King's Nympton (Latinised to ''Nymet Regis'') is a village, parish and former manor in the

North Devon North Devon is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in Devon, England. Its council is based just outside Barnstaple, the district's largest town. The district also includes the towns of Ilfracombe, Lynton and Lynmouth and Sout ...

district, in

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, in the heart of the rolling countryside between

Exmoor Exmoor () is loosely defined as an area of hilly open moorland in west Somerset and north Devon in South West England. It is named after the River Exe, the source of which is situated in the centre of the area, two miles north-west of Simons ...

and

Dartmoor Dartmoor is an upland area in southern Devon, South West England. The moorland and surrounding land has been protected by National Park status since 1951. Dartmoor National Park covers . The granite that forms the uplands dates from the Carb ...

, some 4½ miles () S.S.W. of

South Molton South Molton is a town and civil parish in the North Devon district, in the county of Devon, England. The town is on the River Mole. In 2021 it had a population of 6225. South Molton is a market town trading mostly in sheep and cattle. There wa ...

and N. of Chulmleigh. The parish exceeds in area and sits mostly on a promontory above the

River Mole The River Mole is a tributary of the River Thames in southern England. It rises in West Sussex near Gatwick Airport and flows north-west through Surrey for to the Thames at Hampton Court Palace. The river gives its name to the Surrey district ...

(anciently the Nymet) which forms nearly half of its parish boundary. In 2021 the parish had a population of 444. Many of the outlying farmhouses date from the 15th and 16th centuries and the village has cottages and a

pub A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

, with thatched roofs. Nearly all of its 5,540 acres are given over to agriculture with beef, sheep, dairy, arable and egg production forming the bulk of farming activity.

History

Ancient British people settled here in small groups on the higher ground. In around 980 AD the Church of St. James was established here by the Saxons, probably on the site of a pagan "nymet”, a sanctuary or holy grove. At the time of 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 ...

of 1086, the whole manor of ''Nimetone'', in the

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...

of Witheridge, belonged to the King, but King Henry I (1100–1135) granted the manor to Joel de Mayne. After passing through several families, the manor was purchased by Sir Lewis Pollard (c. 1465-1526), in whose family it remained until Sir Hugh Pollard, 2nd Baronet (c.1610-1666) sold the manor to his cousin

Sir Arthur Northcote, 2nd Baronet Sir Arthur Northcote, 2nd Baronet (1628–1688) was a baronet from Devon, England. He lived at Hayne in the parish of Newton St Cyres, Devon, where the mansion house has since been demolished; and also at King's Nympton, Devon, a manor that he p ...

(1628–1688). The Northcote family held the manor until 1740 when it was sold to

James Buller (the younger) James Buller may refer to: * James Buller (the elder) (1678–1710), British MP for Saltash, Cornwall 1701–1705 and 1708–1710 * James Buller (1717–1765) (1717–1765), British MP for East Looe 1741–1748 and Cornwall 1748–1765 * James Bull ...

whose family held it until 1842 when it was purchased by James Tanner.

King's Nympton Park

Kings Nympton Park is a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. In 1872 it belonged to James Tanner, Esq., although the lord of the manor of King's Nympton was H. M. Byne, Esq. An on-site auction sale held by Kivell's auctioneers occurred at Park Farm on the Kingsnympton Park Estate on 25 January 2010, which included pedigree North Devon cattle, sheep and machinery.http://www.thisisnorthdevon.co.uk/Widespread-expected-Kingsnympton-Park-sale/story-12149548-detail/story.html#axzz2QE8TBQW5

Railway station

The village gives its name to the King's Nympton railway station, although the station itself is situated from the village in the

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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

of Chulmleigh.

References

External links

*King's Nympton community website http://www.kingsnympton.org.uk/ * {{authority control Villages in Devon Civil parishes in Devon North Devon