Bishopsteignton is a village and

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 below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

in South

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

, England, between

Newton Abbot Newton Abbot is a market town and civil parish on the River Teign in the Teignbridge District of Devon, England. Its 2011 population of 24,029 was estimated to reach 26,655 in 2019. It grew rapidly in the Victorian era as the home of the So ...

and Teignmouth, close to the

Teign Estuary The River Teign is a river in the county of Devon, England. It is long and rises on Dartmoor, becomes an estuary just below Newton Abbot and reaches the English Channel at Teignmouth. Toponymy The river-name 'Teign' is first attested in an A ...

. The village is on a steep hill, and has a post office cum pharmacy and a small, family-run village shop. The village school has about 180 pupils. The

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to ...

had a population of 2,570 at the 2011 census. The village has three churches: one Gospel Hall (Plymouth Brethren), one Methodist and one Anglican, St John The Baptist, with a fine Norman doorway that survived

Victorian restoration The Victorian restoration was the widespread and extensive refurbishment and rebuilding of Church of England churches and cathedrals that took place in England and Wales during the 19th-century reign of Queen Victoria. It was not the same proces ...

. Among the tombstones are some who were victims of plague, and above the churchyard are the remains of a 14th-century sanctuary chapel built by John Grandisson, Bishop of

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

to provide a refuge for felons who had accepted life banishment, as they travelled from Exeter to sail from Teignmouth. The village has four pubs: The Old Commercial, The Old Workshop, the Ring of Bells and the Cockhaven Arms. It also has a local brewery called Red Rock based behind the Old Workshop pub, the Old Walls Vineyard and Shute Fruit and Produce, a pick your own field. There is a small beach on the estuary, known locally as Down Steps, the River Beach or Red Rock. It is reached via a footpath from the village that crosses the main Teignmouth to Newton Abbot road and the railway, and goes down the steep Luxton Steps. This ancient footpath leads to the point where villagers could ford the river at low tide to reach

Coombe Cellars Coombe Cellars Inn is a public house on the south bank of the estuary of the River Teign in south Devon, England. It is in the parish of Haccombe with Combe, near the village of Combeinteignhead. The pub was owned by Brewers Fayre until 2006. ...

. Half a mile away is the Bishop's Palace, now a ruin (hence the local name of the Old Walls), built in the 13th century by Walter de Bronescombe, and expanded later by Grandisson. It is an example of a small and compact bishop's palace and the remains include an inner and outer court plus substantial buried remains. The site is a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and ...

and Grade II* listed building. The civil parish also includes the hamlet of Ashwell, half a mile west of the village, and the village of

Luton Luton () is a town and unitary authority with borough status, in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 census, the Luton built-up area subdivision had a population of 211,228 and its built-up area, including the adjacent towns of Dunstable an ...

, 2 miles north of Bishopsteignton.

References

External links

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Bishopsteignton Museum of Village Life
{{authority control Villages in Devon