Malborough is a village located in the

South Hams South Hams is a local government district on the south coast of Devon, England. Services divide between those provided by its own Council headquartered in Totnes, and those provided by Devon County Council headquartered in the city of Exete ...

region 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 ...

. The village is located on the A381 between

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

and

Salcombe Salcombe is a popular resort town in the South Hams district of Devon, south west England. The town is close to the mouth of the Kingsbridge Estuary, mostly built on the steep west side of the estuary. It lies within the South Devon Area of ...

, and is a popular village for tourists, with many holiday homes located around the village. Malborough can be seen from many miles away throughout the South Hams region, due to its magnificent church spire, which is located at the highest point of the village. The Church of All Saints dates from the 13th Century and is built from local Soar stone. The Right Honourable John Stapleton de Courcy, 28th

Baron Kingsale Baron Kingsale is a title of the premier baron in the Peerage of Ireland. The feudal barony dates to at least the thirteenth century. The first peerage creation was by writ. Name and precedence In the early times the name was "Kinsale" or " ...

, is interred in the churchyard, with other members of the de Courcy family. The village is home to a small

co-op A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...

supermarket and a petrol station. The village has an Anglican and a Baptist church, two pubs, a large village hall and playing fields with children's play equipment and an outdoor gym, a hotel, a primary school, a post office and a football team. There is also an active youth club which runs at the Baptist Church

Historic estates

The parish of Malborough contains various historic estates including: *Yarde, the original seat of the prominent Devonshire gentry family of

Yard The yard (symbol: yd) is an English unit of length in both the British imperial and US customary systems of measurement equalling 3 feet or 36 inches. Since 1959 it has been by international agreement standardized as exactly 0.914 ...

, of which branches were later seated at Teignwick,

Kingsteignton Kingsteignton ( ), is a town and civil parish in South Devon, England. It lies at the head of the Teign Estuary to the west of Teignmouth in the Teignbridge district. It is bypassed by the A380 and is also on the A383, A381, B3193 and B3195. ...

;

Bradley Bradley is an English surname derived from a place name meaning "broad wood" or "broad meadow" in Old English. Like many English surnames Bradley can also be used as a given name and as such has become popular. It is also an Anglicisation of t ...

;

Whiteway, Kingsteignton Whiteway is an historic estate in the parish of Kingsteignton, Devon. It should be distinguished from Whiteway House in the parish of Chudleigh, Devon, 4 3/4 miles (7.6 km) to the north, in the 18th century a seat of the Parker family of Sa ...

;

Churston Ferrers Churston Ferrers is an area and former civil parish, in the borough of Torbay, Devon, England, situated between the south coast towns of Paignton and Brixham. Today it is administered by local government as the Churston-with-Galmpton ward of th ...

;

Sharpham, Ashprington Sharpham is an historic estate in the parish of Ashprington, Devon. The Georgian mansion house, known as Sharpham House, overlooks the River Dart and is a Grade I listed building. The house was commenced in about 1770 by the Royal Navy captain ...

. It was later a seat of the Dyer family.

Moonraker

Malborough has a number of connections with the word "Moonraker": the village

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

club, a local taxi company and a house on the historic Lower Town are named Moonrakers. Legend has it that a consignment of brandy was landed at

Hope Cove Hope Cove is a small seaside village within the civil parish of South Huish in South Hams District, Devon, England. It is located west of Salcombe and south west of Kingsbridge. It has two beaches, and is sheltered by the headland of Bolt Ta ...

and was in the process of being brought across

Bolberry Down Bolberry Down is a clifftop area on the coast of Devon, England. The headland of Bolt Tail lies to the west and Bolt Head and the town of Salcombe to the east. It is one of the longest coastal areas owned by the National Trust and lies within ...

to Malborough when the customs men were spied riding down the valley. The smugglers threw the barrels into Horsey Pool, but realised they could still be seen through the water in the moonlight, so started raking the surface of the pond. When the customs men asked what they were doing, they replied that they were trying to rake the moon out of the pond.

References

External links

Malborough Village Website

Malborough Baptist Church
Villages in South Hams Civil parishes in South Hams {{devon-geo-stub