CLOVELLY

One rate survives for this North Devon coastal parish located eleven miles west of Bideford and five miles from the Cornish border. Clovelly Court was the residence of the Cary family who built the pier in the 1580s, the decade in which herring returned to the North Devon shore. Presumably the profits of that fishery are reflected in the assessments. The village is the most distinctive in Devon with its houses straddling the single street which leads from the harbour to the top of the cliff. In this it was similar to two other Devon's ports. Place names reflect this: Brixham has ‘Cowtown’ (Upper Brixham) and ‘Fishtown’ (Lower Brixham), Dartmouth has had ‘Above Town’ since at least the sixteenth century and Clovelly has ‘Upalong’ and ‘Downalong’. Clovelly, unlike its counterparts, did not have as substantial expansion as Dartmouth or Brixham and in consequence is more similar in size to its state from 1500 to 1650: the population stood at about 252 people in 1642 whereas there were 443 resident in 2011. Seventy-seven individuals contributed to the rate in 1613.

28. CLOVELLY, Eight Men Rate, 1613

DHC, Diocese of Exeter, Principal Registry, Clovelly Church Rates, 1613

Note: This rate, a working copy, was written on a sheet of paper which has been folded in half to make up four pages each of which measure approximately 8 inches in width and 12 inches in length. It was endorsed ‘Clovelly Rate’ and made by the Eight Men although only seven signed the document. The numerals are Roman with the exception of the year and document sequence number. The rate may have been intended to maintain the church but its purpose was not specified on the document.

Clovellye 103

A rate made by the Eight men of the prshe of Clovelly the 17th Daye of Januarie in the year of our Lord 1612 [1613]

[page 2] 1612.