The name Dunchideock is of Celtic origin. Recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Donsedoc, the two parts of the name derive from dun (fort) and coediog (wooded),[4] which, according to W. G. Hoskins, refer to the nearby Iron Age hill fort of Cotley Castle.[5]
The parish church is dedicated to St Michael and is Grade I listed.[6] It originated in 1308 at the latest, but the present church building, built of red sandstone, was started in the late 14th century. It has been partially rebuilt and restored many times.[2] There is a good font dated to around 1400, some notable carved bench-ends, roof-bosses and rood-screen; and several memorials, most notably to Aaron Baker, who rebuilt the chancel aisle in 1669, and Stringer Lawrence.[5] The theological writer Bourchier Wrey Savile was rector of Dunchideock with Shillingford St. George from 1872 to his death in 1888.[7]
Archie Winckworth, the former owner of Dunchideock House, posted a memoir about the village and its history, including an account of its buried treasure.[9] The cellars of Dunchideock House are fancifully supposed to contain a treacle mine.[10]
^ abHarris, Helen (2004). A Handbook of Devon Parishes. Tiverton: Halsgrove. pp. 62–63. ISBN1-84114-314-6.
^"Facts and Figures". (link to Devon Parishes map). Devon County Council. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
^Gover, J.E.B., Mawer, A. & Stenton, F.M. (1931). "The Place-Names of Devon". English Place-Name Society. Vol Viii. Part II. Cambridge University Press: 495.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ abHoskins, W. G. (1972). A New Survey of England: Devon (New ed.). London: Collins. pp. 390–391. ISBN0-7153-5577-5.