Meeth is a small village roughly north-northwest of

Okehampton Okehampton ( ) is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in West Devon in the English county of Devon. It is situated at the northern edge of Dartmoor, and had a population of 5,922 at the 2011 census. Two electoral wards are based i ...

and west-northwest 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 ...

. It lies to the west of the

River Torridge The River Torridge is a river in Devon in England; it rises near Meddon. The river describes a long loop through Devon farming country where its tributaries the Lew and Okement join before meeting the Taw at Appledore and flowing into the Bristo ...

. In the past,

ball clay Ball clays are kaolinitic sedimentary clays that commonly consist of 20–80% kaolinite, 10–25% mica, 6–65% quartz. Localized seams in the same deposit have variations in composition, including the quantity of the major minerals, accessory ...

mines were a major source of employment in the village, lying just to the west, however these closed in 2004. Their site is now a

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

owned by the

Devon Wildlife Trust The Devon Wildlife Trust is a member of The Wildlife Trusts partnership covering the county of Devon, England. It is a registered charity, established in 1962 as the Devon Naturalists Trust, and its aim is to safeguard the future of the county's ...

, called Meeth Quarry. The Trust's Ash Moor reserve is also located close to the village. From 1925 until 1982, the branch railway line from

Halwill Junction Halwill is a village in Devon, England just off the A3079 road, A3079 Okehampton to Holsworthy, Devon, Holsworthy road. About a mile away on the main road is another settlement called Halwill Junction. This name brings to mind the former signif ...

to Torrington, the

North Devon and Cornwall Junction Light Railway The North Devon and Cornwall Junction Light Railway was a railway built to serve numerous ball clay pits that lay in the space between the London and South Western Railway's Torrington branch, an extension of the North Devon Railway group, an ...

, ran through Meeth, allowing clay from the mines to be transported to

Bideford Bideford ( ) is a historic port town on the estuary of the River Torridge in north Devon, south-west England. It is the main town of the Torridge local government district. Toponymy In ancient records Bideford is recorded as ''Bedeford'', ''By ...

for onward transport by sea; passenger service was available until 1965 from

Meeth Halt railway station Opened in 1925, Meeth Halt was a small railway station on the North Devon and Cornwall Junction Light Railway, a private line until it became part of the Southern Region of British Railways in 1948. The line was built in part over a narrow ga ...

. The

Tarka Trail The Tarka Trail is a series of footpaths and cyclepaths (rail trails) around north Devon, England that follow the route taken by the fictional Tarka the Otter in the book of that name. It covers a total of in a figure-of-eight route, centred o ...

long-distance footpath A long-distance trail (or long-distance footpath, track, way, greenway) is a longer recreational trail mainly through rural areas used for hiking, backpacking, cycling, horse riding or cross-country skiing. They exist on all continents exce ...

now finishes/starts in Meeth, using the route of the former railway to reach Bideford, and skirting the Meeth Quarry and Ash Moor nature reserves. The village has a small centre which encompasses the recently re-opened church, village hall and village pub (The Bull and Dragon, ''ca.'' 1490). A good local bus service runs daily and a small B&B has just opened in the village.

Historic estates

the parish of Meeth contains various historic estates including: * Croker's Hele, formerly a seat of the Croker family; *Fry's Hele (today corrupted to "Friar's Hele"), formerly a seat of the Fry family.

References

External links

Meeth Community website

Devon Wildlife Trust website about Meeth Quarry reserve

Google Maps view
Villages in Devon Nature reserves in Devon {{Devon-geo-stub