Honeychurch, Devon

{{Short description|Village in Devon, England}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}

{{Use British English|date=June 2025}}

{{For|people with the surname|Honeychurch (surname)}}

{{Infobox UK place

|country = England

|static_image_name=Sampford Courtenay, Honeychurch - geograph.org.uk - 335875.jpg

|static_image_caption=Church of St Mary, Honeychurch

|official_name= Honeychurch

|coordinates = {{coord|50.808424|-3.947282|display=inline,title}}

|population =

|population_ref =

|civil_parish=Sampford Courtenay

|shire_district= West Devon

|shire_county= Devon

|region= South West England

|constituency_westminster= England

|post_town = North Tawton

|postcode_area = EX

|postcode_district = EX20

|dial_code =

|os_grid_reference= SS629028

}}

Honeychurch is a village and former civil parish now in the parish of Sampford Courtenay, in the West Devon district of the English county of Devon. It was originally an ancient parish in the Black Torrington hundred of northwest Devon.{{cite book|last=Youngs|first=Frederic|title=Local Administrative Units: Southern England|publisher=Royal Historical Society|year=1979|location=London|pages=87}}

With about thirty inhabitants in 1066, the village is mentioned in the Domesday Book as "Honechercha". The description mentions five farms, which are still in operation in the 21st century.{{cite book|last=Aslet|first=Clive|author-link=Clive Aslet|url=https://archive.org/details/villagesofbritai0000asle/page/48/|title=Villages of Britain: The Five Hundred Villages that Made the Countryside|date=2010|page=48|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-0-7475-8872-6}} In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Honeychurch in the following:[https://visionofbritain.org.uk/place/20954 History of Honeychurch in West Devon] A Vision of Britain through Time {{Cquote|"HONEY-CHURCH, a parish in Okehampton district, Devon; near the river Taw, 2 miles WNW of North Tawton r. station, and 5½ ESE of Hatherleigh. Posttown, North Tawton, North Devon. Acres, 607. Real property, £497. Pop., 44. Houses, 9. The property is subdivided; and the manor belongs to the Earl of Portsmouth. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Exeter. Value, £93. Patron, the Rev. Dr. Brailsford. The church is old, and has a tower."}}

On 31 December 1894 the parish was abolished and merged with Sampford Courtenay.{{cite web|url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10022885|title=Relationships and changes Honeychurch AP/CP through time|publisher=A Vision of Britain through Time|accessdate=31 March 2023}} By 1894 there were only 8 houses.[https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10022885 Honeychurch AP/CP through time] A Vision of Britain through Time The parish had 66 inhabitants in 1801, 69 in 1848,S. Lewis, [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51041#s10 A Topographical Dictionary of England] (1848) 35 in 1891, and 44 in 1901.[https://web.archive.org/web/20131110225647/http://www.devon.gov.uk/historichoneychurch Devon County Council: Honeychurch]

The 12th-century church, dedicated to Mary, is largely in its original state, save for the addition of the 15th-century three-bell tower and 16th-century portico in the south facade. The name of the village refers to the previous building on this site, "Huna's church", founded in the 10th century by the Saxon landowner Huna.W.G. Hoskins, D. Hey, [https://books.google.com/books?id=3omrAgAAQBAJ&dq=honeychurch&pg=PA57 Local History in England] (2014)