Honiton consists principally of one long street, running east and west, well paved with broad flag-stones, and a stream of fine clear water runs through the town, with dipping-places at every door. The middle of the street was too long encumbered with shambles for the sale of meat and vegetables.

The parish church being so inconveniently situated, in 1743, a plain handsome stone edifice was built as a chapel of ease, and besides this there are two Dissenting meeting-houses. A charity-school was opened here in 1713; and a small hospital stands upon the Exeter road, about a quarter of a mile from the town, which with a chapel, was founded and endowed for four lepers, by one Thomas Chard, an abbot. By a regulation made in 1642, other poor persons, as well as lepers, were admitted.

Honiton has suffered considerably by fires; in 1747 three-fourths of the town were consumed. In 1765 and 1797 also terrible fires took place: hence several substantial houses erected by the Phoenix Fire-office add to the beauty of the town, and prove the utility of such establishments.

The principal inns are the Dolphin, and the Golden Lion.

As before observed, a town situated in a delightful vale, upon a rising ground, on the south side of the river Otter, 151 miles from London. This is an ancient place, belonging, before the Conquest, to Drogo, a Saxon, and then given by William to his half-brother, the Earl of Mortaigne. In the reign of Henry the First, the manor was granted to Richard de Rivers, from whom it descended to the Courtenays, Earls of Devon, and is now the property of James Townshend, Esq.

The market is on Saturday, and has been held ever since the reign of King John, who appointed this day instead of Sunday, on which it was anciently kept.

It is said the first manufactory for making serges in Devonshire, was established in Honiton; but at present the principal manufacture of the town is lace; very large quantities of which are disposed of in the metropolis, from one shilling a yard to five guineas and upwards.

The municipal government of the town is vested in a portreeve and bailiff, who are chosen annually at the court of the lord of the manor.

The list of burgesses for this town begins in the 28th of Edward I., and is continued but once more in the reign of Edward III.; there are no more returns until 16th Charles I.; from this time the representation has been uninterrupted. The right of election is in the burgage-holders, paying scot and lot only, to the number of about 350.

HONITON is a municipal borough, parish, head of a petty sessional division, union and county court district, on the old Road from Exeter to London, having a station on the main line of the London and South Western railway, and is 11 miles south-east from Cullompton, 16 south-east from Tiverton, 22 east from Crediton, 160 from London by road, 156 by rail, 9 north-east from Sidmouth and 16 east-by-north from the city of Exeter, in the Eastern division of the county, hundred of Ax-minster, rural deanery of Dunkeswell and Honiton, and archdeaconry and diocese of Exeter. The parish and borough are co-extensive; the town consists chiefly of one broad street, about three-quarters of a mile in length, and is well-paved and lighted, abundantly supplied with water and has many good inns and two hotels.

Honiton stands in the valley of the Otter, which river passes the town about half a mile to the north and is celebrated for its trout.

A stream conveyed in an iron trough, with dipping places at every few yards, runs through the town and adds much to the health and cleanliness of the place.

The town was incorporated in 1846. The corporation consists of a mayor, six aldermen and 18 councilmen. The mayor and ex-mayor are magistrates for the borough, which is divided into wards, St. Michael’s and St. Paul’s. There are two borough seals; the earlier bears a representation of the baptism of Our Lord, within a legend; the modern seal dates from 1846. The mayor wears a robe of scarlet cloth, edged with fur.

The borough formerly returned two members to Parliament, but was disfranchised as a borough by the Representation of the People Act (Scotland), 1868 (31 and 32 Vict. c. 48).

St. Paul’s church, which is in the middle of the town, was made the parish church under an Act of Parliament passed in 1835, and is a spacious structure of flint and stone, 132 feet long by 58 wide, in the Romanesque style, consisting of apsidal chancel, nave and a tower on the south side, 104 feet high, with pinnacles, and containing a clock and chimes, formerly in All-Hallows chapel: the church was finished and consecrated in 1838, at a cost, exclusive of £2,400 paid for old buildings and land, of about £7,600, and was reconstructed in 1849, at an expense of £1,000: the altar-piece, representing the Entombment, was painted and presented by William Salter R.A. the painter of the well-known “Waterloo Banquet,” and a native of Honiton: a reredos of Devon and other marbles by Hems and Sons, of Exeter, was erected in 1893 as a memorial to Mr. Mules: there are 1,100 sittings. The register dates from the year 1598. The living is a rectory, net yearly value £701, including 87 acres of glebe, with an ancient residence, in a picturesque and secluded locality, and now used as a farmhouse; the present rectory house is at the west end of the High street. The living is in the gift of the Earl of Devon, and held since 1895 by the Rev. Hugh John Fortescue M.A. of Magdalene College, Cambridge.

