Bradninch in 1836
Bradninch, a borough between Collumpton and Exeter, is in Hayridge hundred. It had in 1831 a population of 1,524, more than half of which was agricultural. The market has been disused beyond the memory of those now living. The boundaries of the borough are identical with those of the parish, and include an area of 4,320 acres. The town consists principally of one street, extending for above half a mile along the Exeter and Collumpton road : the footpaths are paved. The quarter sessions, petty sessions (monthly), and court of record are kept up. There is a guild-hall with a small gaol under it, which has been lately re-built. The church is near the middle of the town, and has a rich screen across the nave and aisles. The living is a perpetual curacy of the yearly value of £102, with a glebe house in the gift of the Dean and Chapter of Windsor. There is a Baptist meeting-house, with which a Sunday-school is connected. There were in 1833 three day-schools and one boarding-school at Bradninch, containing sixty or eighty children.
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