CREDITON

town ( parish), Mid Devon district, administrative and historic county of Devon, England, in the valley of the River Creedy. Crediton is the traditional birthplace of St. Boniface, patron saint of Germany and The Netherlands, who was martyred in 754. This may account for Crediton's having become in 909 the seat of the first bishopric in Devon. By 1050 this had been transferred to Exeter, and a parish church (Holy Cross) was later built on the site of the cathedral. Crediton grew with the wool trade, which reached its peak in the 18th century. Pop. (1991) 6,142.