The church of St. Michael, formerly the parish church, but now a chapel of ease to St. Paul’s, and inconveniently situated on a hill, about half a mile south of the town, is a building in the Perpendicular style, largely rebuilt towards the close of the 15th century by Peter de Courtenay, successively Bishop of Exeter and Winchester, who died in 1491; it consists of chancel with aisles, nave, aisles, south porch and an, embattled tower on the north side, containing 5 bells: in a window in the south transept are the impaled arms of the prelate's father and mother; the Courtenay shield also appears on the capitals of the piers and on some of the arches: the superb rood and chancel screens, also the work of Bishop Courtenay, are elaborately wrought with strings of foliage, finely carved, and shields a bouche, and were restored in 1880, by Hems, of Exeter, under the direction of the late Mr. E. Ashworth, architect: the rood screen. 46 feet in length, consists of 11 large and 2 small bays, and has three double doors: the arcades dividing the chancel and aisles were erected in the reign of Henry VII. by John Takel, a lawyer, and on the capitals of the piers are scrolls bearing the legend “Pray for ye soull of John Takell & Jone bvs wyffe,” and shields, with the monogram “J. T.” in the north chancel aisle is an ancient altar, and on the floor in front of it a large stone, with inscription in Latin to Joan Takel, widow, ob. 21 July, 1529: another slab is inscribed to John Rigge, a former rector, and treasurer of Crediton, ob. 1459: the bosses of the roof of the north aisle display the Bourchier knot; and amongst other ancient monuments is one of black marble to Thomas Marwood, ob. 18 Sept. 1617, Queen Elizabeth’s physician, and builder of Marwood House, at the upper end of the town: the font, of alabaster and marble, was erected in memory of Mr. Archibald Stamp, the lectern is a memorial to the Rev. W. Jones: there are memorial windows to the Rev. James and Mr. and Mrs. Glanvile Avery, and to Dr. Jerrard. The church was restored in 1896 at a cost of about £800, when the galleries were removed and the interior reseated: there are 200 sittings.

The Baptist chapel, in High street, founded in 1812, is an edifice of stone, seating 350 persons. The Congregational chapel, High street, with minister’s residence attached, is endowed with £5 yearly, and has sittings for 500 persons.

The Wesleyan chapel, New street, is an edifice of stone in the Gothic style, with sittings for 250 persons.

The County Police Station, in High street, has apartments for resident officers and also a magistrates’ meeting room and 3 cells.

The Market House, for the sale of corn, cheese, butter and poultry, in the centre of the town, was built about 1820, by the late Paving Trust Commissioners, at a cost of above £2,000. The great market is held on Saturdays and is well supplied with cattle and all sorts of provisions; and great quantities of butter are sent weekly to London; in the upper story is an assembly room, 40 feet long by 28 feet wide, available for public meetings, with entrances from the Market House and the Dolphin hotel, and holding 300 persons.

Two large markets are held annually, for cattle, on the second Saturday in April and on the Saturday before the 18th of October. The fair is held on the Wednesday and Thursday following the 19th of July, for cattle and horses. Early closing day is Thursday. A poultry show is also held. A bronze fountain, erected in New street, in memory of the late Samuel Devenish esq. of this town, by his fellow townsmen, has been removed to High street.

The depressed state of the Honiton lace manufacture Las injuriously affected this town and the neighbouring districts of Ottery St. Mary and Otterton, Sidmouth and Sidbury, Beer and Branscombe, Colyton, Exmouth, Woodbury and Budleigh. It is estimated by Messrs. Treadwin, of Exeter, and Mrs. Fowler, of Honiton, two of the principal dealers in Honiton lace, that about 1870 over 2,000 women and children were employed in this industry, whereas now there are not 500 lace makers in all the above districts and they are all women over 25 years, no children having been taught the art for the last 12 years; of these 500, only about 250 are now actually employed-i.e. 70 in Honiton, 60 in Beer, 40 in Branscombe, 40 in Sidbury and Sidmouth and some 20 each in Exmouth, Woodbury and Colyton. The earnings of these lace makers vary from 5s. to 12s. weekly. In addition to the actual makers of the lace, there are in Honiton, Exmouth, Beer and Otterton some 30 or 40 “guipurers,” i.e. women who piece together small sprigs, being employed for that purpose by the dealers. In July, 1888, Mr. Alan Cole, of the South Kensington Museum, made a report, after visiting the district for the Home Office, on the condition and prospects of the Honiton lace industry. He attributed its decline mainly to the operation of the Compulsory Education Act of 1870 and the consequent closing of the lace schools, and partly to the cheap imitation of Honiton lace made by machinery at Nottingham, and suggested, as remedies, that lace making should be sanctioned by the Education Department as part of the regular course of instruction for girls in Elementary Board Schools in this district, and that grants of money and prizes should be given by the Science and Art Department to encourage proficiency in lace making. Mrs. Fowler has established a lace school for young girls, and 64 are now under instruction; the principal feature is the revival of the old net grounding, which had become almost a lost art. There is a brewery and a malthouse, an iron foundry, three flour mills, a tannery, a butter factory and a saw mill. Bricks, tiles and brown pottery ware were also made in the locality.

