Crediton,

Crediton, or KIRKTON, a borough in the middle of Devonshire, on the Creedy, a tributary of the Exe, 7 miles NW. of Exeter. It lies in a narrow vale between two steep hills, and, having suffered much by fire in 1743 and 1769, is mostly modern. Its church, however, is a fine old cruciform structure. The birthplace of St Boniface (q.v.), the apostle of Germany, Crediton was the seat of a bishopric from 910 to 1050, when it was transferred to Exeter, and from 1897 has a bishop suffragan under Exeter. Its woollen manufactures belong to the past. Pop. (1851) 3924; (1891) 4207.