# Avonwick

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**Avonwick** is a village in the [civil parish](/source/Civil_parish) of [North Huish](/source/North_Huish), in the [South Hams](/source/South_Hams) district, in the county of [Devon](/source/Devon), England. The [River Avon](/source/River_Avon,_Devon) runs through the settlement and the village's name derives from *avon* meaning *river*, and *wick* an old word for *village*,[1] but it was not so named until the 1870s, previously being known as Newhouse.[1][2]

Avonwick has about 120 houses in the main village and has rapidly grown in size over the last few years, with three developments adding 17 houses in the late 1990s,[3] 7 houses in 2000[4] and 33 houses in 2012.[5]

The village church, dedicated to St James in 1878,[6] is one of only a few [proprietary chapels](/source/Proprietary_chapel) remaining in the country.[1] The village also has a pub,[7] one of the oldest lawn tennis clubs in the world[8] and a garage, with a further restaurant on the road to [South Brent](/source/South_Brent).[9] The village had a succession of shops from 1871, but the last village shop closed in 2018.

The village has one of the oldest walkways in Devon: known as the Cobbly Way or Cobbly Walk, the cobbled track alongside the river shows traces of ancient cart ruts over its 400-yard length.[10]

[Avonwick railway station](/source/Avonwick_railway_station) opened about 0.5 miles (1 kilometres) outside the village in 1893, on the branch line between South Brent and [Kingsbridge](/source/Kingsbridge). The station and line closed in 1963.

## Notable residents

- [Marcia Willett](/source/Marcia_Willett) (1945-2022), novelist, was living in Avonwick at the time her first novel was published in 1995. Many of her books are set in Devon.[11]

## References

1. [St James' Church Avonwick on the Society of Cornishes website](https://web.archive.org/web/20160516230613/http://www.cornishsurname.matthewcornish.info/articles/132.htm)

1. Gover, J.E.B., Mawer, A. & Stenton, F.M. (1931). *The Place-Names of Devon*. English Place-Names Society. Vol viii. Part I. Cambridge University Press. P.303.

1. ["Planning Application Details 38/0250/89/1"](http://apps.southhams.gov.uk/PlanningSearchMVC/Home/Details/890230). *South Hams District Council*

1. ["Planning Application Details 38/0509/00/F"](http://apps.southhams.gov.uk/PlanningSearchMVC/Home/Details/020416). *South Hams District Council*

1. ["Planning Application Details 38/0793/11/F"](http://apps.southhams.gov.uk/PlanningSearchMVC/Home/Details/110767). *South Hams District Council*

1. ["About the church - St James's Church, Avonwick"](https://www.avonwickchurch.co.uk/About). *www.avonwickchurch.co.uk*. Retrieved 2020-04-26.

1. ["Welcome to The Avon Inn"](https://avon-inn.org.uk/). *Avon Inn*. Retrieved 2020-04-26.

1. [/ Avon Vale Tennis and Croquet Club](http://www.socialtennis.com/avonwick) [Archived](https://archive.today/20130202123925/http://www.socialtennis.com/avonwick) 2013-02-02 at archive.today

1. [The Turtley Corn Mill](https://www.turtleycornmill.com/)

1. Scott, Christine (2010). *A story of North Huish and Avonwick*. Exeter: Short Run Press Limited. p. 8.

1. Hammonds, Nancy (11 February 1995). ["Launched on a wave of support!"](https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003596/19950211/012/0012). *Western Evening Herald*. Retrieved 10 September 2025.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Avonwick](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avonwick) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avonwick?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.