TWO historic parishes of the Church of England in Newton Abbot – Wolborough and Highweek – have merged to form one parish, now called the Parish of Newton Abbot.

The River Lemon historically separated the two communities and Newton Bushell.

The parish of All Saints’ in Highweek and St Mary’s in Abbotsbury grew up around the former Newton Bushel and the churces of St Paul’s in Devon Square and St Mary’s in Coach Road formed the parish of Wolborough.

Now all four churches have come together to create the new parish which will form part of a larger Mission Community which will extend to St Luke’s Church in Milber and St Bartholomew’s in Ogwell.

The community will be staffed by a team of three priests, a team rector, two vicars and a curate together with five lay ministers.

A spokesman said: ‘The Diocese of Exeter is anxious to meet the challenge of the rapidly expanding population of Newton Abbot and so sees this new set up as an effective way of doing so.

‘The congregations of all the churches look forward to working and worshipping together to serve the community in any way they can.’

Anyone wishing to contact the team rector Patrick Parkes about services the church offers can do so by calling 01626 334367.