Mid Devon is a local government 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. The council is based in the district's largest town of Tiverton. The district also contains the towns of Bampton,

Bradninch Bradninch is a small town, civil parish and Manorialism, manor in Devon, England, lying about south of Cullompton. Much of the surrounding farmland belongs to the Duchy of Cornwall. There is an Wards and electoral divisions in the United Kingd ...

Crediton Crediton is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Mid Devon district of Devon, England. It stands on the A377 road, A377 Exeter to Barnstaple road at the junction with the A3072 road to Tiverton, Devon, Tiverton, north w ...

and Cullompton, along with numerous villages and surrounding rural areas. Part of the district lies within the

Blackdown Hills The Blackdown Hills, or Blackdowns, are a range of hills along the Somerset-Devon border in south-western England. The plateau is dominated by hard chert bands of Upper Greensand with some remnants of chalk, and is cut through by river valleys. ...

, an

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is one of 46 areas of countryside in England, Wales, or Northern Ireland that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Since 2023, the areas in England an ...

. The neighbouring districts are

East Devon East Devon is a local government district in Devon, England. Its council is based in the town of Honiton, although Exmouth is the largest town. The district also contains the towns of Axminster, Budleigh Salterton, Cranbrook, Ottery St M ...

Teignbridge Teignbridge is a local government district in Devon, England. Its council is based in the town of Newton Abbot. The district also includes the towns of Ashburton, Buckfastleigh, Dawlish, Kingsteignton and Teignmouth, along with numerous vi ...

West Devon West Devon is a local government district with borough status in Devon, England. Its council is based in Tavistock, the borough's largest town. The borough also includes the towns of Hatherleigh, North Tawton and Okehampton, along with nume ...

Torridge Torridge may refer to: * Torridge District Torridge is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in north-west Devon, England. Its council is based in the town of Bideford. The district also includes the towns of Great Torringt ...

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 ...

and

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

History

The district was formed on 1 April 1974 under the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

, covering the area of four former districts which were all abolished at the same time: * Crediton Rural District *

Urban District * Tiverton

Municipal Borough A municipal borough was a type of local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of ...

* Tiverton Rural District The new district was initially named Tiverton, after its largest town. The district was renamed Mid Devon with effect from 6 February 1978 by resolution of the district council.

Geography

Mid Devon shares borders with several other Devon districts as well as the county of

. Neighbouring districts include

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

and

. The area of Mid Devon, according to the Office for National Statistics Census table KS101EW is 91293.48 hectares, or 912.9348 sq kilometres, or 352.5 square miles.

Rivers

The

Exe Exe or EXE may refer to: * .exe, a file extension * exe., abbreviation for Executive (disambiguation)#Role, title, or function, executive Places * River Exe, in England * Exe Estuary, in England * Exe Island, in Exeter, England Transportation a ...

, the Culm, the Yeo, the Dalch, the Little Dart, the Taw, the Dart, the

Brockley Brockley is a district and an wards of the United Kingdom, electoral ward of south London, England, in the London Borough of Lewisham south-east of Charing Cross. It has been named the best area of London to live in. It is an area rich in Vi ...

, the Creedy and the Spratford Stream flow through the district.

Raddon Top

Raddon Top (772 ft.) is the highest point of the Raddon Hills. Excavations at the summit in 1994 uncovered traces of

Early Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progr ...

settlement.

Governance

Mid Devon District Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by

Devon County Council Devon County Council is the county council administering the English county of Devon. The council is based at Devon County Hall in the city of Exeter. The area administered by the county council is termed the non-metropolitan county, which is ...

. The whole district is also covered by

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 ...

es, which form a third tier of local government.

Political control

The council has been under Liberal Democrat majority control since the 2023 election. The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements came into effect on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows:

Leadership

The leaders of the council since 2008 have been:

Composition

Following the 2023 election, and subsequent by-elections and changes of allegiance up to May 2025, the composition of the council was: A by-election to fill the vacant seat is due in June 2025. Otherwise, the next election is due in 2027.

Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2023 the council has comprised 42

councillor A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or re ...

s, representing 22 wards, with each ward electing one, two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years.

Premises

Since January 2004 the council has been based at a modern office building called Phoenix House on Phoenix Lane in Tiverton.

Tourism

Grand Western Canal

The

Grand Western Canal The Grand Western Canal ran between Taunton in Somerset and Tiverton, Devon, Tiverton in Devon in the United Kingdom. The canal had its origins in various plans, going back to 1796, to link the Bristol Channel and the English Channel by a canal ...

stretches from Canal Hill in Tiverton to just before the county boundary, near to Greenham, Somerset. It no longer operates for trade purposes, but is a popular tourist location. Visitors are able to walk along its banks or take a trip down the canal in a

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 mi ...

drawn

barge A barge is typically a flat-bottomed boat, flat-bottomed vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. Original use was on inland waterways, while modern use is on both inland and ocean, marine water environments. The firs ...

. A static barge at the Canal Hill end of the canal offers refreshments. The site is one of two tourism spots owned by

Devon Railway Centre

The Devon Railway Centre is located at Bickleigh in Mid Devon, in a restored Victorian

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

on the closed

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...

branch from Exeter to Dulverton. The centre operates a 2 ft (610mm) gauge passenger railway and has a large collection of

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...

rolling stock, a

miniature railway A ridable miniature railway (US: riding railroad or grand scale railroad) is a large scale, usually ground-level railway that hauls passengers using locomotives that are often models of full-sized railway locomotives (powered by Diesel engine, ...

and a collection of model railways.

Coldharbour Working Wool Museum

Coldharbour Mill is a Grade II* listed Georgian mill complex in

Uffculme Uffculme (, ) is a village and civil parish located in the Mid Devon district of Devon, England. Situated in the Blackdown Hills National Landscape, Blackdown Hills on the B3440, close to the M5 motorway and the Bristol–Exeter line, Bristol– ...

, close to junction 27 ( Tiverton turnoff) of the M5. The mill has the largest working waterwheel in the south west, and steams up its stationary steam engines most Bank Holidays. It has a number of other collections, such as dolls' houses, a large tapestry showing five local parishes, and a wide range of worsted wool spinning and weaving machines.

Towns and parishes

Mid Devon is entirely divided into

es. Some of the smaller parishes have a

parish meeting A parish meeting is a meeting all the electors in a civil parish in England are entitled to attend. In some cases, where a parish or group of parishes has fewer than 200 electors, the parish meeting can take on the role of a parish council, with ...

rather than a parish council, whilst the three parishes of Clayhanger, Hockworthy and Huntsham share a grouped parish council called Borden Gate Parish Council. The parish councils for Bampton, Bradninch, Crediton, Cullompton and Tiverton take the style "town council".

References

External links

{{Devon Non-metropolitan districts of Devon