Shirwell

The village lies about 3.5 miles north-east of the town of Barnstaple, to the east of the A39 road to Lynton.

An effigy in the chancel is said to be of Blanche St. Leger (d.1483) and above this is a monument to Lady Anne Chichester (d.

[4] The aviator and sailor Sir Francis Chichester, who was born in the village Rectory, is buried at the parish church.

The manor of Shirwell was the seat of two of the leading families of North Devon, the Beaumonts (to the end of the 15th century) and their heirs the Chichesters of Raleigh, Pilton, both of which families lived on the estate of Youlston within the Manor of Shirwell.

The manor house which survives today known as Youlston Park exists largely in its Georgian form, but it retains many impressive late 17th-century interiors; it is described in Pevsner as "one of the most rewarding in North Devon".