West Buckland is a small village and former

manor Manor may refer to: Land ownership *Manorialism or "manor system", the method of land ownership (or "tenure") in parts of medieval Europe, notably England *Lord of the manor, the owner of an agreed area of land (or "manor") under manorialism *Man ...

located east-south-east of

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 ...

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 ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. South Molton is the nearest town. The

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

of Elwell lies to its north-east. The civil parishes of

East Buckland East Buckland is a small village and former civil parish, now in the parish of East and West Buckland, in the North Devon district of Devon, England, next to the village of West Buckland. The village has an Anglican church which is frequented by ...

and West Buckland were merged on 1 April 1986, forming the civil parish of

East and West Buckland East and West Buckland is a civil parish in the English county of Devon. Forming part of the district of North Devon its main settlements are West Buckland West Buckland is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated south west ...

History

The manor was formerly part of the Fortescue Estate, owned by the Earls Fortescue of nearby Castle Hill, Filleigh. Earlier the manor together with the

advowson Advowson () or patronage is the right in English law of a patron (avowee) to present to the diocesan bishop (or in some cases the ordinary if not the same person) a nominee for appointment to a vacant ecclesiastical benefice or church living, ...

of the church had been acquired by the influential Barnstaple merchant and MP

John Delbridge John Delbridge (1564 – 24 June 1639) was an English merchant from Devon who was elected six times as a Member of Parliament. Early life and education He was the second son of Richard Delbridge (d. post 1595), a merchant of Barnstaple, by his ...

(1564-1639).

Access

Most travellers reach West Buckland by a steep, winding, mostly single track hill up from the

North Devon Link Road The A361 is an A class road in southern England, which at is the longest three-digit A road in the UK. History When first designated in 1922, the A361 ran from Taunton (Somerset) to Banbury (Oxfordshire). It was later extended west through ...

(A361).

Facilities

Until 2008 the village had a small

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

; the post office is now held in the church on two afternoons a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays. West Buckland was one of the first villages in the country to arrange such a facility. The village has a refurbished village hall. There is no

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

, but the village hall now has a licensed bar which is opened during a considerable number of social events throughout the year.

West Buckland School

The village may be best known for having given its name to the adjacent co-educational

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

West Buckland School West Buckland School is an independent school in West Buckland, Devon in the English public school tradition. It comprises a senior school, preparatory school, and a nursery. It is a relatively high performing school in Devon. It was one of e ...

: educators of, amongst others,

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

Harold Gimblett Harold Gimblett (19 October 1914 – 30 March 1978) was a cricketer who played for Somerset and England. He was known for his fast scoring as an opening batsman and for the much-repeated story of his debut. In a book first published in 1982 ...

and British world record triple-jumper

Jonathan Edwards Jonathan Edwards may refer to: Musicians *Jonathan and Darlene Edwards, pseudonym of bandleader Paul Weston and his wife, singer Jo Stafford *Jonathan Edwards (musician) (born 1946), American musician ** ''Jonathan Edwards'' (album), debut album ...

. Despite taking the name, the school comprising its preparatory school, three boarding houses and the

public school Public school may refer to: * State school (known as a public school in many countries), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government * Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging independent schools in England an ...

itself is located on an extensive campus about 1 km east of the village and instead it is the small parish church which draws most visitors from the local area. The daily school traffic includes a fleet of long coaches which pass through the narrow village street twice a day.

West Buckland Festival

Previously, there was a thriving, annual four-day "Festival of Music, Art and Entertainment", which included both international and local performers, a very successful Art and Craft Exhibition and various workshops. We regret to say that we no longer hold a Festival in the village.

References

External links

West Buckland Festival

GENUKI page
Villages in Devon Former manors in Devon {{Devon-geo-stub