St. Mary

Morchard Bishop is a large village and parish lying about 6 miles north-west of the ancient market town of Crediton in mid-Devon.  The parish is made up of many houses and scattered dwellings and includes the small hamlets of Oldborough, Knightstone, Lowertown, Middlecott, Woodgate, Frost, Redhill, Leigh and Woodlane.

The name of the parish appears to have derived from Celtic times, with the Morchard part "Mor+ced" meaning "great forest or wood".  The parish was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 simply as Morchet, so it appears that the "Bishop" part of the place name was not added until much later.

White (1850) tells us that the Manor at Morchard Bishop originally belonged to the Bishops of Exeter, so this would perhaps explain how the "Bishop" part of the place name came into being.  Ancient manorial rolls show that in 1311 the parish was called Bisschoppesmorchard - thus over time its name appears to have been turned around and later became Morchard Bishop.  The Manor was later owned by the CAREW, SOUTHCOTE, and BOUCHER families, along with others.

Church and Religion in the Parish

Morchard Bishop's parish church is called St. Mary and parts of it date back to the 14th century.  Mee (1965) tells us that the church is set on the top of a hill, with a tower standing nearly 100 feet high providing spectacular views of Exmoor to the north of the parish and Dartmoor to the south. 

Kelly (1893) gives the following description of Morchard Bishop's parish church:

"The Church of St. Mary is an ancient building of stone in the Perpendicular style, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles, south porch, and an embattlement western tower with pnnacles containing 6 bells: in the south aisle are two mutilated recumbent effigies in freestone of a civilian and his wife of the sixteenth century, assumed to represent John Eyston, of Eyston, or Easton in this parish, and Margaret (Arundle) his wife: there is also a monument, with arms, to Gabriel Greene gent ob. Nov 2, 1685, and Dorothy his wife, ob. 10 April 1660..." (p. 343)

Both White (1850) and Kelly (1893) mention that there was a Congregational Chapel used by the Independents and Wesleyans and also a Bible Christian Chapel in the parish.  Morchard Bishop still has a Methodist Chapel today.

Parish Life

Evidently farming, both in the past and the present has been a major occupation in the parish.  Kelly (1893) tells us that wheat and barley were the main crops grown in the parish at that time.  Both White (1850) and Kelly (1893) mention that Morchard Bishop held a large sheep and cattle fair in the parish annually, on the first Monday following the 9th September. 

Morchard Bishop lay on the main stage coach route between Barnstaple and Crediton and no doubt would have been used as a "rest place" for many travellers passing through the parish.  White's (1850) shows Morchard Bishop as having three Public Houses, but by Kelly's (1893) the number of pubs in the parish had diminished to only two.  This might have been due to the opening of a new road linking Barnstaple and Crediton, thus redirecting travellers away from the parish.  Below are the names of the Public Houses and their publicans (victuallers) listed in White (1850) and Kelly (1893):

Sources

JOD's Genealogy Graphics