Heanton Punchardon, Devon

Description
Heanton Punchardon, a village and a parish in Devonshire. The village stands near the mouth of the river Taw, 4 1/2 miles NNW of Barnstaple, with a station at Wrafton on the G.W.R. It has a post office under Barnstaple; money order and telegraph office, Braunton. The parish contains also the hamlets of Chivenor, Wrafton, and West Ashford. Area, 2442 acres; population, 449. Robert de Pnn-charden, who came over with William the Conqueror, received the manor of Heanton at the hands of Baldwin the Sheriff. Robert's descendants were lords of Heaton Punchardon till the end of the 13th century, when Joan, the heiress, married a Barrett, whose descendants were possessed of Heanton Manor down to recent times. The Williams family are lords of the manor. Heanton Court was formerly the seat of the Punchardon family, and is now a farmhouse. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Exeter; gross value, £370 with residence. The church is Early English, and good; comprises nave, aisle, and chancel, with a lofty tower; and has a handsome carved screen and a fine canopied tomb of one of the Coffin family. The building was well restored in 1889.