Petrockstowe
| Petrockstowe | |
|---|---|
 Cott Lane, Petrockstowe |
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 Petrockstowe
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| Petrockstowe shown within Devon | |
| OS grid reference | SS513091 |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | OKEHAMPTON |
| Postcode district | EX20 |
| Dialling code | 01837 |
| Police | Devon and Cornwall |
| Fire | Devon and Somerset |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| EU Parliament | South West England |
| UK Parliament | |
Petrockstowe (or Petrockstow) is a small village and civil parish in the district of Torridge in Northern Devon, England. Its population in 2001 was 379, hardly different from the figure of 385 recorded in 1901. The southern boundary of the parish lies on the River Torridge, and it is surrounded, clockwise from the north, by the parishes of Peters Marland, Merton, Huish, Meeth, Highampton and Buckland Filleigh.
The village lies about four miles NNW of the town of Hatherleigh and is some two miles west of the A386 road, accessible only by minor roads.
The place was called Petrocestoua in the Domesday Book in 1086, in 1150 Petrochestona, and in 1202 Petroc. By 1272 it was called Patrichestowe and Petrokestowe in 1297. In 1535 it was called Stowe S"e'i Petroci. All the names mean St Petroc's place, for the patron saint Petroc. Stowe means "place of burial or the shrine of relics of the saint". By 1910, it was also called Padstow.
The village is referred to by both spellings of Petrockstowe or Petrockstow, with two of the signs entering the village reading Petrockstowe and two reading Petrockstow.
There are Bronze Age burial mounds just outside the village, but the first documentary mention of the place is in the Domesday Book. St. Mary's Abbey of Buckfast was the lord in 1066 and 1086 and tenant-in-chief in 1086. Nearby places include: Allisland, Heanton, Hele, Little Marland and Varleys. Sometime after 1086, Petrockstowe was owned by someone other than the abbey. In the 12th century, Robert Warelwast, Bishop of Exeter, restored the manors of Petrockstowe and Ash, also in Petrockstowe, to Buckfast Abbey. It was also owned by the abbey during the reign of Edward I (1272-1307). Author Karen Jankulak, states that the name of the village, Petrockstowe, "suggests a pre-Norman cult of St Petroc (although probably after the ninth century)" and "undoubtedly" by 1177, at the time of the theft of Petroc's relics. Buckfast Abbey "possessed the advowson" which gave them the right to nominate the parish priest. Its abbeys were supported by income producing property and tithes, temporalities and spiritualities.
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Wikipedia