Honeychurch is a village and former

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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

now in the parish of

Sampford Courtenay Sampford Courtenay is a village and civil parish in West Devon in England, most famous for being the place where the Western Rebellion, otherwise known as the Prayerbook rebellion, first started, and where the rebels made their final stand. It ...

, in the

West Devon West Devon is a local government district with borough status in Devon, England. Its council is based in Tavistock, the borough's largest town. The borough also includes the towns of Hatherleigh, North Tawton and Okehampton, along with nume ...

district of the English county of

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 ...

. It was originally an ancient parish in the

Black Torrington Black Torrington is a village and civil parish in Torridge, Devon, England, situated between the towns of Holsworthy and Hatherleigh. It is located on and named after (the dark waters of) the River Torridge. In the 2021 UK census, the populati ...

hundred of northwest Devon. With about thirty inhabitants in 1066, the village is 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

as "Honechercha". The description mentions five farms, which are still in operation in the 21st century. In 1870-72,

John Marius Wilson John Marius Wilson (c. 1805–1885) was a British writer and an editor, most notable for his gazetteers. The '' Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales'' (published 1870–1872), was a substantial topographical dictionary in six volumes. It was ...

's ''

Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales The ''Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales'' is a substantial topographical dictionary first published between 1870 and 1872, edited by the Reverend John Marius Wilson. It contains a detailed description of England and Wales. Its six volumes h ...

'' described Honeychurch in the following: On 31 December 1894 the parish was abolished and merged with Sampford Courtenay. By 1894 there were only 8 houses. The parish had 66 inhabitants in 1801, 69 in 1848, 35 in 1891, and 44 in 1901. The 12th-century church, dedicated to

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a female given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religion * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also called the Blesse ...

, is largely in its original state, save for the addition of the 15th-century three-bell tower and 16th-century portico in the south facade. The name of the village refers to the previous building on this site, "Huna's church", founded in the 10th century by the

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

landowner Huna.W.G. Hoskins, D. Hey
''Local History in England''
(2014)

References

External links

Villages in the Borough of West Devon Former civil parishes in Devon {{Devon-geo-stub