Hawkridge

"HAWKRIDGE, a parish in the hundred of Williton, county Somerset, 4 miles N.W. of Dulverton, and 9 W. of South Molton. The village, which is very small and wholly agricultural, is situated on a hill above the small river Dun, which here divides Devonshire from Somerset. This stream joins the Barle, a little to the E. of the church at Castle Bridge, so named from its vicinity to the ruins of the baronial fortress called Monceaux Castle. The soil is generally poor, on a subsoil of rock iron and manganese. The crops are mostly oats and turnips. Until within the last few years, a large part of the parish consisted of oak copses, abounding in red deer, and of moorland, well stocked with game. The land is now generally enclosed, and the hills are grazed by sheep. The glebe consists of 630 acres of common, woods, and cultivated land. The living is a rectory* in the diocese of Bath and Wells, value with the curacy of Withypoole annexed, £405. The church, dedicated to St. Giles, is an ancient Norman structure, with a square tower. The charities produce £21 per annum. Near Castle Bridge is an old Roman encampment called Hawkridge Castle. The Earl of Carnarvon, Lord Portsmouth, and Sir Thomas Dyke Ackland, are the chief landowners. This is a meet for the Devon and Somerset hounds, and the Dulverton harriers." From The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) Transcribed by Colin Hinson © 2003