History of Kingston Kingston is a coastal parish on the South
Coast of Devon, on the eastern side of the Erme estuary, with
the village itself situated a mile inland. Part of the parish
boundary follows the limits of land defined in a Saxon Charter
of King Aethelwulf ca.846. In 1086 Kingston was still in royal
ownership, but was part of Ermington, and had no separate entry
in the Domesday Book. It ceased to be a royal possession in 1276
when Henry 1 gave it to Matilda Peverel, and it became part of
the ecclesiastic parish of Ermington, Kingston Church being the
daughter Church of Ermington. Members of the Peverel family were
Lords of the Manor for two centuries, but they never lived in
Kingston. The land in the middle of the parish was let to tenant
farmers, most of who lived in the village, and the outlying
farms were freehold properties. The Manor lands were cultivated
in large fields which were divided into strips, the farmers
being apportioned these in various locations throughout the
parish. These open f