St Marychurch
| St Marychurch | |
| Devon | |
|---|---|
 Priory Road, St Marychurch | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SX919657 |
| Location: | 50°28’55"N, 3°31’26"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 11,262 (2011) |
| Post town: | Torquay |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Torbay |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Torbay |
St Marychurch in is a little town in south-eastern Devon which has become swallowed into the urban area of Torquay and the wider Torbay conurbation. St Marychurch is in the northerly part of the conurbation, north of Babbacombe, which it adjoins, and edging the cliff that drops down to Oddicombe Beach. The town looks out over the shallow scoop of Babbacombe Bay.
The main shopping street (Fore Street) consists of a small market and has two public houses, a hardware store, a photo lab and photo shop, a post office, a fishmonger, butcher, baker, greengrocer, bookshop, pet shop, banks, two supermarkets and a health food shop, as well as a number of cafés, estate agents and hairdressers.
Torquay Golf Course is at the northern edge of St Marychurch.
The earliest documentary record of this village dates from around the year 1050. Its name derives from the church of St Mary, which was founded in Anglo-Saxon times.
Churches
- Church of England: Marychurch Parish Church with its high tower and Saxon font. The church dates from around 1110 AD. On Sunday 30 May 1943, the main part of this church was destroyed by a German bomb, killing 21 children and 3 teachers.
- United Reformed Church: Furrough Cross URC, originally a Free Church built by parishioners who objected to "Popish doctrines" (meaning High Church ritual) at the parish church. The church was built 1852 under first minister, the Rev Hugh Kelly, whose diocesan bishop was the Bishop of Michigan in the United States of America. It later severed all contact with the Anglican Church and later still became a Congregational church.
- Roman Catholic: Our Lady Help of Christians & St Denis
About the village
Tourist attractions include:
- Babbacombe Cliff Railway,[1]
- Babbacombe Downs with their fine views across Lyme Bay;
- Bygones Victorian Museum[2] and
- Babbacombe Model Village[3]
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about St Marychurch) |