the estate, and stood in the parish till 1518. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Exeter; net value, £204 with residence. The church is a handsome edifice, erected in 1851. The previous church was a curious old structure, and part of it is now a mausoleum, connected by a cloister with the ancient tower.