In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Countisbury like this:
COUNTISBURY, or Countesbury, a parish in Barnstaple district, Devon; on the coast, at the boundary with Somerset, 15½ miles E by N of Ilfracombe, and 17 ½ NE of Barnstaple r. station. Post town, Lynton, under Barnstaple. Acres, 3, 512; of which 285 are water. Real property, £2, 268. ...
Pop., 176. Houses, 38. The manor belonged, in the time of Edward the Confessor, to Ailmar, a Saxon; was given, at the Conquest, to William Chieire, a follower of the Conqueror; passed through various hands; and belongs now to the Hallidays of Glenthorne. The land rises steeply from the sea; attains a height of 1, 146 feet, at Barney-barrow, in the vicinity of the church; and is elsewhere hilly. Many remains of Roman camps are seen; and a great number of Roman coins have been found. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Exeter. Value, not reported. Patron, the Bishop of Exeter. The church consists of nave and chancel, with a belfry; and was rebuilt within the present cent.
Countisbury through time
Countisbury is now part of North Devon district. Click here for graphs and data of how North Devon has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Countisbury itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Countisbury in North Devon | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/5710
Date accessed: 26th April 2024
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