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

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 ...

South West England South West England, or the South West of England, is one of the nine official regions of England, regions of England in the United Kingdom. Additionally, it is one of four regions that altogether make up Southern England. South West England con ...

near the

confluence In geography, a confluence (also ''conflux'') occurs where two or more watercourses join to form a single channel (geography), channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main ...

of the rivers

Wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, includin ...

and Lyd, 1¼ miles south of the A30 trunk road and very near the border between Devon and

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

. The village is part of 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 t ...

of Thrushel. The population of the surrounding Thrushel ward (which includes the village of Thrushelton to the east of Lifton) at the 2011

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

was 1680.

History

The village was one of the first in the west of Devon to be founded by the

Saxons The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

, and was of strategic importance because of its location on a major route close to the border with Cornwall. It was first recorded as ''Liwtune'' in the will of King Alfred in the late 9th century when it was left to his youngest son Æthelweard (c.880-922). At a meeting of the Witan in Lifton on 12 November 931 King

Æthelstan Æthelstan or Athelstan (; ; ; ; – 27 October 939) was King of the Anglo-Saxons from 924 to 927 and King of the English from 927 to his death in 939. He was the son of King Edward the Elder and his first wife, Ecgwynn. Modern histori ...

granted land to his

thegn In later Anglo-Saxon England, a thegn or thane (Latin minister) was an aristocrat who ranked at the third level in lay society, below the king and ealdormen. He had to be a substantial landowner. Thanage refers to the tenure by which lands were ...

Wulfgar, and the charter was witnessed by King

Hywel Dda Hywel ap Cadell, commonly known as Hywel Dda, which translates to Howel the Good in English, was a Welsh king who ruled the southern Welsh kingdom of Deheubarth and eventually came to rule most of Wales. He became the sole king of Seisyllw ...

Deheubarth Deheubarth (; , thus 'the South') was a regional name for the Welsh kingdoms, realms of south Wales, particularly as opposed to kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd (Latin: ''Venedotia''). It is now used as a shorthand for the various realms united under ...

and King Idwal Foel of

Gwynedd Gwynedd () is a county in the north-west of Wales. It borders Anglesey across the Menai Strait to the north, Conwy, Denbighshire, and Powys to the east, Ceredigion over the Dyfi estuary to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. The ci ...

. Lifton became the centre of an administrative

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 ...

, and was a royal manor, passing into private hands when sold by

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudor. Her eventful reign, and its effect on history ...

to local landowner William Harris of Hayne in the parish of Stowford, Devon, in the late 16th century. Since they had moved here from Kenegie in Cornwall their armorial bearings include a motto in Cornish, which is "Car Dew tres pub tra" ("Love God above everything"). A former inn at Portgate, the Harris Arms, named after the family, is now a private residence There has been a church in Lifton since Norman times, although little of the existing St Mary's Church is earlier than the 15th century.History of Lifton website
In 1755 the manor was inherited by the Arundell family. The Arundell Arms is a hotel, formerly a coaching inn known as the "White Horse", which is known today for fishing. Agriculture and mining have supported the economy in the past. The dairy company,

Ambrosia In the ancient Greek mythology, Greek myths, ambrosia (, ) is the food or drink of the Greek gods, and is often depicted as conferring longevity or immortality upon whoever consumed it. It was brought to the gods in Mount Olympus, Olympus by do ...

, has been based here since 1917. Started as a milk factory using supplies from dairy farms in the area, it produced dried milk during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The site has been enlarged considerably and the firm is now an important local employer.Lifton Village Trail
/ref> Lifton railway station on the South Devon and Tavistock Railway opened on 1 June 1865. The main building was on the platform used by trains towards Plymouth but there was a loop and second platform to allow trains to pass. There was a

level crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, Trail, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line or the road etc. crossing over or under using an Overpass#Railway, o ...

at the west end of the station. The goods yard was on the same side as the buildings but a private siding was opened in 1894 to serve a corn mill, and a factory was opened in the goods yard in 1917 that handled milk, and later made "Ambrosia"

rice pudding Rice pudding is a dish made from rice mixed with water or milk and commonly other ingredients such as sweeteners, spices, flavourings and sometimes eggs. Variants are used for either desserts or dinners. When used as a dessert, it is commonly c ...

. Passenger trains and public goods traffic ceased on 31 December 1962 but the line to Lydford was retained to carry the trains from the milk factory but this closed on 28 February 1966. The village was bypassed by the A30 in 1993, and today, unusually for such a small place, Lifton is a

post town A post town is a required part of all postal addresses in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland, and a basic unit of the postal delivery system.Royal Mail, ''Address Management Guide'', (2004) Including the correct post town in t ...

and has several youth football teams. It also has the 1st Lifton Sea Scouts.

Historic estates

Lifton Park

country house image:Blenheim - Blenheim Palace - 20210417125239.jpg, 300px, Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhou ...

called Lifton Park was built by William Arundel in 1805 and was the centre of the Lifton estate.Lifton Park
at parksandgardens.org, accessed 4 October 2016 Frederick Stockdale said of the house "very delightfully situated and commands an interesting prospect of the town of Launceston with its ancient castle, indeed no expense seems to have been spared to render the surrounding plantations containing about 8,000 acres." During the

, a boys' preparatory school called Moffatt's was evacuated to the house from

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

(actor Dudley Sutton was one of the pupils), and shortly after the war the house was severely damaged by fire. The west wing has since been restored, but most of the former house still stands in ruins. Part of the park is an

arboretum An arboretum (: arboreta) is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees and shrubs of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, many modern arbor ...

. The two entrances to the park still have lodges dating from the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...

Wortham

The manor of Wortham, in the parish of Lifton, was long a seat of the Dynham family, a junior branch descended from the Anglo-Norman magnate Baron Dynham. The early 16th century

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...

survives, today the property of the

Landmark Trust The Landmark Trust is a British architectural conservation, building conservation charitable organization, charity, founded in 1965 by John Smith (Conservative politician), Sir John and Lady Smith, that rescues buildings of historic interest or ...

Gatherleigh

Gatherleigh in the parish of Lifton was the seat of the Hunkin family, of whom prominent members were Joseph Hunkin (1610-1661) Governor of Scilly between 1651 and 1660; Joseph Hunkin (1887-1950), born in

Truro Truro (; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England; it is the southernmost city in the United Kingdom, just under west-south-west of Charing Cross in London. It is Cornwall's county town, s ...

, Cornwall, the 8th Bishop of Truro from 1935 to 1950. His monument in

Truro Cathedral The Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a Church of England cathedral in the city of Truro, Cornwall. It was built between 1880 and 1910 to a Gothic Revival design by John Loughborough Pearson on the site of the parish church of St Mary. His ...

displays the arms of Hunkin of Gatherleigh, namely: ''Argent, a mascle sable over all a fess of the last''.Vivian, p.493

References and notes

External links

Lifton Parish Council WebsiteLifton community website
{{authority control Villages in Devon Civil parishes in Devon