Chulmleigh ( ) is a small
Saxon hilltop
market town
A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...
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 ...
located in
North Devon in the heart of the
English county of
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 ...
. It is located north west of
Exeter, just north of the
Mid Devon boundary, linked by the
A377 and
B3096 roads.
History
The first documentary reference to the place is in the
Domesday Book
Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manus ...
of 1086 where it is recorded as ''Calmonlevge''. The name derives from the
Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...
personal name ''Ceolmund'' and the common place-name element ''
leah
Leah ''La'ya;'' from (; ) appears in the Hebrew Bible as one of the two wives of the Biblical patriarch Jacob. Leah was Jacob's first wife, and the older sister of his second (and favored) wife Rachel. She is the mother of Jacob's first son ...
'' which has various meanings including "woodland", "a woodland clearing" and "meadow". At the time of Domesday the land was held by
Baldwin the Sheriff
Baldwin FitzGilbert (died 1086-1091) (''alias'' Baldwin the Sheriff, Baldwin of Exeter, Baldwin de Meulles/Moels and Baldwin du Sap) was a Norman magnate and one of the 52 Devon Domesday Book tenants-in-chief of King William the Conqueror, of wh ...
from whom it passed to the
Courtenay family
The House of Courtenay is a medieval noble house, with branches in France, England and the Holy Land. One branch of the Courtenays became a Royal House of the Capetian Dynasty, cousins of the Bourbons and the Valois, and achieved the title ...
, who made the settlement a
borough
A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
In the Middle A ...
in the mid-thirteenth century. Situated on the main road between
Exeter and
Barnstaple, Chulmleigh thrived during the 17th and 18th centuries; it was a centre of
wool production, had a good market and three cattle fairs. The wool trade had ceased by the early 19th century, but the road traffic kept the town prosperous until a new
turnpike road bypassed the town in about 1830 and the opening in 1854 of the
North Devon Railway
The North Devon Railway was a railway company which operated a line from Cowley Bridge Junction, near Exeter, to Bideford in Devon, England, later becoming part of the London and South Western Railway's system. Originally planned as a broad ga ...
also contributed to its decline.
Description
The parish is surrounded, clockwise from the north by the parishes of
King's Nympton
King's Nympton (Latinised to ''Nymet Regis'') is a village, parish and former manor in North Devon, England in the heart of the rolling countryside between Exmoor and Dartmoor, some 4½ miles () S.S.W. of South Molton and N. of Chulmleigh. The ...
,
Romansleigh
Romansleigh is a village and civil parish in the North Devon district of Devon, England. It is surrounded clockwise from the north by the parishes of Mariansleigh, Meshaw, Chulmleigh, and King's Nympton
King's Nympton (Latinised to ''Nymet Re ...
,
Meshaw
Meshaw is a village and civil parish in the North Devon district of Devon, England. Its nearest town is South Molton, which lies approximately north-west from the village. The village lies just off the B3137 road. Meshaw also lies on the same B ...
,
East Worlington
East Worlington is a civil parish and hamlet in the North Devon administrative area, in the English county of Devon, England.
In 2001, the village had 241 inhabitants, 173 in 1901 and 194 in 1801. The civil parish also includes the smaller We ...
,
Chawleigh
Chawleigh is a village and civil parish in Mid Devon in the English county of Devon, situated just off the A377 between Crediton and Barnstaple
Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town in North Devon, England, at the River Taw's lowest ...
,
Wembworthy (a short border only),
Ashreigney,
Burrington, and
Chittlehamholt. In 2001 the population of the parish was 1,308, decreasing to 1,017 at the
2011 census. An
electoral ward with the same name also exists whose total population at the same census was 2,081.
Because of its former prosperity the town has several fine old buildings, many constructed of
cob and
thatch
Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge (''Cladium mariscus''), rushes, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. Since the bulk of ...
. The
parish church
A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...
dedicated to
StMary Magdalene was originally a
collegiate church In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons: a non-monastic or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, which may be presided over by ...
and was founded early. It was completely rebuilt in the 15th century and partially
restored in 1881.
[
Chulmleigh has a retained ]fire station
__NOTOC__
A fire station (also called a fire house, fire hall, firemen's hall, or engine house) is a structure or other area for storing firefighting apparatuses such as fire engines and related vehicles, personal protective equipment, fire ...
which is part of Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service. The secondary school is Chulmleigh College, it has been amongst the highest in Devon's GCSE league tables. The town's pub is the Old Court House.
Transport
Chumleigh is close to the Tarka Line, the railway from Exeter to . Kings Nympton railway station
Kings Nympton railway station, also spelt King's Nympton, is a halt on the Tarka Line in North Devon, serving the civil parishes of Chulmleigh, Burrington and King's Nympton. The station is located at Fortescue Cross, a road junction on the ...
is within the parish although it is around from the town. Eggesford railway station
Eggesford railway station is a rural station in Devon, England, serving Eggesford, the town of Chulmleigh and surrounding villages. Despite its name, the station is in the neighbouring civil parish of Chawleigh. It is on the Tarka Line to , ...
is closer to the town.
Historic estates
*Colleton, Chulmleigh
Colleton is a hamlet and former Manorialism, manor in the civil parish and ecclesiastical parish of Chulmleigh, in the North Devon district of Devon, England. It is situated on the north side of a valley containing the River Taw. Its nearest to ...
Notes
References
External links
Chulmleigh Homepage
*
Historic Chulmleigh Cottage, built for the workers of Eggesford House (1840s)
{{authority control
Towns in Devon
North Devon