Research material
1. Introduction and bibliography
2. Domesday and the Exeter Book
3. The first records of a church in the 12th century
4. List of vicars
5. A wine importer becomes vicar in 1322
6. Inventory of the church in 1433
7. Reformation silverware from 1576 and 1635
8. Visits of John Keble in the early 19th century
9. 1860 rebuilding of the church
10. Survey of church and churchyard memorials in 1935
11. The 1914-18 war
12. COVID lockdown in 2020
Settlement in the Sidmouth area goes back to the stone age and there are extensive remains of Bronze Age and Iron Age settlement, including evidence of religious ritual. The Romans left remains in the area, but no settlement has been found. The West Saxons arrived in the 7th century, settled the valley as farmers, and built Sidbury Church. Sidmouth itself developed somewhat later. The first records we have of Christian worship in Sidmouth date from about 1100. Archaeology gives a date for the first building of the mid 12th Century, while documentary records give a latest date of 1175. From that time there is an increasingly rich record of the church and its place in the community. On this page we offer a selection of primary material that we hope will be of interest to historians interested in Sidmouth and its church. If you find the information interesting or helpful, we would appreciate your support for the maintenance of the church through the donations button at the bottom of the page.
The little we know about Sidmouth at the time of the Norman conquest, is contained in the Domesday Book, where it appears as part of Otterton, given to the Abbey of Mont St Michel in Normandy by King William. Consideration of the geography of the combined estate suggests that at least half of the farms of Otterton would have been in the Sid Valley, but Otterton itself was more important because of its port on the River Otter. In the Domesday Book, Sidmouth is only mentioned specifically with regard to salt pans leased by the monks of Ottery St Mary. However, it is possible to infer that some of the resources recorded for Otterton were actually in Sidmouth. Two versions of the Domesday Book survive: the preliminary survey for the southwest, called the Exeter Domesday; and the final version, called the Exchequer Domesday. Shortly after the conquest, the names of the membership of guilds of Exeter Cathedral was recorded on the flyleaves of the Exeter Book, an important surviving book of Anglo-Saxon poetry, including the guild at Sidmouth.
Click here to download the relevant extracts from Domesday and the Exeter Book
A church has existed on the current site since at least 1175. The evidence is in the attached pdf, which contains Peter Orlando Hutchinson's transcriptions of copies from the Otterton Cartulary of deeds dated 1175 and 1200 giving land (which later became the glebe land) to the Abbot's "cleric" in Sidmouth. It also contains evidence from the 2009 internal excavations, which revealed foundations typical of the 12th Century.
Click here to download the pdf
Since then there have been 42 vicars of Sidmouth Parish Church. This is two less than implied by the list displayed in church, as two of the names in that list do not belong there. The mistake was made be George Oliver when he transcribed the diocesan records in the early 19th Century, and was copied by Peter Orlando Hutchinson. When the error was pointed out to him, he recorded it in volume 4 of his History of Sidmouth, but unfortunately, most subsequent historians have relied on volumes 1 & 2, so the error has been perpetuated.
Click here for the full list of vicars of Sidmouth Parish Church
On 7th November 1316 the port records of Exeter record the arrival of "Le Cog Seynt Gile of Sydemouth" with 93 tuns, 10 pipes of wine and some iron under Richard de Todewille. The Todewilles were an important local family, based at what is now Tidwell, near Budleigh Salterton, but with long standing interests in Sidmouth. This is a big ship for the time and is evidently engaged in the lucrative trade in Bordeaux wine (Bordeaux being an English possession at this time). Richard became vicar of Sidmouth in 1322. A copy of the port record is shown below (courtesy of Devon Record Office) with the ship's name in the first line and its owner at the end of the last line. 
In 1433 an inventory of the church was taken. This was shortly after the Abbey of Sion in Middlesex had been given the patronage of the Church. We are not sure whether it was before or after the rebuilding that happened around this time. The original is shown on the right and a translation can be seen through the link below.
Following Henry VIII's break with Rome in 1534, the English church went through several stages of reform. The giving of communion wine to the laity required a larger vessel than the medieval chalice, and many parishes acquired new communion cups during the early part of Elizabeth's reign, some of which were made by melting down old chalices. Sidmouth's oldest cup dates from 1576 and was made in Exeter. Its donor is not known and it may have been made from a previous chalice. Sidmouth's second cup dates from 1635, was made in London and was given by Randolph Mainwaring, vicar of the church from 1611-35. He was brother to Christopher Mainwaring who had acquired the manor of Sidmouth from James I in 1605. The Mainwarings were a wealthy manufacturing family who moved to Exeter from Cheshire around this time. Randolph left silver spoons in his will to be melted down to make the communion cup.
