I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I visited Ermington. All the tourist literature I'd previously picked up for the South Hams area had featured pictures of other villages, with chocolate-box pretty whitewashed cob cottages with thatched roofs, ancient inns and little medieval churches and Ringmore, which I also visited, fitted this image. Ermington, however, was far less distinctive - other than a few older cottages, it could perhaps have been picked up and placed anywhere in the country without seeming too out of place.

There are three main reasons for this, I think. Firstly, a fair number of the properties date - at least from their facades - from the late eighteenth century or later and are stone built, with slate tiled roofs, rather than cob and thatch. Secondly, Ermington, apparently, originally had market town status, which would account for the square at the heart of the village, which gives it an air of being a bigger place than a mere village. Thirdly, I suspect the main road originally went through the village; nowadays you have to divert off the main road to go up the hill into the village and then down again to rejoin the main road. Did the river Erme originally meander closer to the foot of the hill and the main road now goes where the river used to be? Certainly the property on the corner at the foot of Town Hill and the main road used to be a toll house so either there was a toll gate for those travelling up through the village or else there was a gate across a "new" main road which had previously not been a right of way.

I approached Ermington from Modbury, where I had been staying. This took me past the eastern entrance to the Flete estate, the house of which can be glimpsed through the trees from the Orcheston road. There are a couple of older cottages along the main road. You then pass the old vicarage, now the Ermewood House hotel, on your left with the river Erme running on your right. The first turning in to the village is up a hill, which is now called Town Hill. The properties on this road are rather mixed. There is one large older cottage halfway up on the left with whitewashed walls etc. which bears the name Parsonage Cottage, but most of the properties further up look to be rather later and are terraced cottages. There is one run of three-storey terraced cottages on the left which apparently were built for workers on the Ivybridge railway but were never used to house them. Next to them is a short terrace of two-storey terraced cottages. From an old photograph taken c. 1900 said to be of my great-great-great-uncle's birthplace, and with the aid of the 1881 and 1891 censuses, I was easily able to identify the end one nearest the village centre as being my Coaker family's home - this is identified in the 1891 census as being one of the Parsonage Cottages.

Looking at the 1851, 1881 and 1891 censuses, few of the properties in Ermington can be precisely identified. The censuses do not identify road names and house numbers. Instead, they seem to latch on to one identifiable property and use that to identify a block of adjoining ones. Hence, for example, the (now) clearly identifiable "Parsonage Cottage" seems to have given rise to naming all those beyond it up as far as the Post Office as "Parsonage Cottages" and the Post Office and the First and Last Inn, which are both single buildings, have given rise to naming the adjoining properties as "Post Office" and "First and Last Inn".

Town Hill leads up into the village square, which is more trapezoid than cuboid in shape. Coming from Town Hill, the Post Office lies round to the left, with a road leading up out of the village towards Whipple Hill. The Crooked Spire Inn (which was originally the New Inn) lies diagonally to the left, with a few cottages next to it. There is a sturdy stone built single building across the square, probably c. 1810-1820, next to a gate which leads across a field towards the church. To the right lie more cottages and the Old Inn House (possibly now a mechanic's garage). A road leads between these cottages and the single building down towards the church. The cottages down this road are again a mixture of later stone built properties and a few older properties. There is a high stone wall running down a fair part of the left had side, below the field leading to the church, although there is a small gap in this halfway down to allow for the site of the village war memorial. Just before this, on the right, set back from the road, is the village school - a fairly typical 1870/80s board school design, with more modern outbuildings and classrooms. Opposite the war memorial is Fawns Road, which leads back down to the main road and has semi-detached houses, probably 1950s Council housing or ex-Council stock, by the look of them. Beyond this, the cottages on the right seem a little older than some of the others, although there are a couple of late eighteenth century properties on the left. The road leads past the church and on to the First and Last Inn which is quite a reasonably sized property and looks as if it may well have been a coaching inn originally.

The road from the village square up towards Whipple Hill also has a mixture of properties. Those nearer the village appear to be newer - mid eighteenth century terraced (referred to as Budlake Cottages on the censuses), much of a period with the later properties on Town Hill. Further away from the square, however, there are a number of much older (early seventeenth century?) cottages with thatched roofs. This road also takes you past the old nineteenth-century Methodist chapel which appears to have been turned into a private house. A couple of notices forbidding parking have the addition of the words "by order of the Flete estate", suggesting that at least some of the open land and perhaps property in the village is still owned by the estate.

