Kennford
Kennford maps (2 available)
Map of Devon
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
Personalised maps
Create an historic map centred directly on any postcode!
Kennford books (9 available)
Kennford memories
Read and share memories of Kennford and Devon inspired by Frith photos
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Devon memories
The Wakely Family
I was born in Lower Shillingford (Shillingford Abbot) in 1939. My grandparents lived in Rectory Cottage, Higher Shillingford (Shillingford St George). My grandfather was gardener at the vicarage. He was also the sexton at the church, gravedigger, bellringer and caretaker at the church.
At Christmas time we would walk from Lower Shillingford to Higher Shillingford to attend the midnight service at the church on Christmas Eve. My grandmother would not attend the service as she was stone deaf. She looked after my little brother instead while we were at the service. It was always bitterly cold and I remember starlit nights and chattering teeth. The church was warm and bright and full of holly and ivy that my grandfather had collected ...read more here
A memory of Shillingford St George contributed by Rosemary Morris
THe New Inn
My parents ran the New Inn (now The Nobody Inn) when my grandmother died, and we moved from Higher Ashton to take over the tenancy. The Pub was owned by the St Annes Well Brewery who operated from Exeter. Many memories flow from those days. School with Miss Mary Wippell Mallet who had the typical bun hairstyle, and lived with her sister in the school house just below the school. The school inspector?attendance officer called on a weekly basis, he was called Mr Bray, commonly known as "Donkey Bray", he used to drive in his black Austin 7. When Miss Mallet retired she and her sister went to live at Tedburn St Mary. She was replaced by a Miss Harper, a ...read more here
Cann Family History
My Great Great Grandfather was born William Honey Cann. Born: March 12, 1845 in Topsham, England son of John Cann and Jane (Hill) Cann. (William Married - Ann Pidgeon, from England also!). Looking for more information on Cemeteries in this area. John Cann was the son of Samuel Cann & Charity (Arscott) Cann. Looking for information on location of where they lived in Topsham, or worked.
A memory of Topsham contributed by Brenda Wise
Heather and Gorse Clog Dancers entertain at Chudleigh
Chudleigh hosts a wonderful Christmas late night shopping evening each year when the Christmas lights in Fore Street are switched on. The shops stay open until late evening and their windows twinkle with fairy lights and decorations. Shops, cafes and pubs are crowded and stay open late in the evening, and the place is transformed into a fairyland of old-fashioned entertainment and street traders.
The Heather and Gorse Clog Morris Dancers and went along to provide part of this entertainment and I played my piano accordian in the band and my wife Elizabeth was one of the team of dancers. We took our one-year old granddaughter Anna in a puchchair and made sure she was well wrapped up ...read more here
A memory of Chudleigh contributed by John Howard Norfolk
Extracts From Kennford & Devon books
This view was taken from the building at the very end of Morton Crescent. To the immediate left is the Imperial Hotel,
seen in its original architectural design, changed now after the fire in the 1970s.
An extract from from"Exmouth Photographic Memories".
By the middle of the 20th
century we see something
resembling the modern
scene. There is the more
familiar red telephone
box on the traffic island,
a modern post box, and
Belisha beacons to aid
pedestrians wishing to
cross the road. In the
centre of the photograph
is the white tower of the
Pavilion Theatre. Much of
the street furniture was
removed by the start of
the 21st century, leaving
a more traffic-dominated Esplanade.
An extract from from"Exmouth Photographic Memories".
The construction of a substantial
sea wall, seen here in section to the
right, led to Exmouth’s prosperity
as a seaside resort. Before the
wall was built, much of the sea
front was marshland and sand
dunes, and subjected to constant
flooding. The first section of the
wall was completed in 1842, paid
for by the local landowner John
Rolle. It was 1,900 feet long and
constructed from Devon limestone.
The designer was John Smeaton, a
veteran engineer and the designer
of London Bridge.
An extract from from"Exmouth Photographic Memories".
This fine view looks across the
clock tower and Morton Crescent
to the estuary of the River Exe, with
Starcross and the Haldon Hills in
the distance.
An extract from from"Exmouth Photographic Memories".
The wall was designed to deflect the waves that so often come up the English Channel from the south-west on stormy days.
This scene has changed little in fifty years, though now a shelter from the wind stands on the position of the nearest bench
in the photograph. It was donated by local resident William Frederick Stokes in 1964.
An extract from from"Exmouth Photographic Memories".