Dunsford is a village in

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. Devo ...

, England, just inside the

Dartmoor National Park 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 P ...

. The place-name 'Dunsford' is first attested in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

of 1086, where it appears as ''Dunesforda'', meaning 'Dunn's ford'. The village has a number of traditional thatched cottages; a primary school which has a swimming pool,

climbing wall A climbing wall is an artificially constructed wall with grips for hands and feet, usually used for indoor climbing, but sometimes located outdoors. Some are brick or wooden constructions, but on most modern walls, the material most often used i ...

and sports field; one village shop and post office; a tea room and a public house. St Mary's Church, built between 1420 and 1455, is located in the village centre. Dunsford holds
village show
at the beginning of July every year and the Dunsford Amateur Dramatic Society (DADS) produces a pantomime in the Village Hall in early January. The villagers also hold an annual fancy dress pancake race in the streets. Dunsford Halt was a station on the Teign Valley Line from Exeter to Heathfield station that served the village from 1928 to 1958.

Great Fulford Great Fulford is an historic estate in the parish of Dunsford, Devon. The grade I listed manor house, known as Great Fulford House, is about 9 miles west of Exeter. Its site was said in 1810 to be "probably the most ancient in the county". ...

House lies to the west of Dunsford; a Domesday manor which has been the home of the Fulford family since at least 1190. The present house was mainly built in the early 16th century and is a semi-fortified mansion house built round a central courtyard.Great Fulford House. Retrieved : 2010-05-13
It was the backdrop to the 2014 reality-television programme,

Life Is Toff Life Is Toff is a 2014 documentary-style reality television series, following the family of Francis Fulford. The Fulford family have resided at their Devon country seat, Great Fulford Great Fulford is an historic estate in the parish o ...

Nearby is Dunsford Woods nature reserve which is managed by

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 ...

and consists of 57 hectares of river valley woodland, heath-covered rocky slopes and fertile flood-plain scrub and grassland. It is especially known for its wild daffodils and six species of fritillary butterfly. The hamlet of Butts is about one mile west of Dunsford, and generally considered to be part of the village, as is "Reedy," a similar distance to the East.

References

External links

Dunsford Show official websiteDunsford Village website
{{authority control Villages in Devon