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

West Devon West Devon is a local government district and borough in Devon, England. Towns and villages in the district include Chagford, Okehampton, Princetown and Tavistock, where the council is based. The district was formed on 1 April 1974, under the ...

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 ...

, most famous for being the place where the

Western Rebellion The Prayer Book Rebellion or Western Rising was a popular revolt in Cornwall and Devon in 1549. In that year, the ''Book of Common Prayer'', presenting the theology of the English Reformation, was introduced. The change was widely unpopular, ...

, otherwise known as the Prayerbook rebellion, first started, and where the rebels made their final stand. It has a population of around 600. The Church of St Andrew is mainly built of granite and has an elegant tower.Betjeman, J. (ed.) (1968) Collins Pocket Guide to English Parish Churches: the South. London: Collins; p. 165 It was served by the nearby

Sampford Courtenay railway station Sampford Courtenay railway station is a disused railway station at Belstone Corner, which used to serve the nearby (1.6 miles) village of Sampford Courtenay in Devon. The village lies 3 minutes away by car or around 30 minutes by foot via the B ...

Belstone Corner Belstone Corner is a hamlet (place), hamlet in West Devon in the England, English county of Devon, part of the civil parish of Sampford Courtenay. The Sampford Courtenay railway station, on the Exeter to Okehampton line, is at Belstone Corner a ...

Literature

Sampford Courtenay is the area author

M.R. James Montague Rhodes James (1 August 1862 – 12 June 1936) was an English author, medievalist scholar and provost of King's College, Cambridge (1905–1918), and of Eton College (1918–1936). He was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambrid ...

had in mind for his short ghost story

Martin's Close "Martin's Close" is a ghost story by British writer M. R. James, included in his 1911 collection '' More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary''. Plot summary The story is presented as a report of a trial in the year 1684, before Judge Jeffreys. Squi ...

published in

More Ghost Stories ''More Ghost Stories'' is a horror short story collection by British writer M. R. James, published in 1911. Some later editions under the title ''Ghost Stories of an Antiquary'' contain it and the earlier ''Ghost Stories of an Antiquary'' in one ...

in 1911. The New Inn featured in this story is also a real place and a grade II listed old coaching inn originally built in the 16th Century

References

External links

Villages in Devon {{devon-geo-stub