Chulmleigh ( ) is a small

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

hilltop

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

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 below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

located in

North Devon North Devon is a local government district in Devon, England. North Devon Council is based in Barnstaple. Other towns and villages in the North Devon District include Braunton, Fremington, Ilfracombe, Instow, South Molton, Lynton and Lynmouth ...

in the heart of the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

county of

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

. It is located north west of

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 ...

, just north of the

Mid Devon Mid Devon is a local government district in Devon, England. Its council is based in Tiverton. The district was formed under the Local Government Act 1972, on 1 April 1974 by the merger of the borough of Tiverton and Crediton urban district ...

boundary, linked by the A377 and B3096 roads.

History

The first documentary reference to the place is 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 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

of 1086 where it is recorded as ''Calmonlevge''. The name derives from the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

personal name ''Ceolmund'' and the common place-name element ''

leah Leah ''La'ya;'' from (; ) appears in the Hebrew Bible as one of the two wives of the Biblical patriarch Jacob. Leah was Jacob's first wife, and the older sister of his second (and favored) wife Rachel. She is the mother of Jacob's first son ...

'' which has various meanings including "woodland", "a woodland clearing" and "meadow". At the time of Domesday the land was held by

Baldwin the Sheriff Baldwin FitzGilbert (died 1086-1091) (''alias'' Baldwin the Sheriff, Baldwin of Exeter, Baldwin de Meulles/Moels and Baldwin du Sap) was a Norman magnate and one of the 52 Devon Domesday Book tenants-in-chief of King William the Conqueror, of who ...

from whom it passed to the

Courtenay family The House of Courtenay is a medieval noble house, with branches in France, England and the Holy Land. One branch of the Courtenays became a Royal House of the Capetian Dynasty, cousins of the Bourbons and the Valois, and achieved the title o ...

, who made the settlement a

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

in the mid-thirteenth century. Situated on the main road between

and

Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town in North Devon, England, at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool and won great wealth. Later it imported Irish wool, bu ...

, Chulmleigh thrived during the 17th and 18th centuries; it was a centre of wool production, had a good market and three cattle fairs. The wool trade had ceased by the early 19th century, but the road traffic kept the town prosperous until a new turnpike road bypassed the town in about 1830 and the opening in 1854 of the

North Devon Railway The North Devon Railway was a railway company which operated a line from Cowley Bridge Junction, near Exeter, to Bideford in Devon, England, later becoming part of the London and South Western Railway's system. Originally planned as a broad ga ...

also contributed to its decline.

Description

The parish is surrounded, clockwise from the north by the parishes of

King's Nympton King's Nympton (Latinised to ''Nymet Regis'') is a village, parish and former manor in North Devon, England in the heart of the rolling countryside between Exmoor and Dartmoor, some 4½ miles () S.S.W. of South Molton and N. of Chulmleigh. The ...

Romansleigh Romansleigh is a village and civil parish in the North Devon district of Devon, England. It is surrounded clockwise from the north by the parishes of Mariansleigh, Meshaw, Chulmleigh, and King's Nympton King's Nympton (Latinised to ''Nymet Re ...

Meshaw Meshaw is a village and civil parish in the North Devon district of Devon, England. Its nearest town is South Molton, which lies approximately north-west from the village. The village lies just off the B3137 road. Meshaw also lies on the same B ...

East Worlington East Worlington is a civil parish and hamlet in the North Devon administrative area, in the English county of Devon, England. In 2001, the village had 241 inhabitants, 173 in 1901 and 194 in 1801. The civil parish also includes the smaller We ...

Chawleigh Chawleigh is a village and civil parish in Mid Devon in the English county of Devon, situated just off the A377 between Crediton and Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town in North Devon, England, at the River Taw's lowest ...

Wembworthy Wembworthy is a small village, parish and former manor in Mid-Devon, England. It is situated in the valley of the River Taw, 8 miles north-east of the towns of Hatherleigh and 12 miles south of South Molton. St Michael's Church is the parish chu ...

(a short border only),

Ashreigney Ashreigney is a village and civil parish in the Torridge district of Devon, England, about 15 miles south of the town of Barnstaple. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 446, compared to 540 in 1901. The church is mostly fifteent ...

, Burrington, and

Chittlehamholt Chittlehamholt is a village and civil parish in North Devon district, Devon, England. In the 2011 census it was recorded as having a population of 169. The neighbouring parishes are Satterleigh and Warkleigh to the north, King's Nympton to th ...

. In 2001 the population of the parish was 1,308, decreasing to 1,017 at the 2011 census. An

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 ...

with the same name also exists whose total population at the same census was 2,081. Because of its former prosperity the town has several fine old buildings, many constructed of cob and

thatch Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge (''Cladium mariscus''), rushes, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. Since the bulk of ...

. The

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

dedicated to StMary Magdalene was originally a

collegiate church In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons: a non-monastic or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, which may be presided over by a ...

and was founded early. It was completely rebuilt in the 15th century and partially

restored ''Restored'' is the fourth studio album by American contemporary Christian music musician Jeremy Camp. It was released on November 16, 2004 by BEC Recordings. Track listing Standard release Enhanced edition Deluxe gold edition Standard ...

in 1881. Chulmleigh has a retained

fire station __NOTOC__ A fire station (also called a fire house, fire hall, firemen's hall, or engine house) is a structure or other area for storing firefighting apparatuses such as fire engines and related vehicles, personal protective equipment, fire h ...

which is part of

Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service (DSFRS) is the statutory fire and rescue service covering the county of Devon (including the unitary authorities of Plymouth and Torbay) and the non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West Engla ...

. The secondary school is Chulmleigh College, it has been amongst the highest in Devon's GCSE league tables. The town's pub is the Old Court House. on South Molton Street. Local businesses and organisations include a health centre, a dentist, a butcher, Chulmleigh Cricket Club, Winston Pincombe, a deli, an antiques shop, a florists, a hair and beauty salon, a bakery and Chulmleigh Golf Course.

Transport

Chumleigh is close to the

Tarka Line The Tarka Line, also known as the North Devon Line, is a local railway line in Devon, England, linking the city of Exeter with the town of Barnstaple via a number of local villages, operated by Great Western Railway (GWR). The line opened in ...

, the railway from

to .

Kings Nympton railway station Kings Nympton railway station, also spelt King's Nympton, is a halt on the Tarka Line in North Devon, serving the civil parishes of Chulmleigh, Burrington and King's Nympton. The station is located at Fortescue Cross, a road junction on the ...

is within the parish although it is around from the town.

Eggesford railway station Eggesford railway station is a rural station in Devon, England, serving Eggesford, the town of Chulmleigh and surrounding villages. Despite its name, the station is in the neighbouring civil parish of Chawleigh. It is on the Tarka Line to , ...

is closer to the town.

Historic estates

Colleton, Chulmleigh Colleton is a hamlet and former Manorialism, manor in the civil parish and ecclesiastical parish of Chulmleigh, in the North Devon district of Devon, England. It is situated on the north side of a valley containing the River Taw. Its nearest to ...

Notes

References

External links

Chulmleigh Homepage
*
Historic Chulmleigh Cottage, built for the workers of Eggesford House (1840s)
{{authority control Towns in Devon North Devon