Historical Overview

Poughill is a very small village and parish set deep in the heart of mid Devon, lying about 7 miles north of the ancient market towns of Crediton and about the same distance south-west of Tiverton.  So in years gone by it would have been quite a trek to the nearest markets on foot, or by horse and cart, down some very narrow country lanes.  The roads in the area quite obviously were never built for modern transport, so if you pay a visit, be prepared! 

From White's (1850), we learn that the parish was anciently held by the POUGHILL or POGHILL family.  It is certainly an ancient parish and mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Pochehille, believed to have been derived from "the hill of a man called Pog".!

St. Michael and All Angels Church

Despite being a small village, Poughill has it's own parish church called St. Michael and All Angels, which is very quaint and surrounded by a small graveyard. Some monumental inscriptions from its cemetery are provided on the following page: Poughill Monumental Inscriptions.

Kelly (1893) gives the following description of the church:

"The church of St. Mary** is a building of stone in the Early Perpendicular style, consisting of a chancel, nave, aisle, south porch and an embattled western town containing 5 bells, all cast in 1814: it was repaired in 1855-6, the interior decorated and three memorial windows inserted: there are 200 sittings." (p. 535)

** Note: Poughill Church is listed in Kelly's (1893) as being called St. Mary's and listed the same in White's (1850) earlier Devon Directory.  So whether St. Michael and All Angels was previously known as St. Mary's or whether these entries were errors, I do not know.

The entrance to the Church has a memorial tablet above the door with a list of names of those that lost their lives in The First World War (1914-1918).  Included are also those that fought.  You can find a transcribed list of names on the following page:  First World War Memorial Names.

Parish Life

Despite being such a small parish, Poughill  was obviously able to sustain itself in production terms due to the diverse number of occupations listed in the parish in Kelly (1893).  Poughill even had its own police constable, Charles ROGERS in 1893.  The small village also had its own pub "The Rose and Crown" and it's publican in 1893 was John PRANCE.

From the entries listed in White (1850) and Kelly (1893), farming was evidently a prominent occupation in the parish and the main crops listed as being grown in the parish were wheat, roots and oats.

White (1850) mentions that a parish school had recently been erected, but does not give a specific date.  Kelly (1893) mentions that the parish school was for mixed education and mainly supported by a sum of £40 from the Pynecombe Charity.  The school-mistress at the time was Miss Jane BATES.  

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Sources

Historic Populations

Source: 1801-1991 Census ©Crown Copyright
Source: 2001 Registrar General Population Estimates

Data originally from Devon Facts and Figures part of the Devon County Council website. [no longer available]

Map of the Area

• Map showing Poughill from MultiMap.com

Links

• Poughill in GENUKI giving information about the parish and an old map of the Parish Boundaries.
• Poughill Village Website providing local information about the parish.

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