Landkey

Landkey (Cornish: Lannke) is a small village in the county of Devon in the south-west of England with a population of 2274, falling to 1,734 at the 2011 census. It is situated 3 miles (4.8 km) from the nearest town of Barnstaple. The village is a major part of the electoral ward called Landkey, Swimbridge and Taw. The total ward population at the above census was 4,957.

It was formerly believed by certain locals that Landkey was founded by Sir Francis Drake in 1586 as a settlement to escape from the Spanish Armada. This supposition is now categorised as a 'mistruth legend'. It is now widely accepted that the name of the village, Landkey, is derived from the Llan of Kea, 'Llan' is the south-western Brythonic (and Welsh) for an area of ground around a church or chapel, which in this case was Saint Kea's hermitage. Kea and a brother Celtic monk, Filia, are known to have worked together in the evangelisation of these parts, probably in the late 5th century. The coming of the Saxons often caused the changing of Celtic church dedications to those of more universally accepted and known saints. However, place names are more difficult to change. Thus Saint Kea's name persists in the village name of 'Landkey' and some 6 milies away Filia's name is contained in the village of 'Filleigh'. Today, the dedication of both parish churches is to St. Paul.

Landkey church, dedicated to Saint Paul, is an attractive building, entirely late 15th century, except for the chancel which was rebuilt in 1870. The interior is plastered and whitened throughout, with ceiled and bossed roofs, and possesses an elegant early perpendicular font dating from c.1400. The North aisle contains three stone effigies of the Beaupels, who held the manor of Landkey under the Bishop of Exeter.

...
Wikipedia