Stoke Gabriel is a village and
parish in
Devon,
England, situated on a
creek
A creek in North America and elsewhere, such as Australia, is a stream that is usually smaller than a river. In the British Isles it is a small tidal inlet.
Creek may also refer to:
People
* Creek people, also known as Muscogee, Native Americans
...
of the
River Dart. The village is a popular tourist destination in the
South Hams and is famous for its mill pond and crab fishing (known colloquially as ''crabbing''). It is equidistant from Paignton, Dartmouth, Devon, Dartmouth and Totnes, and has a population of approximately 1,200, reducing slightly to 1,107 at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census. The village is the major part of the electoral ward of East Dart. The ward population at the abovementioned census was 1,877.
Fisherman probably first came to Stoke Gabriel to fish salmon and gain access to the
River Dart. The village has an approximately 1,000-year-old yew tree in the churchyard of The Church (building), Church of Mary (mother of Jesus), St Mary and Gabriel, St Gabriel, a church which has stood since Norman conquest of England, Norman times. Legend has it that if you walk backwards seven times round the yew's main stem you will be granted a wish.
The village has two public houses; The Church House Inn and The Castle Inn. Until relatively recently there were three pubs. The other being The Victoria and Albert Inn. The Church House Inn was built to accommodate the masons who constructed the church and also served as the courthouse. The old stocks can be seen outside the inn today.
Stoke Gabriel is the template for the fictional village of Thornford Regis in C. C. Benison's crime novels Twelve Drummers Drumming and Eleven Pipers Piping.
Notable people
* John Davis (explorer), John Davis (ca.1550 – 1605), one of the chief navigators of Queen Elizabeth I.
* George Jackson Churchward CBE (1857–1933), an English railway engineer and chief mechanical engineer of the Great Western Railway, he lends his name to the local football club's ground - Stoke Gabriel & Torbay Police F.C.
References
External links
Stoke Gabriel Parish CouncilStoke Gabriel Church* Stoke Gabriel A.F.C., Stoke Gabriel Football Club
Stoke Gabriel Pre-SchoolStoke Gabriel School
Villages in South Hams
Civil parishes in South Hams
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