In 1813 a young Oxford fellow called John Keble visited Sidmouth, the home of his student friend George Cornish and near to another student friend, John Coleridge, who lived at Ottery St Mary. He brought some students for a summer retreat and stayed in Myrtle Cottage at the foot of Salcombe Hill. Later in life, Keble was to have a profound influence on the Church of England following his "assize sermon" of 1833 in which he called for a return to the early faith of the church. He also published a best seller of poems in his "A Christian Year". Graham Thornton put together a series of articles for the church magazine on Keble and his visits to Sidmouth, which can be downloaded here.
Myrtle Cottage in 1817
When Rev. Hans Hamilton arrived as the new vicar in 1857, he
found a church that was “a very old structure…hopelessly disfigured with high
pews and galleries and skylights…few features left of beauty or interest”.
Despite the opening of All Saints church, nearby in 1839, it was also too small,
so a committee was formed to plan its enlargement. Peter Orlando Hutchinson
(POH) was a member and recorded its incompetence. They planned to rebuild the chancel and add a
bay with transepts, then to rebuild the nave. Clerestory
and nave roof were to be paid for by Rev. Augustus
Hobart-Hampden of Sidholme, rector of Wolverhampton and 6th Earl of Buckinghamshire. William
White was architect and Noah Miller the building contractor. Work started in
early 1859: walls of Hook Ebb stone with bands of Dunscombe sandstone; shafts
of Plymouth marble in the chancel arch; aisle roofs covered “with Burnetized carpet felt and 24oz roofing zinc from Devain
& Co”; chancel and nave roofs striped “four courses of green and three of purple slate”. Throughout, progress was hampered by lack of
funding and poor workmanship. POH argued to retain
historical features and respect local wishes, especially those of the Earl. It
had been planned to move the organ, but the
Earl’s support was conditional on it being left at the West end. After
completion of the clerestory, attempts to change his mind led to heated
meetings and placarding of the town. The offer of a west window by Queen
Victoria appeared to force the issue but POH was determined the promise should
be kept and delivered a letter to the Queen at Osborne House causing her to
withdraw the offer. By mid-1861, structural work was complete, but Miller was
bankrupt. The east end was bare except for an oak table, a crude wooden pulpit,
reading desks and a lectern. Hamilton had the wall painted with a depiction of
the Red Sea. Worn down by controversy, he left in 1861.
Original plan for the church extension, signed by William White in 1858
The churchyard was closed to burials in 1874. A survey of memorials was carried out in 1935. Some headstones have been moved since then and many have become unreadable. However, if you are looking for burials in Sidmouth churchyard, this is the best source available. There are two links. The first is an alphabetical index of names, with reference to the location of the burial, first by map and then by number within the map. The second consists of maps of the parts of the churchyard with numbered graves, and details of memorials in number order.
Click here for the index of memorials in Sidmouth churchyard.
Click here for the maps and details of the memorials in Sidmouth churchyard.
In 1914 the Rev'd Woolcombe became vicar of Sidmouth Parish Church. One of his first acts was to create a monthly parish magazine, which has continued publication to this day with only one short break after World War I. As a result we have an excellent record of the church during the period of that war. It records the increasing losses of men from the Sid Valley and the making of temporary "street shrines" to their memory. The church was lucky to receive a curate in 1917, but he almost immediately signed up as a chaplain. His letters from the front in northeast France are a valuable record. The bound magazines are kept in the Devon Record Office at Sowton, but a comprehensive set of extracts was published in 2014 for the centenary of the outbreak of war. A copy can be downloaded here.
Sidmouth war memorial shortly after its dedication in 1921
Note the extensive growth of ivy on the church, and the railings which were removed in WWII
In January 2020 the COVID virus reached the UK from China. From the third week of March the country went into lockdown to try to restrict its spread. When the church closed, a service was initially provided in a form similar to the weekly pew sheet. This was emailed or delivered to church members and was available on the website. Click here for the pew sheet for the first lockdown Sunday. From this start, a service was built up on the website, based on the centrally shared service of spiritual communion, with audio recordings of the main parts of the service contributed by members of the congregation, both clergy and lay, and incorporating YouTube recordings of hymns. Click here for the Easter Day 2020 service. From Easter until the end of lockdown in July, the parts of the service were linked together to create a single complete YouTube video, with music recorded individually by members of the choir and spliced together.
When services restarted, in July, we began live streaming the service. Initially this was of rather poor quality, but was greatly improved by experience and the acquisition of better equipment.
We hope you have found the information on this page interesting and useful. Maintaining our beautiful old church takes a lot of voluntary effort and money. If you would like to help us with a donation, please click the button below to go to our online giving page. Thank you!
