Exbourne 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the English county 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 ...

. The Anglo-Saxon origin of the name is ''Gæces Burn'' - Cuckoo Stream. It occupies a hillside location between the River Okement and the Hole Brook, about 5 miles north of

Okehampton Okehampton ( ) is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in West Devon in the English county of Devon. At the 2021 census, the parish had a population of 7,313, which was slightly more than the 7,104 recorded at the 2011 census. Th ...

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 ...

, and height above sea level ranges between 280 Ft. and 484 Ft. It lies in a primarily agricultural location and the local parish council represents both Exbourne and nearby Jacobstowe. The population of the ward which represents Exbourne and all surrounding villages was 4148 at the 2021 census.

Overview

The village contains a

Conservation Area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewoo ...

, in which the principle building is the Church of St Mary with its embattled tower and some fabric dating from XIV c. The present manor house was built ca. 1830, and the manorial court was formerly held at Court Barton. There is a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

Primary School A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

which has three classes with about sixty children on roll. Other public buildings include the Methodist Chapel and the Village Hall, which was formerly the Manor Hall. An early Bible Christian chapel and Sunday School still stand, converted for residential use. The

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 ...

is called the 'Red Lion' which has undergone extensive work. There is an eco-friendly underground community shop, cafe and post office (opened 2012), which has been funded through grants and local funding. A garage, filling station and car workshop (RB Tyres) lies at the crossroads with the A3072. At the boundary with Jacobstowe stands an ancient

packhorse A packhorse, pack horse, or sumpter refers to a horse, mule, donkey, or pony used to carry goods on its back, usually in sidebags or panniers. Typically packhorses are used to cross difficult terrain, where the absence of roads prevents the use of ...

bridge over the Okement river.

External links

*
North Tawton Community Website

Exbourne with Jacobstowe Community website

References

{{Authority control Villages in Devon