In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Berry Pomeroy like this:
BERRY-POMEROY, a village and a parish in Totnes district, Devon. The village stands 1¾ mile E by N of Totnes r. station. The parish includes also Bridgetown, a suburb of Totnes, on the river Dart; and its Post Town is Totnes. Acres, 4,525. Real property, £8,996. Pop., 1,065. Houses, 222. ...
The property, with small exception, belongs all to the Duke of Somerset. Berry Pomeroy Castle, on a rock, in a beautiful dell, surrounded with wooded heights, in the neighbourhood the village, was built by Ralph de Pomeroy, a follower of the Conqueror; inhabited by his descendants till 1549; conveyed then to Protector Somerset; enlarged soon after, with magnificent additions, at a cost of upwards of £20,000; inhabited, for the last time, by Sir Edward Seymour, in the time of James II.; and traditionally said to have been destroyed by lightning. The ivy mantled walls of it, the great gateway, a round tower, a Tudor front of Protector Somerset's addition, and part of a Jacobean court of the time of Charles I., are still standing, shattered and unroofed; and form, with the accompaniments of the dell and the woods, a very romantic object. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Exeter. Value, £360.-Patron, the Duke of Somerset. The church is an ancient structure of nave, chancel, and aisles; and contains a handsome screen and tombs of the Seymours. John Prince, author of the "Worthies of Devon," was vicar for 42 years, and lies interred in the church.
Berry Pomeroy through time
Berry Pomeroy is now part of South Hams district. Click here for graphs and data of how South Hams has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Berry Pomeroy itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Berry Pomeroy, in South Hams and Devon | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/6233
Date accessed: 19th April 2024
Not where you were looking for?
Click here for more detailed advice on finding places within A Vision of Britain through Time, and maybe some references to other places called "Berry Pomeroy".
