Morebath is an upland village in the 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 ...

, England. It is mostly given over to sheep-farming, and situated on the southern edge of

Exmoor Exmoor () is loosely defined as an area of hilly open moorland in west Somerset and north Devon in South West England. It is named after the River Exe, the source of which is situated in the centre of the area, two miles north-west of Simons ...

. An account of life in Morebath in the 16th century can be read in '' The Voices of Morebath: Reformation and Rebellion in an English Village'' by Eamon Duffy. Then, as now, Morebath was populated by no more than 300 people, drawn from some thirty families, living and working on the land. During the often turbulent period of the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

, its inhabitants relied on the guidance of their priest, Christopher Trychay, Vicar of Morebath from 1520 to 1574. His detailed hand-written records were transcribed by the Rev. J. Erskine Binney, and published by James G. Commin of Exeter in 1904 as a separate volume in the ''Devon Notes & Queries'' series, under the title ''The Accounts of the Wardens of the Parish of Morebath, Devon''. They provide an insight into the life of this small English community. The church is dedicated to St. George. The village was formerly served by two

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

s. Morebath railway station (initially opened in 1873 as "Morebath and Bampton") on the Devon and Somerset Railway was actually nearer to Shillingford, and about a mile-and-a-half from Morebath itself. Morebath Junction Halt, which opened in 1928, was a single-platform halt set among fields in the valley beyond Ashtown Farm, and had no access road, though there was a footpath to it from Ashtown, which extended along the edge of fields to Chilpark on the B3190, close to the main part of the village. It was served by the

Exe Valley Railway The Exe Valley Railway was a branch line built by the Great Western Railway (GWR) in Devon, England, to link its Bristol to Exeter line with its Devon and Somerset Railway (D&SR), thereby connecting Exeter with (which is in Somerset). The li ...

, as well as the Devon and Somerset line, and therefore had a better service than Morebath railway station: it was also much closer to Morebath village itself. Both stations closed in 1966.

Notable residents

* Christopher Trychay (died 1574), vicar of Morebath from 1520 to 1574, recorded detailed parish accounts during the Reformation. * ''Charles Sandford Bere'' (1829–1889), first-class cricketer and clergyman, served as vicar of Morebath from 1885 to 1889. * Alyse Gregory (1884–1967), American-British suffragist and writer, lived in Morebath from 1957 until her death. * Oliver Stonor (1903–1987), English novelist and translator, resided at Velthams Cottage from 1960 onwards. * Caroline Quentin (born 1960), actress known for ''Men Behaving Badly'' and ''Jonathan Creek,'' lives in Morebath with her family.

References

External links

{{Authority control Villages in Mid Devon District