Berrynarbor (historically Berry Narbor, Berrie Nerbert, etc) is a village,

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

and former manor in the

North Devon North Devon is a local government district in Devon, England. North Devon Council is based in Barnstaple. Other towns and villages in the North Devon District include Braunton, Fremington, Ilfracombe, Instow, South Molton, Lynton and Lynmouth ...

district of

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

, England. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 749, increasing to 802 at the 2011 census. The village is located on the north coast of the county to the north of

Exmoor Exmoor is loosely defined as an area of hilly open moorland in west Somerset and north Devon in South West England. It is named after the River Exe, the source of which is situated in the centre of the area, two miles north-west of Simonsbath. ...

, about three miles east of

Ilfracombe Ilfracombe ( ) is a seaside resort and civil parish on the North Devon coast, England, with a small harbour surrounded by cliffs. The parish stretches along the coast from the 'Coastguard Cottages' in Hele Bay toward the east and along the ...

. The parish is surrounded clockwise from the east by the parishes of

Combe Martin Combe Martin is a village, civil parish and former manor on the North Devon coast about east of Ilfracombe. It is a small seaside resort with a sheltered cove on the northwest edge of the Exmoor National Park. Due to the narrowness of the ...

, Kentisbury, East Down, Marwood,

Bittadon Bittadon is a civil parish and former manor in the North Devon district of Devon, England. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 45. It is about seven miles north of Barnstaple and is surrounded clockwise from the north b ...

, and

. Berrynarbor has within its purview to all sides a mixture of dense woodlands and farms and lies within the North Devon

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is an area of countryside in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Areas are designated in recognition of thei ...

.Grid square map

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website

Description

The village contains a small school, Berrynarbor VC Primary School which is voluntary controlled, and a voluntary controlled and run village shop. Other shops in the village's area are on the Mill Park camp-site and, during the summer, on Watermouth Valley Camping Park, which is on the scenic walk to Watermouth Harbour. There are two

pubs A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

: Ye Olde Globe which is a character village pub, and The Sawmill Inn which is on the outskirts of the village. There are guest houses and tearooms, along with the St Peter's Church in the main village square and

Watermouth Castle Watermouth Castle is a building in Watermouth, near Ilfracombe, North Devon, England, designed by George Wightwick as a residence for the Bassett family in the mid-19th century and is not a true castle but a country house built to resemble one. I ...

. St Peter's Church has a 15th-century tower, a 17th-century

lychgate A lychgate, also spelled lichgate, lycugate, lyke-gate or as two separate words lych gate, (from Old English ''lic'', corpse), also ''wych gate'', is a gateway covered with a roof found at the entrance to a traditional English or English-style ch ...

and a

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a typeface. Each font is a matched set of type, with a piece (a "sort") for each glyph. A typeface consists of a range of such fonts that shared an overall design. In mod ...

. The church tenor bell was recently restored through donations from the village and can now be heard every Sunday morning during the church service. Berrynarbor has won many awards including Best Kept Village and

Britain in Bloom Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

. The community shop which opened in 2008 won the 2008 Countryside Alliance Award for the best village shop/post office in the South West of England. Every year the village hosts a show which involves some of the locals and primary school children. In July the school hosts a fete in the Manor hall and park. This helps raise money for various charities.

History

The Berrie family were lords of the manor of "Berrie Nerbert" in the 17th century, as the inscriptions on the two tablets under the Berrie mural monument witness. The manor later came into the possession of the Bassett family, previously seated at

Heanton Punchardon Heanton Punchardon ( ) is a village, civil parish and former manor, anciently part of Braunton Hundred. It is situated directly east-southeast of the village of Braunton, in North Devon. The parish lies on the north bank of the estuary of the R ...

, which in the 19th century built

within the manor, for their principal residence.

Village Newsletter

In 1988 a survey was carried out by the Parish Council and a need was identified for a village newsletter. The aim was for it to be "an interesting and informative publication for everyone to enjoy". Contributions could be any item of interest - village news, coming events, 'hatched, matched and despatched' , or items relating to hobbies, local history, travel, favourite recipes, etc. Over 30 years later and th
Berrynarbor Newsletter
is still going strong both in hard copy format - distributed to the village and to over 100 subscribers by post - and also online. The website offers a wealth of in depth social history, original artwork, stories, local knowledge, photos, postcards, and community information. Articles can be browsed b
Edition
(as originally published), b
Series
(articles on a common topic)
Regulars
(articles on a range of topics from a regular contributor) o
Groups
(clubs, institutions, societies and groups). There is also
Search
facility for locating family, friends and events. BNLWatermouthCove

The site features some stunning original artwork by four highly talented local artists
Debbie Rigler CookNigel MasonPeter Rothwell
an
Paul Swailes

Historic estates

The parish contains the following historic estates: ;Lee :Directly adjoining the village to the north is the neighbourhood or locality of Lee, divided into Lee Wood and three main estates, few of which are subdivided as each is a relatively small mixed residential/agricultural holding Middle Lee, North Lee and South Lee. ;Hagginton Hill and Goosewell :Contiguous to Lee, climbing the road to

in a long northern curve is a line of property forming these settlements.

East Hagginton {{Use dmy dates, date=April 2022 East Hagginton was a historic estate within the manorialism, manor and parish of Berrynarbor near to the coast of North Devon. It is near to, if not actually encompassing, the site of Watermouth Castle. History Des ...

within the manor of Berrynarbor was an estate mentioned in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

of 1086. ;Steridge :Lying along the valley floor to the south is another unbroken line of properties named Steridge, connected to the main village centre, occupying the lower Steridge Valley slightly higher than the village. Steep wooded slopes here give rise to springs, and on one eastern slope is the park homes resort/retreat of Berrynarbor Park here. ;Watermouth : To the north becomes a substantial hamlet in holiday season and its wide sandy outlet, as the name implies is directly beneath its castle. Watermouth Castle here is a Grade II* listed country home, started 1825-6 with final works 1845 by

George Wightwick George Wightwick (26 August 1802 – 9 July 1872) was a British architect based in Plymouth, and possibly the first architectural journalist. In addition to his architectural practice, he developed his skills and the market for architectural ...

. The Bassett family mentioned above sold this in 1946 to assist in paying an

inheritance tax An inheritance tax is a tax paid by a person who inherits money or property of a person who has died, whereas an estate tax is a levy on the estate (money and property) of a person who has died. International tax law distinguishes between an es ...

bill. ;Bowden : Now a farmhouse, was the birthplace of

John Jewel John Jewel (''alias'' Jewell) (24 May 1522 – 23 September 1571) of Devon, England was Bishop of Salisbury from 1559 to 1571. Life He was the youngest son of John Jewel of Bowden in the parish of Berry Narbor in Devon, by his wife Alice Bell ...

(1522-1571),

Bishop of Salisbury The Bishop of Salisbury is the ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Salisbury in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers much of the counties of Wiltshire and Dorset. The see is in the City of Salisbury where the bishop's seat ...

References

External links

Berrynarbor Parish Council

North Devon AONB website

Berrynarbor Village Newsletter Online
{{authority control Villages in Devon Former manors in Devon