The church is fairly unique! The first thing you notice about it when you arrive in the village is the spire which, as reflected in the renaming of the New Inn, is crooked! Apparently the timber frame inside has warped and twisted. The second thing you notice when you arrive at the church is the steps up from the road. These are a later (sandstone?) addition with two opposing flights - one from the village direction and one from the First and Last Inn direction which meet on a central covered landing from which a single flight then goes up to meet the churchyard path. I've never come across such an entrance way before and it is difficult to date it.

The church and the churchyard were much bigger than I was expecting. The original parish of Ermington, before Ivybridge developed was big, and this is reflected here. The gravestones are well spaced however, and to a large extent are logically placed in rows, with most facing the same way, and some clear family groups (e.g. the Trenemans) placed together. They seem to be mostly slate and granite and certainly the slate ones have worn well, with inscriptions from the eighteenth century (and a few from the late seventeenth century) clearly decipherable on these. The wear and tear on the granite ones is more variable, although I was able to decipher all but the bottom line on the one which commemorates my great-great-great-great-grandparents (Joseph and Mary Ann Yeoman), buried in the 1850s-1870s. The graveyard itself lies on quite a slope, both behind and in front of the church (beware of hidden hollows and ricked ankles in the long grass!). At the back of the graveyard is a low wall with asmall grassed area behind it which has been used for some more recent burials. Next to this are allotments.

There is a porchway, which contains the head of an old weathered cross and some notice boards. There is then a double set of doors, with another set of doors immediately behind them into the church itself. Inside the church, there is a sense of height and airiness, with white walls and an embossed wooden ceiling. The church was substantially refurbished in the 1890s I believe, and the pews would appear to be from this date. To the left of the door as you enter is the font. This is a fairly substantial stone font. A stone cover which looks as if it is the original, rests on the floor and the font itself is now capped with an ornate wooden carved pinnacle cover, presumably late Victorian. Beyond this, towards the back of the church is a modern counter for serving refreshments and right at the back is a screened off gallery below the tower for the bell ringers. The nave is long, with two side aisles. The main central aisle has Victorian black and white tiles, but some of the original flagstones and tombstones appear to have been left in situ in parts of the side aisles. There are a number of wall memorials on both sides of the church. Towards the chancel, there is a vestry off to the left (filling the left transept), and then there are wooden screens either side of the chancel steps. The choir section of the chancel is quite long and wide and there is a brass Communion rail and an elaborate wood and marble altarpiece. To the right of the chancel is a side chapel with a small altarpiece and a stained glass window. Hanging from the ceiling here is a tattered military banner and two helmets (renaissance style?). I could find no explanation of what these were. In the right hand transept, there is another small altar and stained glass window and a number of wall memorials, predominantly commemorating the Bartlett family of Ludbrook Manor. On the corner going back into the nave is painted in black "Remember the poor 1680".

Having rung the previous week to check that the church would be open (fortunately they are able to keep it open during the day and do not yet feel the need to lock it), I had discovered that they now share a vicar with Ugborough parish but that they are currently "between vicars" (an inter-regnum). I was therefore put on to one of the churchwardens, who invited me to join the congregation for an evening Communion service on Maundy Thursday, which was taken by the newly-licensed chaplain from one of the Plymouth hospitals. It was quite an experience to be worshipping where my ancestors worshipped! It was a very small congregation (11 of us I think), but as I've never before been to a Maundy Thursday service for some reason, I presume this was to be expected. The service itself ended dramatically. After the final prayers, but with no blessing given, the church was systematically and symbolically stripped of all its finery - candlesticks, altar cloths, lectern bible etc. in preparation for Good Friday and then the lights were turned off (except the vestry one for safety I guess), so that we were kneeling there in almost complete darkness before leaving. Highly evocative! We then had to walk down through the churchyard path to the steps in the dark, although it was a clear night with plenty of stars giving us a little light - as well as the lights from the First and Last Inn!

Sheila Jones

April 2001