Sampford Peverell, Devon

Description
Sampford Peverell, a village and a parish in Devonshire. The village stands 3 miles N by W of Tiverton Junction station on the G.W.R., and 5 ENE of Tiverton. It was anciently a borough, carried on for some time a considerable woollen trade, and has a post, money order, and telegraph office under Tiverton, and a cattle fair on the Monday before the last Wednesday of April. The parish comprises 2221 acres; population of the civil parish, 635 ; of the ecclesiastical, 619. There is a parish council consisting of nine members. The manor belonged to the Peverells for many generations, passed by marriage into the hands of Sir Elias Cuttle, and thence went to the Denhams and Aisthorpes. On the death of Sir William Aisthorpe without issue, King Henry IV. granted it to John, earl of Somerset, from whom it descended to Margaret, countess of Richmond and Derby (mother of Henry VII.) When residing here she built the old rectory and added an aisle to the original Early English church. Sir Anrus Paulet purchased the estate from King Henry VIL; and his grandson, one of the confidential servants of Elizabeth, was keeper of Mary Queen of Scots at the time of her execution. The Paulets are said to have lost the manor, which is now divided into several small estates, in a gambling debt. The last remains of the castle, supposed to have been built by Oliver Denlam about 1337, were taken down about 1755. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Exeter; gross value, £290 with residence. The church, dedicated to St John the Baptist, is mainly Early English, and has been beautifully restored. There is a Wesleyan chapel.