Newton Poppleford is a large village and former

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 authorit ...

situated on the A3052 road between Exeter and

Sidmouth Sidmouth () is a town on the English Channel in Devon, South West England, southeast of Exeter. With a population of 12,569 in 2011, it is a tourist resort and a gateway to the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site. A large part of the town h ...

on the west side of the River Otter, now in the parish of

Newton Poppleford and Harpford Newton Poppleford and Harpford is a civil parish in East Devon, England. It is surrounded clockwise from the north by the parishes of Ottery St Mary, Sidmouth, Otterton, Colaton Raleigh and Aylesbeare Aylesbeare is a village and civil parish i ...

East Devon East Devon is a local government district in Devon, England. Its council has been based in Honiton since February 2019, and the largest town is Exmouth (with a population of 34,432 at the time of the 2011 census). The district was formed ...

, England, within the

East Devon AONB East Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) covers over of the East Devon countryside (England). This countryside includes eighteen miles (29 km) of Heritage coastline. The designated area covers: twenty-nine parishes and borders the c ...

. Newton Poppleford is twinned with Crèvecœur-en-Auge in

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

, France. In 2019 it had an estimated population of 1784. In 1931 the parish had a population of 447. The village is on the route of a Roman road from

Axmouth Axmouth is a village, civil parish and former manor in the East Devon district of Devon, England, near the mouth of the River Axe. The village itself is about inland, on the east bank of the Axe estuary. The parish extends along the estuary ...

to Exeter. It includes some whitewashed cob thatched cottages, one shop and St Luke's Church which was founded in 1331 (with the current structure dating from 1897). The town contains a village hall, primary school and sports pavilion. There was also a church hall, however it was burnt down in 2012 when fire spread from a nearby shed, possibly a result of arson. A carnival procession used to travel through the village in the autumn, although this was stopped in 2014. Newton Poppleford railway station closed in 1967 and was subsequently demolished. The church hall has since been rebuilt. The surroundings are known for

market gardening A market garden is the relatively small-scale production of fruits, vegetables and flowers as cash crops, frequently sold directly to consumers and restaurants. The diversity of crops grown on a small area of land, typically from under to som ...

because of the excellent soil quality in the area. A variety of

daffodil ''Narcissus'' is a genus of predominantly spring flowering perennial plants of the amaryllis family, Amaryllidaceae. Various common names including daffodil,The word "daffodil" is also applied to related genera such as ''Sternbergia'', ''Ism ...

(the King Alfred) was originated in the village and received an award from the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nor ...

in 1899. This renowned flower, with its large colourful trumpets, was first cultivated in the house of 'The Gardens' and premises, which is found in the centre of the village. It is one of the oldest houses in the village, dating back to the 15th Century, with cob walls and thatched roof with a quaint brook (small tributary) passing through the garden joining the River Otter. There are also fruit farms nearby. The name Newton Poppleford means 'The New Town by the Pebble Ford.' It was originally settled by the Saxons and founded as a 'new town' in the 13th century by the Lord of the Manor of Aylesbeare. He was granted the right to hold a market, which was originally sited at the centre of the town. The

East Devon Way The East Devon Way is a long-distance footpath in England. It runs for between Exmouth Exmouth is a port town, civil parish and seaside resort, sited on the east bank of the mouth of the River Exe and southeast of Exeter. In 2011 ...

path passes close by. Questions and answers for the many British editions of the board game Trivial Pursuit were written at Bowhay Cottage in Newton Poppleford for 25 years by Brian Highley. The Newton Poppleford Local History Group formed in 2014 to record and document local history and memories of local people.

Civil parish

Newton Poppleford, historically a chapelry in the ancient parish of

Aylesbeare Aylesbeare is a village and civil parish in the East Devon district of Devon, England, east of Exeter. According to the 2001 census the parish, which includes the hamlet of Nutwalls, had a population of 527. Known for the Site of Special Scienti ...

, became a civil parish in 1898. On 1 April 1935, it was abolished and added to the parish of

Harpford Harpford is a small village in East Devon, England. It lies on the east side of the River Otter, less than 1 mile north east of the larger village of Newton Poppleford. Harpford was an ancient parish. The parish was a strip parish, which in ...

, together with the smaller parish of Venn Ottery, part of Newton Poppleford went to Aylesbeare.

Demography

Men in the Newton Poppleford and Harpford ward had the fourth highest life expectancy at birth, 89.4 years, of any ward in England and Wales in 2016.

References

External links

Newton Poppleford & Harpford Parish Council websiteBBC Discovering Devon - Newton Poppleford
{{authority control Villages in Devon Former civil parishes in Devon East Devon District