Uplyme is an English 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 ...

East Devon East Devon is a local government district in Devon, England. Its council has been based in Honiton since February 2019, and the largest town is Exmouth (with a population of 34,432 at the time of the 2011 census). The district was formed ...

on the Devon-Dorset border and the River Lym, adjacent to the

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...

coastal town of

Lyme Regis Lyme Regis is a town in west Dorset, England, west of Dorchester and east of Exeter. Sometimes dubbed the "Pearl of Dorset", it lies by the English Channel at the Dorset– Devon border. It has noted fossils in cliffs and beaches on the He ...

. It has a population of approximately 1700 recounted as 1663 at the 2011 census. ''Uplyme'' is situated in the

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to ...

of Trinity whose population at the above census was 2,521.

History and background

The parish of Uplyme has one of the largest boundaries in England—in excess of , the area of the village being approximately . The remains of a

Romano-British The Romano-British culture arose in Britain under the Roman Empire following the Roman conquest in AD 43 and the creation of the province of Britannia. It arose as a fusion of the imported Roman culture with that of the indigenous Britons, ...

villa were excavated near to the village in 1850. The earliest recorded reference to the parish was in AD740 when

Cynewulf Cynewulf (, ; also spelled Cynwulf or Kynewulf) is one of twelve Old English poets known by name, and one of four whose work is known to survive today. He presumably flourished in the 9th century, with possible dates extending into the late 8th ...

, King of Wessex gifted the manor of Uplyme to

Glastonbury Abbey Glastonbury Abbey was a monastery in Glastonbury, Somerset, England. Its ruins, a grade I listed building and scheduled ancient monument, are open as a visitor attraction. The abbey was founded in the 8th century and enlarged in the 10th. It w ...

. 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 ...

mentions the village. The parish church of St. Peter and St. Paul lies within the village and is located adjacent to the primary school. The church is thought to have been founded in the 9th century, but the 14th century tower is the oldest part of the present structure. Postmedieval coin, 1678 Half Guinea of Charles II (FindID 584034)

Postmedieval coin, 1678 Half Guinea of Charles II (FindID 584034)

The village hall is situated a few hundred yards from the church, with adjacent playing fields containing a children's play area and two cricket pavilions (one is disused). The old village hall was replaced by the modern building in 1993 and was financed by fundraising and grant funding under the leadership of villager Adrian Pearson.

Primary school

Mrs Ethelston's C of E Primary School is named after Mrs Anne Ethelston (1799–1854), the wife of the Reverend Charles Wicksted Ethelston. After her death, Charles Ethelston erected a building in his wife's memory in order to house the already existing school. The main building was not opened until 1873, a year after his death. The school houses around 120 pupils, encompassing seven years in six classes. The school consists of three buildings, an early 1990s building for reception to year 2 known as Wood Haven, and another building is being built, whilst the main original old building is home to years 3, 4, 5 and 6, as well as the staff and administration areas.

Facilities

The Black Dog and The New Inn

public house 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 wa ...

s have closed, leaving just the Talbot Arms which has reduced in size from two to one bars, has accommodation and serves food. The Black Dog was supposedly named after a phantom black dog which led a farmer to a hoard of Stuart coins, which he then used to purchase the inn. Devon Hotel (1)

The last hotel, The Devon Hotel, (formerly the vicarage) was converted to flats with the extensive grounds being developed for housing. Shops were reduced to one when the village butchers closed. There is filling station in the village. As with many villages Uplyme has a village hall that was rebuilt in 1994 after a monumental fund raising effort by the local people, run as a charity the village hall relies on funding from revenue raised by hiring out the halls facilities. Nearby is Furzehill Plantation a woodland owned and managed by the

Woodland Trust The Woodland Trust is the largest woodland conservation charity in the United Kingdom and is concerned with the creation, protection, and restoration of native woodland heritage. It has planted over 50 million trees since 1972. The Woodland Tr ...

. A 5.5km footpath at the rear of the Talbot Arms follows the river Lym down to

Historic building

Uplyme has a number of buildings that are "

listed Listed may refer to: * Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm * Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic * Endangered species in biology * Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...

", some examples are :- Devon_Hotel_%281%29.jpg, Devon Hotel Elton.jpg, Elton Rest_Harrow.jpg, Rest Harrow Horseshoe Cottage Sunnybanks.jpg, Hourseshoe Cottage Tor Cottage Wadleigh House.jpg, Tor Cottage Mrs Ethelston's CofE Primary Academy.jpg, Mrs Ethelston's CofE Academy Uplyme village (geograph 3555606).jpg, Church of St Peter and St Paul Lane End Farmhouse (1).jpg, Lane End Farmhouse

References

External links

Uplymevillage.com

Uplyme.com

Parish Council
* {{authority control Villages in Devon