Manaton is a Dartmoor parish approximately 24km (15m) west south west of Exeter in  Devon, England and it is where my early ancestors lived. It has been the home of  Nosworthys down the ages and the epicenter of my forbearers. Manaton is a delight to   explore because it is adjacent to so many Dartmoor features. Grimspond lies within  its parish boundary, Bowman's Nose, Becky Falls and most of all Kitty Jay's grave.  Here indeed is a land of plenty and yet it is called a wilderness, but all round its  uplands there are villages of antiquity and beauty.
   Many ancient homesteads sheltered the Nosworthy family of Manaton down through the  ages, a number of these are, Neadon, Leighon, Canna, Torhill, Cripdon, Ford, Greator,  Holwell, Heathercombe, Easdon, Vogewell, Horsham, Beckhams, Foxworthy, Little Silver  and more. A sprinkling of Nosworthys were to be found in adjoining parishes and  beyond, such as, North Bovey, Moretonhampstead, Lustleigh, Ilsington, Bovey Tracey,  Buckland-in-the-Moor, Widecombe-in-the-Moor, and further afield in Exeter.    Because the lives of our 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th, century family revolved mainly  around the Church it should be mentioned the one with which they were most concerned.  Manaton is described as being a village so scattered that it seems a long way from  its granite church. The parish extends far into the Moor. The church, St. Winifred's  is an old stone building in the early English Style (15th century). It has four  bells, three older than the present church - cast circa 1440, and a Norman font. A  noticeable feature is its early sixteenth - century rood screen; its eleven bays  extending across nave and aisles contains such interesting detail. Surely our people  must have sat, Sunday after Sunday down the centuries, and admired it. Fresher than  it is today, but it did suffer at the hands of Cromwell's man during the Civil War.  When his army defeated the royalists at Exeter in 1646, small bands wandered around  cleaning up opposition and in so doing vandalised the carved saints of the screen  doorway by hacking off their heads and causing some damage to the painted screen  panels.  Sadly, the church itself was severely damaged by lightning in  1779. A terrible thunderstorm and lightening fell on the church (see details in  Stories). The Yew tree on the right of the lych-gate is 300 years old, and just  think how many Nosworthys must have passed under the lych-gate on their way into  church, and on a sadder note, to their graves, for the church yard is full of their head stones and monuments. None perhaps of any particular merit, but they join the names of Pethybridge, Harvey, Heyward, Ellis, French and more.
   The continual occupation of four farms stand out among all others, namely Leighon  1603-1855, Torhill 1600-1870, Neadon 1606-1890, Foxworthy 1616-1870 all owned by  Nosworthys down the years. Probably there would have been as many as ten Nosworthy  familys residing in Manaton in the 1700s and early 1800s at the one time. With the  advent of railway and fast transport they have dispersed far and wide, to U.S.A.,  Canada and Australia and so you would be hard pressed to find a single Nosworthy in  the parish today.

I am very happy and willing to discuss, share and provide information on a reciprocal basis to  anyone, but only if you have a Nosworthy connection or a positive interest in the Nosworthy name  and as long as it is understood that there could be some errors. Even though I have done  everything possible to check my sources and verify the data contained therein, I cannot guarantee  that it 
 is completely free from error. If in my information you see something that needs to be corrected  or if you would like to add any information, please contact me. Information is constantly being  added and updated.