Membury, Devon

Description
Membury, a village and a parish in Devonshire. The village stands near the river Yarty, and near the boundary with Dorsetshire, 3 1/2 miles N by W of Axminster station on the L. & S.W.R., with a post office under Axminster; money order and telegraph office, Axminster. Acreage of the civil parish, 4394; population, 645; of the ecclesiastical, 3759. The manor belonged to the Courtenays, passed to the Drakes, and now belongs to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. Yarty, now a farmhouse, was the seat of the Yarty family ; Waterhouse, anciently called Waters, was the seat of the De la Water family. Membury Castle is a well-preserved ancient British camp of about 2 acres on a hill. The living is a perpetual curacy, annexed to the vicarages of Axminster and Kilmington, in the diocese of Exeter; joint value, £600 with residence. The church is partly Early English, partly Decorated, has been restored, comprises nave, transept, and chancel, and contains a fine monument to Sir S. Calmady.