Offwell
Offwell is located within East Devon local authority area. Historically it formed part of Colyton Hundred. It falls within Honiton Vol 1 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 302 in 1801 304 in 1901 . Figures for other years are available on the local studies website. The lay subsidy of 1524 valued the community at £07/11/04.
A parish history file is held in Honiton 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 Offwell 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 71/1 Six inch (1:10560) sheet 71NW
The National Grid reference for the centre of the area is SY195996. On the post 1945 National Grid Ordnance Survey mapping the sheets are: 1:10,000 (six inch to a mile: sheet SY19NE, 1:25,000 mapping: sheet Explorer 030, Landranger (1:50,000) mapping: sheet 183. Geological sheet 326 also covers the area.
Extract from Devon by W.G.Hoskins (1954), included by kind permission of the copyright holder:
OFFWELL has a 15th century church (St. Mary), much restored by Edward Copleston (1776-1849), bishop of Llandatf and dean of St. Paul's, who was born at the rectory. The Coplestons have been rectors without a break from 1773 to the present day, and have produced a number of distinguished churchmen. Edward Copleston was a great builder. He built Offwell House (1828), the rectory (1845), and the tower on Honiton Hill (1843) from which there are magnificent views. Colwell Barton, Culbeer, and Wilmington were all Domesday manors, and Glanvill Barton occurs as early as 1173-5.
