Broadhempston (''alias'' Broad Hempston, anciently Great Hempston, Hempston Cauntelow) is a village, parish and former manor in

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, situated about 4 miles north of

Totnes Totnes ( or ) is a market town and civil parish at the head of the estuary of the River Dart in Devon, England, within the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is about west of Paignton, about west-southwest of Torquay and ab ...

. It is now administered by

Teignbridge District Council Teignbridge is a local government district in Devon, England. Its council is based in the town of Newton Abbot. The district also includes the towns of Ashburton, Buckfastleigh, Dawlish, Kingsteignton and Teignmouth, along with numerous villa ...

. According to the 2001

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

the parish contained 257 houses with a population of 641.

Description

The village contains a parish church, a primary school, two

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 ...

s (the Monk's Retreat and the Coppa Dolla) and a shop/post office. The working population mainly commutes to the neighbouring town of Torquay, and to the cities of Exeter and Plymouth, including many who work in the medical sector. Many of the villagers are "incomers" and now outnumber "natives". The proportion of professional and managerial grade employees resident in the parish is higher than the national average for comparable sized areas. House ownership levels, as a measure of prosperity, is also high. Until recently there were five farmhouses and yards within the village itself, but these have been converted to residential uses. A "Community Woodland” has public access for pedestrians and is widely used for leisure as well as a community educational resource.

Notable buildings

*Parish church of St Peter and St Paul, which has a 13th-century

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

with 15th-century

arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated video, pinball, electro-mechanical, redemption, etc., game ** Arcade video game, a coin-operated video game ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade video game's hardware ** Arcad ...

s, beams and bosses. The fine

chancel screen In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

is ancient, although the top part was made in 1903. The

baptismal font A baptismal font is an Church architecture, ecclesiastical architectural element, which serves as a receptacle for baptismal water used for baptism, as a part of Christian initiation for both rites of Infant baptism, infant and Believer's bapti ...

is 15th century. Giles Hussey, artist and theorist, is buried in the churchyard.Dictionary of National Biography *The 15th-century

almshouse An almshouse (also known as a bede-house, poorhouse, or hospital) is charitable housing provided to people in a particular community, especially during the Middle Ages. They were often built for the poor of a locality, for those who had held ce ...

is now an

inn Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway. Before the advent of motorized transportation, they also provided accomm ...

. *Village Hall, recently rebuilt to cater for all age groups from the village and surrounding areas.

Manor

The manor is listed 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086 as ''Hamistone'' and was held by

Robert, Count of Mortain Robert, Count of Mortain, first Earl of Cornwall of 2nd creation (–) was a Norman nobleman and the half-brother (on their mother's side) of King William the Conqueror. He was one of the very few proven companions of William the Conqueror at t ...

, 2nd

Earl of Cornwall The title of Earl of Cornwall was created several times in the Peerage of England before 1337, when it was superseded by the title Duke of Cornwall, which became attached to heirs-apparent to the throne. Condor of Cornwall *Condor of Cornwall, ...

. It was later held successively by the families of Cantilupe (from whom it became known as ''Hempston Cauntelow''), West, Rowe, Martin, Champion, Duntze and Tozer.

References

Broadhempston websiteBroadhempston Village Hall facebook pageBroadhempston Community Woodland websiteBroadhempston at GENUKI

External links

{{authority control Villages in Devon