Sticklepath is a typical one-street Devon village on the Northern edge of Dartmoor, lying about 20 miles West of Exeter and 3-4 miles East of Okehampton along the old A30. The Quaker Burying Ground is located in the middle of this historic village, tucked away in a peaceful setting close to the banks of the tumbling Taw river, behind the Finch Foundry, a National Trust property.

It is believed that at one time up to 200 Quakers lived in Sticklepath. The land was likely purchased in the early 1700’s, as the first to. be interred was Benjamin Bellamy in 1713. No headstones or memorials were erected, but the burials were recorded in their Quarterly Meeting Register.

The Quaker influence in Sticklepath lasted for about 100 years until the full impact of John Wesley and Methodism. Wesley passed through the village on his way to preaching missions in Cornwall and on one occasion in 1743 was stopped by one of the Sticklepath Quakers and invited to stay for a while. Wesley’s journals record that he stopped here several times to speak to the villagers. White rock on the Mount overlooking Sticklepath, said to be where he preached, close to the steep path or road that gave Sticklepath its name, is still visible today.

Mr Cross, a Quaker from Exeter, purchased the cemetery site when adjoining property was sold, to prevent it from being used for other purposes. Around 1826-28 negotiations were opened with Mr Cross to purchase the ground for the villagers, but before completion Mr Cross unfortunately died. Since his young sons inherited the ground, the villagers had to wait until they came of age to complete the purchase.

In 1836 a proposal was made that the villagers join together to purchase the site. In the end Mr Thomas Pearse, a sergemaker of Skaigh Mill, paid £14 for the ground and since no villagers would join him, he appointed 8 of his relations as trustees, with himself as treasurer. The burying ground therefore became non-denominational and was for the use of the villagers. Employees at Skaigh Mill did not have to pay any burial fees.

In the 1830s or 1840s, Thomas Pearse erected a stone in the burying ground with the inscription celebrating the Quaker heritage and friendship with the Wesleys. It cost £2 and 10 shillings. Mr Pearse performed many of the burial ceremonies, including that of John Langmead the last Sticklepath Quaker in 1818. He was himself buried in the graveyard in 1875 aged 81 years, alongside many of his family members. His nephew Thomas Trethewy, Wesleyan minister, took the ceremony and is the next gravestone along. This tells us Trethewy’s grandfather was one of the preachers commissioned by Wesley himself.

By 1890 more space was needed for graves and a piece of the adjacent old bowling green was added. At the end of the last century a further plot of land was donated by the Finch Foundry.

In 1937 the trustees handed over the administration of the ground to a new trust with members of the Pearse family continuing to serve. A new committee was formed in 1946 to administer the trust and register it with The Charity Commission. A small committee of villagers continues to manage the graveyard and whilst most of the maintenance is through voluntary work, bequests and donations are always welcome. email [email protected] for further details.


The original burial register was copied many years ago and in the 1970s the Women’s Institute created a copy of the two registers available then (1818-1886 and 1946-1965) in two exercise books, as well as making a list of other memorials found which represent the intervening years. Their records are in Exeter’s archive at the South West Heritage Trust. Sticklepath also has an active Heritage Group and Devon Family History Society has local Parish Groups with expertise in local Parishes if further information is required. Sticklepath is also covered by the knowledgeable South Tawton Family History FB group.

Sticklepath modern civil Parish was created in the 1980s. Prior to this whilst most of the villagers lived in Sampford Courtenay Parish with it’s Parish Church some 5 miles distant, others lived in South Tawton Parish and a few were actually in Belstone Parish. Old Sticklepath residents may therefore be found in any of these Parish graveyards, and non-conformists may have aligned with Okehampton.