Newton Ferrers

Newton Ferrers as seen across Newton Creek from Noss Mayo

Newton Ferrers is a village in the civil parish of Newton and Noss^[1] in the English county of Devon,^[2] about 6 miles (10 km) south-east of Plymouth on the River Yealm estuary. It lies within the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The village has a population of 1,268 according to the 2011 Census. The electoral ward of Newton and Noss had a population of 1,814 at the 2011 census.^[3]

History

Newton Ferrers was recorded in the 1086 Domesday Book as Niwetone.^[4] The village was "given" to a Norman noble family "Ferrers" and the village became Newton Ferrers. It is the likely birthplace of the notorious 17th-century pirate Henry Every.^[5]

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution established a lifeboat station at the mouth of the Newton Creek in March 1878. A stone boat house was built and the boat was launched into the River Yealm using a slipway. The station was closed in 1927 by which time Plymouth Lifeboat Station had been equipped with a motor lifeboat which could cover the area more effectively. During its 49 years three different lifeboats operated from the 'Yealm River Lifeboat Station': Bowman (1878), Darling (1887) and Michael Smart (1904).^[6]

The art deco house Casa del Rio was built in 1936.

Churches

The church of Holy Cross in Newton Ferrers was re-built in 1260. It was less than half the size of the present building and in 1342 was enlarged by the then rector, Henry de Ferrers. It was restored by George Fellowes Prynne in 1885–6 and only the west tower and the north and south arcades remain of the medieval structure.^[7]

Across the creek, St. Peter's at Noss Mayo was built in 1877 by Edward Baring, the 1st Lord Revelstoke, and took over from the nearby Church of St Peter the Poor Fisherman, Revelstoke, built in 1226.^[8]

All three churches are ministered by Rev'd Jonathan Cruickshank.

Noss Voss at low tide

Today

The village's shops are on Newton Hill: there is a co-op; a Post Office selling fruit, veg, magazines and clothes; a pharmacy; a butcher who also sells cold meat and cheese; and an estate agent. There are no shops in Noss Mayo, but it has two pubs, The Swan and The Ship. Newton Ferrers has one pub, The Dolphin, and all three are on the waterfront.

During the summer, a river taxi will take passengers around the two villages and makes regular trips between Newton Ferrers Harbour, Warren Point (for access to Wembury and its beach) and Noss Mayo.

At low tide, two vosses appear.^[9] The Newton Voss crosses the Newton Creek between Riverside Road West below the Dolphin Inn to near the Swan Inn. The Noss Voss crosses the brook between the Swan Inn and the Ship Inn in Noss Mayo.

Sister city

Newton Ferrers has been twinned with :

• Trébeurden, France, since 2010

References

1. "Newton and Noss Parish Council". Retrieved 2009-09-09.
2. "Newton Ferrers & Noss Mayo". Retrieved 2009-09-09.
3. "Newton and Noss ward 2011.Retrieved 19 Feb 2015".
4. Watts, Victor (2010). The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-names (1st paperback ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 437. ISBN 978-0-521-16855-7.
5. Marley, David F. (2010). Pirates of the Americas. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. p. 589. ISBN 978-1-59884-201-2.
6. Leach, Nicholas (2009). Devon's Lifeboat Heritage. Chacewater: Twelveheads Press. p. 29. ISBN 978-0-906294-72-7.
7. Cherry, Bridget & Pevsner, Nikolaus (1989). The Buildings of England — Devon. Harmondsworth: Penguin. p. 595. ISBN 0-14-071050-7.
8. "A Brief History of Newton & Noss". Newton Ferrers & Noss Mayo. Retrieved 17 October 2010.
9. Vosses are "solid pathways across the estuary mud which are exposed and usable at low tides." – "Yealm Estuary Management Plan" (PDF). South Devon AONB. 1998. p. 38. Retrieved 27 October 2011.

Coordinates: 50°19′N 4°02′W / 50.317°N 4.033°W