AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 7 



of the name Kingsbridge. The various theories respecting 

 it are too vague to be in any [way relied on, and it is 

 not likely we shall ever have much light thrown on the 

 subject. 



In Directories and Gazetteers you generally find Kings- 

 bridge and Dodbrooke mentioned as one town : they are, 

 in fact, only separated by a rivulet, which, however, is also 

 the dividing line between the Hundreds of Stan borough 

 and Coleridge, in which the parishes of Kingsbridge and 

 Dodbrooke are respectively situated. 



Hawkins stated that in 1791 the population of Kings- 

 bridge (without Dodbrooke) amounted to 972. At the 

 census of 1841 the numbers reported were... 1,561 



1851 1,679 



1861 1,585 



1871 1,557 



Emigration may, perhaps, partly account for a diminution, 

 but probably the chief cause is the absence of railway 

 communication. 



Risdon, who died in 164-0, says that "Kingsbridge was 

 long since the lands of the Earl of Devon, until by the 

 attainder of the Marquis of Exeter (the 3rd of December, 

 1531), it came to the Crown, and was purchased by Sir 

 William Petre, Knight, now the Lord Petre's inheritance." 

 Sir William Pole, who died in 1 635 or 6, also says, " Kinges- 

 bridge belonged unto therles of Devon, and after thattainder 

 of Henry Marques of Exceter, purchased by Sir William 

 Petre, and is nowe the Lord Petre's "; but it is stated 

 elsewhere that "this manor, and that of the adjoining 

 parish of Churchstow, belonged to the Abbey of Buckfast as 

 early as the year 1333. After the dissolution of monasteries, 

 they continued in the Crown till after the 4th and 5th Philip 



