IVYBRIDGE is a small market town and civil parish, formed in 1894 under the provisions of the “Local Government Act” (57 and 58 Vict. c. 73, section 1, sub-section 3), from the parishes of Ermington, Corn-wood, Harford and Ugborough; it is on the river Erme, which is here crossed by three stone bridges, with a station half a mile north on the South Devon section of the Great Western railway, and is 12 miles south-west from Totnes, 10 ½ east-by-north from Plymouth, 34 south-south-west from Exeter and 235 from London, in the Southern division of the county, Ermington and Plympton petty sessional division, Plympton St. Mary union, East Stonehouse county court district, rural deanery of Plympton, archdeaconry of Totnes and diocese of Exeter.

The town is governed by an Urban District Council of 11 members, constituted under the previously-mentioned Act, which takes the place of a Local Board, established under the Act of 1858; it is lighted with oil lamps and contains many good houses and shops. The temperature is mild and the surrounding scenery very beautiful, with the adjuncts of wood and water, and is much frequented by tourists. The ecclesiastical parish was formed in 1835. The church of St. John, erected in 1882, at a cost of £4,000, and constituted the parish church by instrument, dated January 9, 1883, is a building of stone in the Perpendicular style, consisting of chancel, nave aisles and south porch: the piers of the arcades are of polished marble: during the years 1891—2 the church was redecorated throughout, the cost being defrayed from subscriptions and other sources: there are 500 sittings. The ivy-covered tower of the old church, erected towards the end of the last century, is still standing. The register dates from the year 1835. The living is a vicarage, net yearly value £150, with residence, in the gift of Lady Blachford, and held since 1872 by the Rev. George William Anstiss B.A. of the University of London, and chaplain of Plymouth Borough Asylum. Here is a Congregational chapel, erected in 1869, with Sunday schools attached. The Wesleyan Methodist chapel, in Fore street, erected in 1875, at a cost of £6,000, given by John Allen and Sons, is a building of stone in the Gothic style: the old chapel, erected in 1860, is now used as a Sunday school. The cemetery, opened in June, 1887, comprises 1 ½ acres, purchased at a cost of £1,300, and is divided into consecrated and unconsecrated portions, with a mortuary chapel in each portion; it is under the management of the Urban District Council. There is a Reading Room with library, supported by voluntary contributions. The Masonic Hall is in Chapel place. The large paper mills of Messrs. John Allen and Sons, who manufacture the finest qualities of note paper, employ over 200 persons. Francis Holman and Son also have a paper mill here, and there is a tannery and a flour mill. There are two good hotels; Millbourn’s London hotel, which has a large concert room and private gardens, is a favourite resort of visitors and tourists. The early closing day is on Wednesday. The Misses Deare, of Blachford, are ladies of the manor and owners of all the Ermington and Cornwood portions of the land, the remainder being generally freehold and belonging to various gentlemen. The soil is light; subsoil, principally clay. The parish contains 500 acres; rateable value, £8,235; the population in 1891 of the Urban District and civil parish was 1,782, and of the ecclesiastical parish, 1,881, and of the Urban District in 1901, 1,575.

WOODLAND, half a mile north-west.

Petty Sessions are held alternate Mondays, market days & bank holidays excepted, when they are held on the Tuesday, at the Sessions houses at Yealmpton, Ridgeway, Modbury, & the London hotel, Ivybridge. The following places are included in the petty sessional division:-Aveton Gifford, Bigbury, Brixton, Cornwood, Ermington, Harford, Holbeton, Ivybridge, Kingston, Modbury, Newton Ferrers, Plympton St. Mary, Plympton Maurice, Plymstock, Revelstoke, Ringmore, Ugborough, Wembury & Yealmpton.

PLYMOUTH VOLUNTEER INFANTRY BRIGADE

Head-quarters of brigade, Ivybridge.

Composed of:

1st (Exeter & South Devon) Vol. Batt. Devonsh. Reg. Exeter.

2nd (Prince of Wales’s) Vol. Batt. Devonsh. Reg. Plymouth.

3rd Vol. Batt. Devonsh. Reg. Exeter.

4th Vol. Batt. Devonsh. Reg. Barnstaple.

5th (The Hay Tor) Vol. Batt. Devonsh. Reg. Newton Abbot.

1st Vol. Batt. Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry, Falmouth.

2nd Vol. Batt. Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry Reg. Bodmin.

PLACES OF WORSHIP, with times of services

St. John’s Church, Rev. George William Anstiss B.A. vicar; 11 a.m.. & 6.30 p.m.; Wed. & Fri. 7.30 p.m.

Baptist, 6.30 p.m.

Congregational, Rev. William James Craig F.R.G.S.; 11 a.m.. & 6.30 p.m.; Wed. 7.30 p.m.

Wesleyan Methodist (Plymouth-Ebenezer Circuit), Rev. Geo. W. Wiles; 11 a.m.. & 6.30 p.m.; Thur. 7.15 p.m.

SCHOOLS

A School Board of 5 members was formed July 20, 1895; John Ashford, 12 Russell buildings, Plymouth, clerk to the board; John A. Brown, school attendance officer.

Board (mixed & infants), built in 1850, for 321 children; average attendance, 169 boys & girls & 109 infants.

Lady Rogers’ School, transferred from Plymouth to a pleasant position on an eminence overlooking the valley of the Erme, is a substantial building of granite, erected in 1887 at a cost of £3,700; it was founded late in the last century by Dame Hannah Rogers, for the gratuitous maintenance of poor children born or resident in Devon & Cornwall; the school is under the control of trustees & is managed under the provisions of a scheme framed by the Charity Commissioners; about 50 girls, chiefly orphans, are gratuitously supported with a view to domestic service & the school is open to additional children oh payment of £10 yearly.