Chipshop is a hamlet in the
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
of
Lamerton in the
West Devon
West Devon is a local government district with borough status in Devon, England. Its council is based in Tavistock, the borough's largest town. The borough also includes the towns of Hatherleigh, North Tawton and Okehampton, along with nume ...
district of
Devon
Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...
, England. Its nearest town is
Tavistock
Tavistock ( ) is an ancient stannary and market town and civil parish in the West Devon district, in the county of Devon, England. It is situated on the River Tavy, from which its name derives. At the 2011 census, the three electoral wards (N ...
, which lies approximately south-east from the hamlet. The hamlet is situated on the B3362 and consists of approximately a dozen residences and a
public house
A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...
, the "Copper Penny Inn" (formerly the "Chipshop Inn"). The name of the hamlet is nothing to do with
fish and chip shops
A fish and chip shop, sometimes referred to as a chip shop or chippy, is a restaurant that specialises in selling fish and chips. Usually, fish and chip shops provide takeaway service, although some have seating facilities. Fish and chip sho ...
– miners in the local copper and arsenic mines were paid by
scrip
A scrip (or ''wikt:chit#Etymology 3, chit'' in India) is any substitute for legal tender. It is often a form of credit (finance), credit. Scrips have been created and used for a variety of reasons, including exploitative payment of employees un ...
in the form of "chips" which they could exchange for goods only at locations such as inns. One of these inns, the "Hare and Hounds", thus became colloquially known as the "Chipshop Inn", and the hamlet which formed around it took its name from this. The inn, which is still open today, is now known as the "Copper Penny Inn".
References
{{reflist
External links
The Copper Penny Inn, Chipshop
Hamlets in Devon