Yealmpton () 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 the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

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 in the

South Hams South Hams is a local government district on the south coast of Devon, England. Services divide between those provided by its own Council headquartered in Totnes, and those provided by Devon County Council headquartered in the city of Exeter ...

on the A379

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to ...

to Kingsbridge road and is about from

. Its name derives from the

River Yealm The Yealm is a river in Devon in England that rises above sea level on the Stall Moor mires of south Dartmoor and travels to the sea, passing through Cornwood, Lee Mill and Yealmpton, a mid-sized village with a population of c.2,000 which i ...

that flows through the village. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 1,923, falling to 1,677 at the 2011 census. There is an

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 ...

of the same name. The population of this ward in 2011 was 2,049. Yealmpton is home to a 400-year-old stone cottage, where it is said a version of the famous rhyme

Old Mother Hubbard "Old Mother Hubbard" is an English-language nursery rhyme, first given an extended printing in 1805, although the exact origin of the rhyme is disputed. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 19334. After a notable nursery success, it was eventu ...

was written. It is also the site of Kitley Caves, including the now closed

Kitley Show Cave Kitley Show Cave is a solution cave in Yealmpton, Devon, England. Originally discovered by quarrying, it used to be open to the public as a show cave, but is now closed. Description The cave is a fragment of a system associated with the Rive ...

, where green marble was quarried; there is an arch of it in the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

John Pollexfen Bastard John Pollexfen Bastard (18 September 1756 – 4 April 1816) was a British Tory politician, landowner and colonel of the East Devon Militia who was born and lived at Kitley House, Yealmpton, Devon. He married Sarah Wymondesold of East Lockinge, ...

(1756–1816) a British Tory politician, landowner and colonel of the East Devonshire Militia, lived at Kitley House, Yealmpton.

Parish church

The parish church is dedicated to St Bartholomew and was designed by William Butterfield. It dates from 1850, apart from the tower which was only built in 1915. It is in a version of the Gothic of the late 13th and early 14th century. The font is Norman and the monuments (moved here from the old church) include a brass to Sir John Crocker (1508), one to Mary Coppelston (died 1630) (an arched recess with kneeling figures against the tomb-chest), and several to members of the Bastard family.

Historic estates

The parish contains several historic estates including:

Lyneham

Lyneham was, After ''Hele'' the second earliest known home of the Crocker family, one of the most ancient in Devon according to ''"that old saw often used among us in discourse"'', the traditional rhyme related by

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. ...

(d.1723):

''"Crocker, Cruwys, and Coplestone'',
''When the Conqueror came were at home"''

:The last male of the Crocker family of Lyneham was Courtenay Crocker (d.1740), several times MP for Plympton. The Cruwys family in 2014 still resides in its ancient

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals ...

Cruwys Morchard __NOTOC__ Cruwys Morchard is an ecclesiastical and civil parish in the Mid Devon district of the county of Devon in England. It is located about four to five miles west of Tiverton along the road to Witheridge. The parish covers about of lan ...

where, despite the traditional rhyme, it is first recorded in the reign of King John (1199-1216), or possibly a little earlier. The senior branch of the Copleston family died out in the male line in 1632, but the Coplestons of Bowden survived a further century until the death without progeny of Thomas Copleston (1688-1748), MP, whose heirs in 1753 sold Bowden to William Pollexfen Bastard of Kitley.

Kitley

Kitley house is the former home of the Pollexfen family, who also had a residence at

Mothecombe Mothecombe is an historic estate in the parish of Holbeton in South Devon, England. The mansion house of the estate is Mothecombe House, a grade I listed building in the Queen Anne style. History The estate of Mothecombe was inherited by John Po ...

in Holbeton.

Bowden

Bowden, seat of a junior branch of the Coplestone family of Copleston in the parish of Colebrooke. It was first the home of Walter Copleston, 3rd son of John II Copleston (d.1457) of Copleston, thrice MP for Devon, by his wife Elizabeth Hawley (d.1447).

Thomas Coplestone Thomas Coplestone (1688–1748) of Bowden, Yealmpton, Devon, was a British landowner and Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons for 29 years from 1719 to 1748. Origins Coplestone was baptized on 25 May 1688 the eldest son of John Coples ...

(1688-1748) of Bowden was MP for

Callington Callington ( kw, Kelliwik) is a civil parish and town in east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom about north of Saltash and south of Launceston. Callington parish had a population of 4,783 in 2001, according to the 2001 census. This had ...

in Cornwall.

Railway service

From 1898 to 1960, Yealmpton was the terminus of the Yealmpton to

branch railway line. The line was built by the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...

. In its early days the line carried passengers and freight. The growth in the number of motor cars and buses led to reducing passenger traffic in the 1920s and passenger services ceased on the line in 1930. From then until 1941, only freight traffic ran on the line. Brixton Road railway station 1910592

Passenger services were restored in 1941, as villages such as Yealmpton were then being used as dormitory areas by the people of

following the severe air raids on the city. The passenger services ceased again in October 1947 and freight services only ran until 1960, when the line closed completely. The station at Yealmpton was demolished and housing in Riverside Walk now stands on the site.

Agricultural Show

Known as one of the best one day shows in the region, 2008 marked the 121st Agricultural Show. Despite the weather, thousands turned up to enjoy the best of what the

countryside had to offer. Highlights included the Royal Horse Artillery parading and firing their guns as well as the M.A.D mountain bike display team.

Footnotes

External links

YealmptonYealmpton Community AssociationYealmpton Parish CouncilYealmpton Agricultural ShowYealmpton Agricultural Show - ITV WestcountryITV Westcountry, your local news for DevonFilm about Old Mother Hubbard's Cottage in Yealmpton from 1960
British Pathe {{South Hams parishes Villages in South Hams Civil parishes in South Hams