Uffculme (, ) 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 ...

located in the

Mid Devon Mid Devon is a local government district 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, t ...

district 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. Situated in the

Blackdown Hills The Blackdown Hills, or Blackdowns, are a range of hills along the Somerset-Devon border in south-western England. The plateau is dominated by hard chert bands of Upper Greensand with some remnants of chalk, and is cut through by river valleys. ...

on the B3440, close to the

M5 motorway The M5 is a motorway in England linking the Midlands with the South West England, South West. It runs from junction 8 of the M6 motorway, M6 at West Bromwich near Birmingham to Exeter in Devon. Heading south-west, the M5 runs east of West Brom ...

and the Bristol–Exeter railway line, near

Cullompton Cullompton () is a town and civil parish in the district of Mid Devon and the county of Devon, England. It is north-east of Exeter and lies on the River Culm. In 2021, the parish as a whole had a population of 10,071, while the built-up area o ...

, Uffculme is on the upper reaches of the

River Culm The River Culm flows through the Devon Redlands in Devon, England and is the longest tributary of the River Exe. It rises in the Blackdown Hills at a spring near RAF Culmhead in Somerset, and flows west through Hemyock, then Culmstock (in th ...

. The population of the parish, according to a 2020 estimate, is 3,090. It is surrounded, clockwise from the north, by the parishes of

Culmstock Culmstock is a village and civil parish in Mid Devon, England, centred 10 miles from Tiverton and 6 NE of Cullompton. It is laid out on both sides of the River Culm; the village is joined by a single old narrow stone bridge across the river. The ...

Hemyock Hemyock () is a village and civil parish in Devon, England. It is about 8 miles north-west of Honiton and south of the Somerset town of Wellington. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 1,519. Hemyock is part of the electoral ward ...

, Sheldon,

Kentisbeare Kentisbeare is a village and civil parish in the Mid Devon district of Devon, England. Its nearest town is Cullompton. It has a population of 1,000. Descent of the manor In the 17th century the manor of Kentisbeare was owned by Sir John Wyndham ...

Willand Willand is a village and civil parish in Mid Devon, England. It is about north of Exeter and north of Cullompton. In 1991 the population was 3750 although recently this has grown considerably. The National Grid reference for the centre of t ...

Halberton Halberton is a village and civil parish in Devon, England. It is situated between the historic market towns of Tiverton, Devon, Tiverton and Cullompton. The Grand Western Canal runs around to the north and west of the village. The large parish ...

and

Burlescombe Burlescombe (, ) is a village and civil parish in the Mid Devon district of Devon, England. The parish is surrounded, clockwise from the north, by the parishes of Holcombe Rogus, Culmstock, Uffculme, Halberton and Sampford Peverell. According to ...

History

Historically, Uffculme was a parish in Bampton Hundred, under the Peculiar jurisdiction of the

Prebendary A prebendary is a member of the Catholic Church, Catholic or Anglicanism , Anglican clergy, a form of canon (priest) , canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in part ...

of Uffculme, Salisbury Cathedral. Uffculme is of particular interest to local historians because the wills and inventories for Uffculme have survived due to the parish being a peculiar of the

Bishop of Salisbury The Bishop of Salisbury is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Salisbury in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers much of the counties of Wiltshire and Dorset. The Episcopal see, see is in the Salisbur ...

, and hence they were not among the Devon probate records that were destroyed by fire in Exeter following a bombing raid during the

Baedeker Blitz The Baedeker Blitz or Baedeker raids was a series of bombing raids by the ''Luftwaffe'' on the United Kingdom during World War II in April and May 1942. Towns and cities in England were targeted for their cultural value as part of a demoralisat ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The earliest (1801) census put the population of Uffculme parish at 1837. From the 16th century, Uffculme was a significant part of the

West Country The West Country is a loosely defined area within southwest England, usually taken to include the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset and Bristol, with some considering it to extend to all or parts of Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and ...

's wool industry, reaching its height in the middle of the 18th century "when large quantities of Uffculme serges were exported to Holland by the Tiverton merchants". Coldharbour Mill, the last woollen mill to operate in the village was built in 1799 by Thomas Fox. In 1983,

Coldharbour Mill Coldharbour Mill, near the village of Uffculme in Devon, England, is one of the oldest woollen textile mills in the world, having been in continuous production since 1797. The mill was one of a number owned by Fox Brothers, and is designated ...

was opened as a working museum. On 17 November 1998 a major explosion occurred at a fireworks factory in the village. Windows of homes near to the plant were broken by the blast, which could be heard away in Tiverton. £300,000 of damage to the roof of St Mary's Church was caused but there were no serious injuries. The firework company later pleaded guilty to six charges under the

Health and Safety at Work Act The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (c. 37) (HSWA 1974, HASWA or HASAWA) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that defines the fundamental structure and authority for the encouragement, regulation and enforcement of workp ...

