Newton St Petrock
| Newton St Petrock | |
| Devon | |
|---|---|
 Newton St Petrock Church | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SS411122 |
| Location: | 50°53’15"N, 4°15’34"W |
| Data | |
| Postcode: | EX21 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Torridge |
Newton St Petrock is a tiny hamlet, with a somewhat wider parish, in northern Devon. It had a parish population in 2001 of 163.
In the hamlet itself stands the parish church, St Petrock's. A mile to the east are the earthwork remains of Durpley Castle, a mediæval motte-and-bailey castle.
The parish’s famous landmark is an ancient oak. The western border of the parish lies upon the River Torridge.
History
King Athelstan, in the 10th century, granted the lands of Niwantun to the priests of St Petroc's minster at Bodmin. The boundaries of the parish of St Petroc’s Niwantun remain exactly the same today except for some expansion to the ecclesiastical and civil parish on its north side to include part of what was called Cleave in the Middle Ages and what was once part of the parish of Frithelstock in the 19th century.
The population of this rural parish has remained remarkably stable over the last two centuries. In 1801, the population was 201 and this had fallen to 163 by 2001.
In the late 17th century Newton St Petrock was the home of England’s first female physician, Prudence Abbott Potter. A 19th-century rector, John Lemprière, wrote 'Lemprière's Bibliotheca Classica', used for generations in schools throughout the English-speaking world.
A Baptist church was opened at Newton St Petrock on 19 January 1830 on the property of Mr Frank Thorne, the local blacksmith, who might be considered the first pastor although the cause began twelve years earlier when the Rev. John Gould retired from Croyde and settled in the parish.
Like many North Devon parishes, many of the sons and daughters emigrated to Canada and elsewhere in the second half of the 19th century.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Newton St Petrock) |
References
- Quance, R.A.W.: 'Newton St. Petrock Baptist Church Ter-Jubilee' (1980)