Hartland, Devon
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The village of Hartland, whose parish incorporates the hamlet of Stoke to the west and the village of Meddon in the south, is the most north-westerly settlement in the county of
Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...
, England. Now a large village which acts as a centre for a rural neighbourhood and has minor
tourist Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as being limited to holiday activity on ...
traffic, until Tudor times Hartland was an important
port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...
. It lies close to the promontory of Hartland Point, where the coast of Devon turns from facing north into the
Bristol Channel The Bristol Channel (, literal translation: "Severn Sea") is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales (from Pembrokeshire to the Vale of Glamorgan) and South West England (from Devon to North Somerset). It extends ...
to face west into the
Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...
. There is an important
lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Ligh ...
on the point. The town's harbour, Hartland Quay, is to the south of the point: the quay was originally built in the late 16th century but was swept away in 1887. The high tower of the Church of Saint Nectan in Stoke remains a significant landmark for ships in the
Bristol Channel The Bristol Channel (, literal translation: "Severn Sea") is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales (from Pembrokeshire to the Vale of Glamorgan) and South West England (from Devon to North Somerset). It extends ...
. The appropriate electoral ward is called ''Hartland'' ''and
Bradworthy Bradworthy is a village and civil parish in Devon, England, situated north-east of the border with Cornwall. This location has led to it being called the "last village in North Devon" – traveling further west leads to the Cornish village of K ...
''. Its population at the 2011 census was 3,019.


Communications

Hartland is a convenient centre for walking parts of the
South West Coast Path The South West Coast Path is England's longest waymarked Long-distance footpaths in the UK, long-distance footpath and a National Trail. It stretches for , running from Minehead in Somerset, along the coasts of Devon and Cornwall, to Poole Harb ...
, and the wild coastal scenery around the point is some of the most dramatic on the path, with views across to Lundy Island. From Hartland Point, the Lundy Company operates its helicopter service to Lundy between November and March. The 319 bus service, a council-supported infrequent route operated by Stagecoach Devon, runs from
Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town and civil parish in the North Devon district of Devon, England. The town lies at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool from ...
to Hartland and return. There is also a 519 service, which runs to
Bude Bude (, locally or ; Cornish language, Cornish ) is a seaside town in north Cornwall, England, in the civil parish of Bude-Stratton and at the mouth of the River Neet (also known locally as the River Strat). It was sometimes formerly known as ...
.


History and notable buildings

The town was in the past known as Harton and was an unreformed
borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...
, finally abolished in 1886. In medieval times there was an important abbey at Hartland, where the shrine of St Nectan was venerated. Hartland Abbey and the parish church are located some away in Stoke.


Hartland Abbey

Hartland Abbey was built in 1157 and consecrated by Bartholomew Iscanus in 1160 (Bartholomew was appointed
Bishop of Exeter The Bishop of Exeter is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Exeter in the Province of Canterbury. The current bishop is Mike Harrison (bishop), Mike Harrison, since 2024. From the first bishop until the sixteent ...
the following year). It was converted into an Augustinian abbey in 1189. In 1539 it was the last monastery to be dissolved by
Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...
. The King gave the building to William Abbot, his Sergeant of the Wine Cellar at
Hampton Court Hampton Court Palace is a Listed building, Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. Opened to the public, the palace is managed by Historic Royal ...
. William Abbot converted what had been the Abbot's Lodging into a mansion. The present house incorporates a few components from Tudor times but is mainly the wing added to the old house in 1705 (the north-west corner being the work of 'Mr Mathews' (according to the author of the ''Beauties of England and Wales''). Further alterations were made in about 1860.Pevsner, N. (1952) North Devon. Penguin Books The gardens were laid out by
Gertrude Jekyll Gertrude Jekyll ( ; 29 November 1843 – 8 December 1932) was a British Horticulture, horticulturist, garden designer, craftswoman, photographer, writer and artist. She created over 400 gardens in the United Kingdom, Europe and the United Sta ...
.


Churches

Saint Nectan, sometimes styled Saint ''Nectan of Hartland'', was a 5th-century holy man who lived in Stoke. The Anglican church is St Nectan's Church, Stoke, Hartland. The Roman Catholic Church ( Our Lady and St Nectan's Church, Hartland) was opened in 1964: it was also dedicated to St Nectan. The building was closed in 2010 due to no priests being available to celebrate mass there, and was demolished in 2012. The Parish Church of St Nectan has the highest tower in Devon (), built in the late Perpendicular style. The church is large () and was built in the mid-14th century. Notable features include the fine Norman font, the rood screen (described as the finest in north Devon) and the old wagon roofs. The monuments include an elaborate medieval tomb-chest, a small brass of 1610 and a metal-inlaid lid of a churchyard tomb from 1618.


Historic estates

Historic estates within the parish include: * Docton


Toponymy

The name "Hartland" presumably derives from the
Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...
word "heort" for a
deer A deer (: deer) or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family Cervidae (informally the deer family). Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae (which includes, among others, muntjac, elk (wapiti), red deer, and fallow deer) ...
(compare with Swedish "hjort" and Dutch "hert"), and it is therefore surprising that it is not more common in
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
. The many places in other English-speaking countries called Hartland probably bear witness to the historic importance of Hartland rather than being independent derivations, since the word "hart" was largely obsolete before the European discovery of the
New World The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...
. Before the discovery of America, the word Hart was common in surnames. Family names such as Hartshorne were first 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...
. The nearby Hartland Point was named "promontory of Hercules" during the Roman occupation, which could have influenced the later naming of the village and parish.


Miscellany

Twin town Plozévet,
Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...
,
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
Natural history The coast at Hartland is part of the North Devon Coast AONB. The
British Geological Survey The British Geological Survey (BGS) is a partly publicly funded body which aims to advance Earth science, geoscientific knowledge of the United Kingdom landmass and its continental shelf by means of systematic surveying, monitoring and research. ...
operates a magnetic observatory (one of three in the UK) just to the north of Hartland. Television In early 2008, scenery and a cottage on the Hartland Abbey estate were featured in the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
adaptation of ''
Sense and Sensibility ''Sense and Sensibility'' ( working title; ''Elinor and Marianne'') is the first novel by the English author Jane Austen, published in 1811. It was published anonymously: ''By A Lady'' appears on the title page where the author's name might h ...
''. Episode 2 of the BBC's 2016 adaptation of ''The Night Manager'' features Fore Street (Hartland's main street, including the Anchor Inn pub, O'Donnell's Grocers and Heard's Garage), Hartland Quay and the same Hartland Abbey cottage as featured in ''Sense and Sensibility''. Community magazine The ''Hartland Times,'' ‘A bi-monthly review of life in Hartland’, reported on events and village life. It was first published in 1981, taking inspiration from the ''Hartland Chronicle'', a local newspaper written and edited by Thomas Cory Burrow from 1896 to 1940. Its editor was Tony Manley. The final edition was published in September 2014, after which Manley retired. The ''Times''' successor, the ''Hartland Post'', is published quarterly, with its first issue released in the winter of 2015/16.


Notable residents

* Mary Norton, author of the Borrowers novels, lived in Hartland towards the end of her life and is buried at the local
parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...
in Stoke. *
Satish Kumar Satish Kumar (born 9 August 1936) is an Indian British activist and speaker. He has been a Jainism, Jain monk, nuclear disarmament advocate and pacifist.'' ''Now living in England, Kumar is founder and Director of Programmes of the Schumacher ...
, editor of '' Resurgence'' magazine and founder of the Small School.


References


External links

{{authority control Villages in Devon Former towns in Devon Torridge District