The Honiton Literary Institution has a very good library of 2,000 volumes of standard works of all kinds, and a constant supply of new books is obtained from Mudie’s Library in London for the use of subscribers. The reading room is open from 9 a.m.. to 10 p.m. every day except Sundays, and is well supplied with the principal daily and weekly papers and magazines. There are about 30 members.

The Dispensary, in High street, established in 1820, is now conducted on the provident system.

St. Margaret’s Almshouses, on the Exeter Road, originally founded in the 14th century as a hospital for lepers, was refounded by Thomas Chard, last abbot of Ford (1520—39), who was born at Tracey, in the parish of Awliscombe, near here, about 1470; he rebuilt the chapel of the hospital and is said to have been interred within it; the existing houses are inhabited by nine aged persons, who have weekly allowances, averaging about 2S. 6d. with a small donation at Christmas, one inmate holding the office of governor; the charity is under the management of the rector, churchwardens and overseers, and is endowed with 18a. 2r. 7p. of land, let for about £80 a year. Other charities, amounting to about £350 yearly, are under the management of trustees elected for the purpose.

On Honiton Hill, about 2 miles from the town, is a tower about 80 feet high, erected by the late Dr. Copleston, Lord Bishop of Llandaff (1828—49), and now the property of Charles Every Cox esq. from which a beautiful and extensive view embracing the adjacent coast may be obtained. Richard Marker esq. J.P. of Combe, who is lord of the manor, and Miss Outhwaite, of Rougemont, Exeter, are the principal landowners.

The acreage is 3,134; rateable value, £12,966; the population in 1901 was 3,271, viz.:-St. Michael’s ward, 1,603 and St. Paul’s ward, 1,668.

Petty Sessions are held at the petty sessional room on the first Wednesday of every month at 11 a.m.. The following places are included in the petty sessional division: Awliscombe, Branscombe, Buckerell, Combe Raleigh, Cotleigh, Dunkeswell, Farway, Feniton, Gittisham, Honiton, Luppitt, Monkton, Northleigh, Offwell, Sheldon, Southleigh, Up Ottery, Widworthy, Yarcombe.

VOLUNTEERS

3rd Volunteer Battalion Devonshire Regiment (D Co.), Armoury, High street; Drill hall, Dowell street; Capt. Herbert H. Lilley; Sergeant Charles King, drill instructor; Cycle Co. Capt. W. C. Vallance.

HONITON UNION

Board days, alternate Saturdays at 11 a.m.. at the Workhouse.

The Union comprises the following parishes:-Awliscombe, Branscombe, Broadhembury, Buckerell, Combe Raleigh, Cotleigh, Dunkeswell, Farway, Feniton, Gittisham, Harpford, Honiton, Luppitt, Monkton, Northleigh, Offwell, Ottery St. Mary, Payhembury, Plymtree, Salcombe Regis, Sheldon, Sidbury, Sidmouth, Southleigh, Talaton, Up-Ottery, Venn-Ottery, Widworthy & Yarcombe. The population in 1901 was 20,285; area, 87,759 acres; rateable value in 1901, £129,914.

The Workhouse, built in 1836, at the cost of £5,322, is a structure of stone, & will hold about 250 intimates.

PLACES OF WORSHIP, with times of Services

St. Paul’s Church, Rev. Hugh John Fortescue M.A. rector; Rev. Thomas Burditt Panther M.A. curate; 8, 10.45 a.m.. & 2.45 & 6 30 p.m.; Wed. & Fri. 11 a.m..; Mon. Tue. Thur. & Sat. 10 a.m..; daily, 5 p.m.

St. Michael’s; Sun. 8 & 11 a.m.. & 6.30 p.m.; served by the clergy of St. Paul’s.

Baptist, High street, Rev. Lewis T. Harry B.A. St. Andrew's; 11 a.m.. & 6.30 p.m.; Mon. 8 p.m.

Congregational, High street, Rev. E. Chesher; 11 a.m.. & 6.30 p.m.; Wed. 8 p.m.

Wesleyan Methodist, New street; 11 a.m.. & 6.30 p.m.; Tue. 7.30 p.m.

SCHOOLS

Allhallows Grammar, High street, founded in 1614, & endowed with a house for the master & a small annuity of £10: four free scholars are appointed by the rector & churchwardens: the course of education is preparatory to the public schools, the learned professions & the universities: at the present time there are about 60 boarders & 25 day boys: the terms for boarders vary from 45 to 56 guineas inclusive, according to age: scholars of this school are eligible for election to the Stapledon scholarships at Exeter College, Oxford: about 1893 the premises were enlarged by the erection of a school hall, 60 feet by 30, containing a handsome stained window, placed in memory of Dr. J. F. Mackarness, late bishop of Oxford(1870—88), rector of Honiton (1855—69) & some time headmaster of the school: the Feoffees of the Honiton Charities also made a grant of £80 for the erection of a class-room: the Rev. Richard Augustus Byrde M.A. of Queen’s College, Oxford, headmaster.

National, King street, built in 1861, for 400, & since enlarged for 492 children; average attendance, 144 boys, 130 girls & 150 infants.