Sowton is located within East Devon local authority area. Historically it formed part of Wonford Hundred. It falls within Aylesbeare 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 318 in 1801 374 in 1901 . Figures for other years are available on the local studies website.

A parish history file is held in Pinhoe 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 Sowton 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 80/8 Six inch (1:10560) sheet 80NE
The National Grid reference for the centre of the area is SX977926. On the post 1945 National Grid Ordnance Survey mapping the sheets are: 1:10,000 (six inch to a mile: sheet SX99SE, 1:25,000 mapping: sheet Explorer 114, Landranger (1:50,000) mapping: sheet 192. Geological sheet 325 also covers the area.

Illustrations: The image below is of Sowton as included in the Library's Etched on Devon's memory website. Other images can be searched for on the local studies catalogue.

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

SOWTON church (St. Michael) was wholly rebuilt in 1845, and is quite dull. Bishop's Court was formerly a palace of the Bishops of Exeter (called Clyst). Bishop Bronescombe bought the estate and had erected a palace and chapel here before 1276. Much medieval work remains, including the chapel (c. 1270) and 15th century barns and stables, but the house itself was "altered and improved" about 1863.