West Putford is a small settlement 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

local government district The districts of England (also known as local authority districts or local government districts to distinguish from unofficial city districts) are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government. As the st ...

of Torridge,

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. The parish, which lies about north of the town of

Holsworthy Holsworthy is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Torridge District, Torridge district of Devon, England, some west of Exeter. The River Deer, a tributary of the River Tamar, forms the western boundary of the paris ...

, is surrounded clockwise from the north by the parishes of East Putford (with which it is joined for ecclesiastical purposes), a small part of

Bulkworthy Bulkworthy is a village and civil parish in the Torridge district of Devon, England, about 9 miles southwest of Great Torrington, and on the River Torridge. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 83. It is listed in the ''Domesda ...

, Abbots Bickington,

Sutcombe Sutcombe is a village and civil parish in the local government district of Torridge, Devon, England. The parish, which lies about 5.5 miles north of the town of Holsworthy, is surrounded clockwise from the north by the parishes of West Putford ...

, Bradworthy and Woolfardisworthy. In 2001 its population was 181, compared to 216 in 1901. The eastern and northern boundaries of the parish mostly follow the

River Torridge The River Torridge is a river in Devon in England; it rises near Meddon. The river describes a long loop through Devon farming country where its tributaries the Lew and Okement join before meeting the Taw at Appledore and flowing into the Bristo ...

over which is the 13th-century Kismeldon Bridge.

Tumuli A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones built ...

on the high ground provide evidence for early inhabitants here. The

cruciform Cruciform is a term for physical manifestations resembling a common cross or Christian cross. The label can be extended to architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly describe ...

early 14th-century parish church is dedicated to Saint Stephen. It has a Norman font, and the tower has been dated to around 1500. According to W. G. Hoskins (writing in the early 1950s) the church is clean, well-preserved and it largely avoided the attention of the Victorian restorers, making it "a pleasure, not merely to the antiquary, but to all who see it". Other notable buildings in the parish include Churston House, near the church, which was built in around 1600 by one of the Prideaux family and retains many original features; and Cory Barton, about half a mile to the north, which dates from the 16th century and was the seat of the Cory family. There is a Gnome Reserve, founded in 1979.

References

Villages in Devon Torridge District {{Devon-geo-stub