SHUTE, a parish in Axminster district, Devon; on the river Axe, near Colyton r. station, and 3 miles SW by W of Axminster. It contains the village of Whitford, which has a post-office under Axminster. Acres, 2,738. Real property, £4,398. Pop., 610. Houses, 128. The manor belonged anciently to the Shutes; passed to the Bonvilles, the Peters, and the Poles; and, with S. House, belongs now to Sir J. G. R. De la Pole, Bart. S. Hill is crowned with an ancient beacon-house, and commands a good view. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Exeter. Value, £250.* Patrons, the Dean and Chapter of E. The church is decorated and later English. There is a parochial school.

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