Newton Ferrers

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Newton Ferrers
Devon
Northern side of Newton Creek from Noss Mayo - geograph.org.uk - 124790.jpg
Newton Ferrers, across Newton Creek
Location
Grid reference: SX549480
Location: 50°18’53"N, 4°2’18"W
Data
Local Government
Council: South Hams

Newton Ferrers is a village in the south of Devon, about six miles south-east of Plymouth and standing on the estuary of the River Yealm; on the north bank of the Newton Creek and the east bank of the Yealm itself where they join just above the mouth of the river. It stands within the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. On the south bank of Newton Creek is a hamlet named Noss Mayo.

The village had a population of 1,268 according to the 2011 Census.

History

Newton Ferrers is recorded in the 1086 Domesday Book as Niwetone.[1] The village was granted to a Norman noble family "Ferrers" and the village became Newton Ferrers. It is the likely birthplace of the notorious 17th-century pirate Henry Every.[2]

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution established a lifeboat station at the mouth of the Newton Creek in March 1878. A stone boat house was built and the boat was launched into the River Yealm using a slipway. The station was closed in 1927 by which time Plymouth Lifeboat Station had been equipped with a motor lifeboat which could cover the area more effectively. During its 49 years three different lifeboats operated from the 'Yealm River Lifeboat Station': Bowman (1878), Darling (1887) and Michael Smart (1904).[3]

The art deco house Casa del Rio was built in 1936.

Churches

The church of Holy Cross in Newton Ferrers was re-built in 1260. It was less than half the size of the present building and in 1342 was enlarged by the then rector, Henry de Ferrers. It was restored by George Fellowes Prynne in 1885–6 and only the west tower and the north and south arcades remain of the mediæval structure.[4]

Across the creek, St Peter's at Noss Mayo was built in 1877 by Edward Baring, the 1st Lord Revelstoke, and took over from the nearby Church of St Peter the Poor Fisherman, Revelstoke, built in 1226.[5]

Noss Voss at low tide

Today

The village's shops are on Newton Hill: there is a co-op; a Post Office selling fruit, veg, magazines and clothes; a pharmacy; a butcher who also sells cold meat and cheese; and an estate agent. There are no shops in Noss Mayo, but it has two pubs, The Swan and The Ship. Newton Ferrers has one pub, The Dolphin, and all three are on the waterfront.

During the summer, a river taxi will take passengers around the two villages and makes regular trips between Newton Ferrers Harbour, Warren Point (for access to Wembury and its beach) and Noss Mayo.

The creek has two vosses; solid pathways across the estuary mud which are exposed and usable at low tides.[6] The Newton Voss crosses the Newton Creek between Riverside Road West below the Dolphin Inn to near the Swan Inn. The Noss Voss crosses the brook between the Swan Inn and the Ship Inn in Noss Mayo.

Outside links

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References

  1. Watts, Victor (2010). The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-names (1st paperback ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 437. ISBN 978-0-521-16855-7. 
  2. Marley, David F. (2010). Pirates of the Americas. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. p. 589. ISBN 978-1-59884-201-2. 
  3. Leach, Nicholas (2009). Devon's Lifeboat Heritage. Chacewater: Twelveheads Press. p. 29. ISBN 978-0-906294-72-7. 
  4. Nikolaus Pevsner: The Buildings of England: Devon, 1952; 1989 Penguin Books ISBN 978-0-300-09596-8
  5. A Brief History of Newton & Noss (Newton Ferrers & Noss Mayo)
  6. Yealm Estuary Management Plan (South Devon AONB, 1998) page 38