North Huish
North Huish is located within South Hams local authority area. Historically it formed part of Stanborough Hundred. It falls within Totnes Deanery for ecclesiastical purposes. The Deaneries are used to arrange the typescript Church Notes of B.F.Cresswell which are held in the Westcountry Studies Library. The population was 380 in 1801 317 in 1901 . Figures for other years are available on the local studies website. In 1641/2 100 adult males signed the Protestation returns.
A parish history file is held in Totnes Library. You can look for other material on the community by using the place search on the main local studies database. Further historical information is also available on the Genuki website.
Maps: The image below is of the North Huish area on Donn's one inch to the mile survey of 1765.
On the County Series Ordnance Survey mapping the area is to be found on 1:2,500 sheet 126/1,2 Six inch (1:10560) sheet 126NW
The National Grid reference for the centre of the area is SX712565. On the post 1945 National Grid Ordnance Survey mapping the sheets are: 1:10,000 (six inch to a mile: sheet SX75NW, 1:25,000 mapping: sheet Outdoor Leisure 20, Landranger (1:50,000) mapping: sheet 202. Geological sheet 349 also covers the area.
Extract from Devon by W.G.Hoskins (1954), included by kind permission of the copyright holder:
HUISH, NORTH has a number of ancient estates and houses. Besides Huish itself, Broadley, Butterford and Lupridge were all Saxon estates and are described in Domesday Book. Broadley, in the Avon valley, is now substantially an Elizabethan mansion. Butterford was rebuilt as a mansion by the Palks about 1790. Black Hall and Norris also show traces of former mansions. Both Norris and Butterford gave their names to ancient families.
The parish church (dedication unknown but said to be St. Mary) was dedicated by Bishop Grandisson on 15 June 1336. Like Diptford, it has a medieval spire. The body of the church is probably early 14th century work, enlarged in the 15th by the addition of a S. aisle. The granite font is dated 1662.
Bickham bridge is on the site of a very old crossing of the Avon. It is mentioned as a bridge in a charter of King Edgar dated 962 (beoccan bricge)(D.A. 61, (1929), 251.) and appears to have joined two important ridgeways on the hills E. and W. of the Avon valley. The present bridge may well be of 16th century date.
