Noss Mayo is located within South Hams local authority area. Historically it formed part of Plympton Hundred. It falls within Plympton 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 217 in 1901 510 in 1991. Figures for other years are available on the local studies website. The lay subsidy of 1524 valued the community at £05/16/00. In 1641/2 72 adult males signed the Protestation returns. It is recorded as a borough from 1286. It had parliamentary representation from 1779. Merged with Newton Ferrers and Revelstoke.

A parish history file is held in Ivybridge 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 Noss Mayo 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 130/11 Six inch (1:10560) sheet 130SE
The National Grid reference for the centre of the area is SX548476. On the post 1945 National Grid Ordnance Survey mapping the sheets are: 1:10,000 (six inch to a mile: sheet SX54NE,SX54NE, 1:25,000 mapping: sheet Outdoor Leisure 20, Landranger (1:50,000) mapping: sheet 201. Geological sheet 355 also covers the area.

Extract from Devon by W.G.Hoskins (1954), included by kind permission of the copyright holder:

NOSS MAYO is in the ancient ecclesiastical parish of Revelstoke. The church at Noss (St. Peter) was built by St. Aubyn in 1882, but the ancient parish church (also St. Peter) lies 1 1.5 m. SE. on the cliffside near Stoke Point. As at Wembury, the church was built far from any settlement, probably as a landmark for shipping on this dangerous coast. The old church was abandoned during the 18705, and it has become a remote and beautiful ruin, well worth a visit. It was an early14th century cruciform church with transepts and a N. tower, to which a S. aisle and porch were added in the 15th century. The coastal scenery around here is superb, above all the massive slates of Stoke Point.