. The firm resumed trading a week after the blast and continued until December 2003 when it went into liquidation.

Geography

The

Culm Valley Light Railway The Culm Valley Light Railway was a standard gauge branch railway that operated in the English county of Devon. It ran for just under from Tiverton Junction station on the Bristol to Exeter line, through the Culm valley to Hemyock. It was in ...

, which opened in 1876, had two stations in the village; Coldharbour Halt and

Uffculme railway station Uffculme railway station was the station closest to the centre of the Culm Valley Light Railway in Devon and as such contained the passing loop. The line ran approximately from the Bristol to Penzance main line at Tiverton Junction to Hemyock ...

. The railway, operating between

Tiverton Junction railway station There are 22 disused railway stations on the Bristol to Exeter line between and . The line was completed in 1844 at which time the temporary terminus at Beambridge was closed. The most recent closure was Tiverton Junction which was replaced b ...

and Hemyock closed to passenger traffic in 1963, and completely in 1975. A path on the route to

takes in the old railway bridge.

Culture

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

known as "Uffculme Free-School" was founded in 1701 by Nicholas Ayshford, of nearby Ayshford Court,

, who endowed it with £47 per annum. Uffculme now has two schools - Uffculme Primary School, and a secondary - Uffculme School which specialises in mathematics and computing. Uffculme School became an

academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

in 2010 and was rated 'outstanding' by

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament. Ofsted's role is to make sure that organisations providing education, training ...

in 2014.Ofsted reports on Uffculme School
/ref> The large Elizabethan manor house of Bradfield, with Victorian extension, the historic home of the Walrond family, is situated within the parish of Uffculme. The other utilities include a public house (''The Ostler''), a male-only working men's club (the ''Uffculme Men's Institute''), three churches, some shops and a take away which sells various foods. There is also a vet's surgery, library, Co-op and post office / general stores.

remains a popular tourist attraction, with its working wool museum exhibits, as do the scenic old railway and riverside walks. During 2008 the village's Langlands Business Park featured in the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

fly-on-the-wall Fly on the wall is a style of documentary-making used in film and television production. The name derived from the idea that events are seen candidly, as a fly on a wall might see them. In the purest form of fly-on-the-wall documentary-making, ...

documentary ''Wonky Willie's Chocolate Factory'', being the location of Willie Harcourt-Cooze's chocolate factory, one of the first places to make

cocoa Cocoa may refer to: Chocolate * Chocolate * ''Theobroma cacao'', the cocoa tree * Cocoa bean, seed of ''Theobroma cacao'' * Chocolate liquor, or cocoa liquor, pure, liquid chocolate extracted from the cocoa bean, including both cocoa butter and ...

in the UK since the

Cadbury family The Cadbury family is a British family of wealthy Quaker industrialists descending from Richard Tapper Cadbury. * Richard Tapper Cadbury (1768–1860), draper and abolitionist, who financed his sons' start-up business; married Elizabeth Head **J ...

. The singer

Joss Stone Joscelyn Eve Stoker (born 11 April 1987), known professionally as Joss Stone, is an English singer, songwriter and actress. She rose to prominence in late 2003 with her multi-platinum debut album, ''The Soul Sessions'', which made the 2004 Merc ...

lived near Ashill, a hamlet in the parish of Uffculme, and attended Uffculme School.

Snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sport played on a rectangular Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, billiards table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets: one at each corner and ...

player

Sam Baird Sam Baird (born 17 June 1988) is an English former professional snooker player. He first entered the professional tour for the 2009/10 season, by winning the EBSA Pro-Ticket Tour Play-offs. Career 2011/2012 season Baird reached the main draw o ...

comes from the village.

References

External links

Uffculme SchoolUffculme Primary SchoolThe Ostler InnUffculme Sheep ShowColdharbour MillBBC News Article on Fireworks Factory ExplosionSt. Mary's Church, UffculmeUffculme United Reformed Church
{{authority control Villages in Devon