Stokeinteignhead () 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 authorit ...

in the

Teignbridge Teignbridge is a local government district in Devon, England. Its council is based in Newton Abbot. Other towns in the district include Ashburton, Buckfastleigh, Dawlish and Teignmouth. It is named for the old Teignbridge hundred. ...

district of

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, above the southern bank of the estuary of the

River Teign The River Teign is a river in the county of Devon, England. It is long and rises on Dartmoor, becomes an estuary just below Newton Abbot and reaches the English Channel at Teignmouth. Toponymy The river-name 'Teign' is first attested in an An ...

. The parish has a short boundary on the estuary, and is otherwise surrounded, clockwise from the north, by the parishes of

Shaldon Shaldon is a village and civil parish in South Devon, England, on the south bank of the estuary of the River Teign, opposite Teignmouth. The village is a popular bathing place and is characterised by Georgian architecture. At the United Kin ...

Torbay Torbay is a borough and unitary authority in Devon, south west England. It is governed by Torbay Council and consists of of land, including the resort towns of Torquay, Paignton and Brixham, located on east-facing Tor Bay, part of Lyme ...

Coffinswell Coffinswell is a small village in South Devon, England, just off the A380, the busy Newton Abbot to Torquay road. It lies within Teignbridge District Council. Coffinswell has a church dedicated to Saint Bartholomew with a Norman font. Near th ...

and

Haccombe with Combe Haccombe with Combe is a civil parish in the Teignbridge local government district of Devon, England. The parish lies immediately to the east of the town of Newton Abbot, and south of the estuary of the River Teign. Across the estuary are the p ...

. It is twinned with the French commune of Trévières, Calvados.

History

Despite its closeness to the river Teign, the name is not derived from it: 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 manus ...

the district contained thirteen manors which totalled an area of ten hides and the whole area was known as the "Ten Hide". This was later corrupted to "Teignhead" through the influence of the river name. The name of the nearby village of Combeinteignhead has a similar derivation. Most of the village forms a conservation area and there are over fifty

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

s nearby. The mascot of Stokeinteignhead, appearing on the village signs, is the

cirl bunting The cirl bunting ( ), (''Emberiza cirlus''), is a passerine bird in the bunting family Emberizidae, a group now separated by most modern authors from the finches, Fringillidae. It breeds across southern Europe, on the Mediterranean islands an ...

Governance

Stokeinteignhead in elections every four years elects one representative to Devon County Council, and one representative to

District Council. The parish council has eight elected councillors with elections every four years.

Amenities

Stokeinteignhead village is the largest settlement of the parish and includes a primary school, pre-school, a community shop and one

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

, The Church House Inn. Stokeinteignhead Village Hall was demolished in 2005 with a plan to re-build it at the same location; it is now in a former part of the school field and construction began in 2006 and was completed some months later. The village church, dating from the 14th century and enlarged in the 15th, is dedicated to Saint Andrew. Its high altar was dedicated by Bishop Grandisson in 1336. Its rood screen is one of the oldest in Devon and believed to be 14th century; the church also contains the earliest brass engraved to a priest in the county, dated to 1375. The church, which is Grade II* listed, underwent major restoration in 1894 having instructed architects Tait and Harvey. Lower and Higher Gabwell

Hamlets

Lower Gabwell is the second largest

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

, less than from the village centre. About further south is Higher Gabwell, the largest hamlet. Buildings at Higher Rocombe The hamlets of Lower, Middle and Higher Rocombe are less than to the west. Across these there are four

s, three focussed around Higher Rocombe Farm and the largest, that of Orchard Farm and adjoining Lower Rocombe Cottage dating back several centuries. Cottages at Teignharvey and Teign estuary The hamlet of Teignharvey to the north-west contains a cluster of cottages. Its oldest is Little Harvey, from which the village takes its name, and this (the only important or ancient building) dates to the

Tudor period The Tudor period occurred between 1485 and 1603 in England and Wales and includes the Elizabethan period during the reign of Elizabeth I until 1603. The Tudor period coincides with the dynasty of the House of Tudor in England that began wit ...

in the early 16th century.

References

External links

Official site
{{authority control Villages in Devon