Hittisleigh is a small rural parish and village just north-east 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 ...
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. Devon is ...
. Once part of the ancient district of the
Wonford Hundred
The hundred of Wonford was the name of one of 32 ancient administrative units of Devon, England.
The parishes in the hundred were:
* Alphington
* Brampford Speke
* Bridford
* Chagford
* Cheriton Bishop
* Christow
* Combeinteignhead
* Drewsteig ...
, it is now administered by Mid Devon District Council and part of the Central Devon constituency. The name Hittisleigh may be derived from Hyttin's leah (from the Old English for wood/clearing). Alternatively it may come from the Old English "hithisce" (a family or tenants) and have meant 'tenant's place or pasture'. Although difficult to date the initial settlement Hittisleigh is mentioned 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 ...
.
Hittisleigh is known as the birthplace of
Samuel Bellamy
Captain Samuel Bellamy ( c. 23 February, 1689 – 26 April 1717), later known as "Black Sam" Bellamy, was an English sailor, turned pirate, who operated in the early 18th century. He is best known as the wealthiest pirate in recorded history, an ...
the eighteenth-century pirate.
It has a church,
Church of St Andrew, Hittisleigh
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship
* Chris ...
, village hall, several farms and a public telephone box. In the past it has also boasted a school, public house (The Hunters Inn), post office, blacksmith, bakery and Wesleyan Methodist chapel. These have all since closed with the buildings often becoming residential. The church has a nave and chancel of the 14th century and a 15th-century aisle built of granite. According to
John Betjeman
Sir John Betjeman (; 28 August 190619 May 1984) was an English poet, writer, and broadcaster. He was Poet Laureate from 1972 until his death. He was a founding member of The Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architecture, ...
, "it was restored late and lovingly" and is "an adorable little church".
[Betjeman, John, ed. (1968) ''Collins Pocket Guide to English Parish Churches; the South''. London: Collins; p. 163]
The village is served by a bus from
Whiddon Down
Whiddon Down is a hamlet within the parish of Drewsteignton in Devon.
Location
The hamlet lies on the old east–west A30 (London-Penzance) road, between Exeter and Okehampton at the cross-roads with the south–north route up to Bideford. The ...
to
Crediton
Crediton is a town and civil parish in the Mid Devon district of Devon in England. It stands on the A377 Exeter to Barnstaple road at the junction with the A3072 road to Tiverton, about north west of Exeter and around from the M5 motorway ...
on a Tuesday (it returns if required by passengers on the bus).
References
External links
Villages in Devon
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