Feniton is a village and
civil parish in
East Devon in the English county of
Devon. The village lies about west of
Honiton, north of
Ottery St Mary, and east of
Talaton.
The parish of Feniton incorporates the hamlets of Colesworthy, Higher Cheriton and Curscombe. It covers an area of 644 hectares (1591 acres),
[Devon County Council : ''East Devon Parishes''](_blank)
and is surrounded, clockwise from the north, by the parishes of
Payhembury
Payhembury is a village and civil parish in the East Devon district of Devon, England.
The village is about six miles west of Honiton. At the time of the 2011 the parish had a population of 682, and it is surrounded clockwise from the north by ...
,
Buckerell,
Gittisham,
Ottery St Mary and
Talaton. At the 2001 census the parish had a population of 1,796, decreasing to 1,568 at the
2011 Census.
The 2012 draft East Devon Local Plan recorded 716 houses within the Built Up Area Boundary. Feniton is a major part of 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 t ...
called "Feniton and
Buckerell". The total population of this ward at the 2011 census was 2,274.
The village

The original village of Feniton contains the 13th-century
Church of St Andrew, the post office, and a number of thatched cottages. The Wesley chapel which was built in 1850 is now disused and functions as an animal store.
The Vine Water, a tributary of the
River Otter, runs through this part of the village and is generally believed to have given the village its name.
Feniton new village lies about 0.75 miles (1.21 km) west of the original village and is separated by open countryside. This area was formerly known as
Sidmouth Junction
Feniton railway station serves the village of Feniton in Devon, England. It was opened by the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) in 1860 but is now operated by South Western Railway which provides services on the West of England Main Lin ...
and for many years consisted of just a few houses, a public house and a chapel, which were associated with the building and operation of the railway station of the same name. From the mid-1960s onwards, this area was transformed into Feniton new village by various medium-scale housing developments. These were accompanied by the building of Feniton Primary School, two village shops (one of which has since closed), and a playing field. In 1967, when the new village was taking shape, the original Sidmouth Junction railway station and its associated branch line were closed as part of the
Beeching cuts. The station was reopened by
British Rail
British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
in 1971 with the new name of
Feniton.
South Western Railway operate services from it to
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 ...
and
London Waterloo.
In 1976, Feniton signed a twinning charter with the village of
Louvigny in
Normandy,
France
More recently, a sports and social club, private dental practice, hairdresser and fast food takeaway have opened in this part of the village.
Feniton today
In 2008 a number of residents were forced to move into the upper storeys of their houses to escape rising flood waters, and the village suffered again in November 2012: the village has its own Flood Warden scheme, and
Devon County Council
Devon County Council is the county council administering the English county of Devon. Based in the city of Exeter, the council covers the non-metropolitan county area of Devon. Members of the council (councillors) are elected every four years to ...
has estimated the cost of a flood defence scheme as in the region of £1.6 million.
Under
East Devon District Council's draft Local Plan, the Council deemed that in the period up to 2026 it would be appropriate for Feniton to host another 35 houses. However, several developers have applied to build a large number of houses in and around the village.
References
*Devon County Council, https://web.archive.org/web/20140427231200/http://www.devon.gov.uk/index/councildemocracy/improving_our_services/facts_figures_and_statistics/factsandfigures/thepeople/peopleestandproj/peoplepopestimates/peoplefhsaeastpar.htm
*https://web.archive.org/web/20140703014659/http://eastdevon.gov.uk/drafteastdevonlocalplan.htm
*https://web.archive.org/web/20151102001255/http://www.devon.gov.uk/devon_november_floods_2012_final.pdf
External links
Feniton Parish CouncilFeniton History Group*
{{authority control
Villages in Devon