Spreyton is a small rural village just north of

Dartmoor Dartmoor is an upland area in southern Devon, England. The moorland and surrounding land has been protected by National Park status since 1951. Dartmoor National Park covers . The granite which forms the uplands dates from the Carboniferous ...

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 ...

, England. Spreyton is famous for its connection to the tale of “Old

Uncle Tom Cobley The phrase Uncle Tom Cobley and all is used in British English as a humorous or whimsical way of saying '' et al.'', often to express exasperation at the large number of people in a list. The phrase comes from a Devon folk song, " Widecombe Fair" ...

and all” who came from, and is thought to be buried in Spreyton. Some believe that if Uncle Tom Cobley did exist and did travel to

Widecombe Widecombe in the Moor () is a village and large civil parish in Dartmoor National Park in Devon, England. Its church is known as the Cathedral of the Moors on account of its tall tower and its size, relative to the small population it serves. It ...

fair, he would have travelled from Spreyton. Spreyton was mentioned in the Domesday Book (1086) as ""Spreitone" in the ancient

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to des ...

of Wonford Open Domesday Online: Spreyton
accessed March 2019. and in 1236 as "Sprotton". The first element of the name is the Anglo-Saxon word from which "spray" is derived, "spray" meaning "twig" or "brushwood". There is a small primary school, Spreyton County Primary School, serving the village and the surrounding area. The

Tom Cobley Tavern The Tom Cobley Tavern is a pub in Spreyton, Devon, England. It dates back to the 16th century, and may be the 1802 starting point of Uncle Tom Cobley and his companions for the journey to Widecombe Fair, in the well-known folk song. It was CAMR ...

is the village pub, placed on the main street in the village. There is also a parish church, which holds the grave of 'Tom Cobley' within its churchyard. The parish church of St Michael is built of granite ashlar and stands on a hill. The wagon roofs of the nave, aisle and chancel are medieval; the roof of the chancel has an inscription dated 1451. The Norman font is octagonal. The church is notable for its medieval ceiling boss depicting three

hare Hares and jackrabbits are mammals belonging to the genus ''Lepus''. They are herbivores, and live solitarily or in pairs. They nest in slight depressions called forms, and their young are able to fend for themselves shortly after birth. The g ...

s with shared ears.

Footnotes

External links

Official website
Spreyton, by the Post Office - geograph

Villages in Devon {{devon-geo-stub