Brendon

The name contains two Old English place-name elements, the first – from brom – referring to the plant broom and the second – from dun – which tends to signify a fairly extensive and flat hill or upland expanse. It is recorded in the Domesday Book as Brandone. It is not connected with the Brendon Hills in Somerset, the name of which has a different origin. White's Devonshire Directory (1850) describes Brendon as follows: <blockquote>A small village 1½ miles SE of Lynton & 15 miles W of Minehead is in a picturesque valley of the river Lyn, has in its parish 271 souls & 6733 acres of land including Leeford hamlet & a large tract of moorland on the borders of Somersetshire where the rivers Exe,…

The Church of St. Brendon was built in 1738, possibly using the stones from the original church at Cheriton. It lies midway between Cheriton and Brendon, about two miles (3 km) from each, and has a tower and four bells. The church was further restored in the nineteenth century and houses a Norman font. There is a sundial above the porch dated 1707.