Brixton is a village,

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

and former manor situated near

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

South Hams South Hams is a non-metropolitan district, local government district on the south coast of Devon, England. Its council is based in the town of Totnes, although the largest town is Ivybridge. The district also contains the towns of Dartmouth, ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

, England. It is located on the A379

Kingsbridge Kingsbridge is a market town in the South Hams district of Devon, England, with a population of 6,116 at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census. Two electoral wards bear the name of ''Kingsbridge'' (East & North). Their combined population ...

road and is about from

. Its population is 1207. The parish contains the former manors of Brixton Reigny and Brixton English. It has views of the River Yealm. The church was built in the 15th century, with a tower arch 200 years older. Brixton has a single primary school, St Mary's Church of England Primary School.

History

Brixton appears as ''Brictricestone'' 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086, where it is recorded in the ancient

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...

Plympton Plympton is a suburb of the city of Plymouth in Devon, England. It is in origin an ancient Stannary, stannary town. It was an important trading centre for locally mined tin, and a seaport before the River Plym silted up and trade moved down riv ...

, having been divided into two moieties at or before 1066, wherewith two brothers who supported

William the Conqueror William the Conqueror (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England (as William I), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was D ...

could be separately compensated as lords, as was done for the brothers in other Devonshire parishes. But in this locale, only one of the brothers was lord of both moieties by the time of the Domesday Survey in 1086. One moiety was recorded as a manor having 4 villagers and 2 smallholders, and livestock consisting of 7 pigs and 31 sheep. Its annual value to the lord Ralph de Pomeroy was given as 10 shillings. The immediate lord then paid taxes to the tenant-in-chief, Iudhael of Totnes, who held the parish directly from the crown. The other moiety was recorded as a manor having 4 villagers and 5 small holders, and livestock consisting of 80 sheep and 1 "other" animal. Its annual value to the lord Ralph de Pomeroy was given as 15 shillings. The immediate lord then paid taxes to the tenant-in-chief, the same Iudhael of Totnes, who held the parish directly from the crown. The name 'Brixton' derives from the early ''Brictricestone'', as recorded in the Domesday Book, assumed recently (2024) to be the name given to the village by the Norman de Britrickstone family. William White's 1879

gazetteer A gazetteer is a geographical dictionary or wikt:directory, directory used in conjunction with a map or atlas.Aurousseau, 61. It typically contains information concerning the geographical makeup, social statistics and physical features of a co ...

features a different spelling for the surname: "The manor of Brixton, anciently called ''Britricheston'', was long held by a family of its own name, but was dismembered many years ago." A more learned source mentions ''Brictricestone'' being derived from 'Stone of Beorhtric'. The church, St Mary's, dates from the 15th century, and suffered a number of dilapidations and subsequent restorations in the 1880s and 1890s. In William White's 1879 '' History, Gazetteer and Directory of the County of Devon'', Brixton was said to have had 698 residents (325 males, 373 females) in 1871, living in 147 houses.

Historic estates

The parish contains various historic estates including: * Spridleston, formerly a seat of a junior branch of the

Fortescue family Fortescue may refer to: People * Fortescue (surname), a list of people with the name * Fortescue Ash (1882–1956), Anglican bishop in Australia * Fortescue Graham (1794–1880), British Royal Marines general Places * Fortescue, Missouri, Un ...

of Whympston, Modbury. * Hareston, formerly the seat of the Wood family.Risdon, p.194; Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p.801, pedigree of "Wood of Harestone"

References

External sources

Brixton at GENUKI

Pictures of Brixton
Civil parishes in South Hams Villages in South Hams {{Devon-geo-stub