MESHAW, a parish, with a village, in South Molton district, Devon; 5 miles SE by S of South Molton, and 8 NE of Eggesford r. station. Post town, South Molton, North Devon. Acres, 1,751. Real property, £1,191. Pop., 250. Houses, 55. The property is subdivided. The manor also is divided. Meshaw House, or Barton, was anciently the seat of the Courtenays, and is now a farm-house. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Exeter. Value, £197. Patron, the Rev. W. Karslake. The church was rebuilt in 1838; retains the tower of a previous edifice of 1691; consists of nave and chancel; and contains a memorial window to T. H. Karslake who fell at Sebastopol, and several monuments of the Courtenays. There are a chapel for Bible Christians and a national school.

(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))