Silverton is a large village and civil parish, about north of

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 ...

, in the English 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 ...

. It is one of the oldest villages in Devon and dates from the first years of the

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occupation. It has been suggested that the medieval manor of Burn, within the modern parish of Silverton, may be the estate listed as Mylenburnan (Mill-on-the-Burn or Burn Mill) in the will of King

Alfred the Great Alfred the Great ( ; – 26 October 899) was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf and his first wife Osburh, who both died when Alfr ...

of 899, now in the

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, in which it was left to his youngest son Athelweard (c. 880-922). In the year 2001, its population was 1,905, recounted to 1,494 at the

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. 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 ...

with the same name had a population of 1,875 at the above census. The parish has two pubs: The Lamb and The Silverton Inn. The church, dating back to the fourteenth century, is dedicated to St Mary. It has a full set of bells that are rung regularly. Inside, the pews have doors at the end of each row which is unusual in this area. The village also has a further two churches - an Evangelical and a Methodist church; both are popular with social and youth clubs. The village is on the "old" road from Exeter to Tiverton and as such was once a busy thriving place. Now it has become a dormitory for people working in Exeter although there are still a number of original families living in the village. A post office, a small supermarket ( Spar) and a hairdresser offer most necessities for the residents. The main feature of the village was the giant oak tree, believed to be around 600 years old, until it fell to the ground in January 2024. On the first Saturday of each August, the village holds th
Silverton Street Market
which is popular amongst both local people and many from across Devon and the South West. There are stalls selling local goods and crafts, as well as entertainment and children's activities organised throughout the day, and the tug-of-war always ends the day on a high. Silverton is represented on Mid Devon District Council by Liberal Democratic Party Councillor Josh Wright (Village Ward) and by Conservative Councillor Rhys Roberts (North Ward). The

Bristol and Exeter Railway The Bristol and Exeter Railway (B&ER) was an English railway company formed to connect Bristol and Exeter. It was built on the broad gauge and its engineer was Isambard Kingdom Brunel. It opened in stages between 1841 and 1844. It was allied wi ...

opened a Station at Silverton in 1867, it closed to passengers on 5 October 1964 and freight 3 May 1965, but a private siding serving a paper mill, which had been opened on 26 July 1894, survived until the 31 August 1967. The Station Master from its opening until 1894 was one Roger Langdon (1825-1894), a noted amateur astronomer. Following the partial

solar eclipse A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs approximately every six months, during the eclipse season i ...

of 22 December 1870 Langdon altered his telescope to view a

solar prominence In solar physics, a prominence, sometimes referred to as a filament, is a large Plasma (physics), plasma and magnetic field structure extending outward from the Sun's surface, often in a loop shape. Prominences are anchored to the Sun's surface ...

. He also observed the planet

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...

including the

transit Transit may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Transit'' (1980 film), a 1980 Israeli film * ''Transit'' (1986 film), a Canadian short film * ''Transit'' (2005 film), a film produced by MTV and Staying-Alive about four people in countrie ...

of 1882. A summary of his life was published by

Patrick Moore Sir Patrick Alfred Caldwell-Moore (; 4 March 1923 – 9 December 2012) was an English amateur astronomer who attained prominence in that field as a writer, researcher, radio commentator and television presenter. Moore's early interest in astro ...

Silverton North Ward

Silverton Parish is divided into two wards; Village Ward to the south includes the village of Silverton together with the hamlets of Ellerhayes, Greenslinch, Hayne and Poundsland, and is home to around 95% of the population of the parish. In contrast, North Ward with a population of around 80, is almost entirely rural. Noted Devon historian William Hoskins claimed that Silverton North Ward was the location of Stochelie , a Domesday manor whose location had long been lost. His findings were supported by noted historical geographers Professor Sir Henry Darby and R. Welldon Finn who state that Stochelie is “Leigh in Silverton”, and by Darcy with George R. Versey. In 2009 Historic England stated unequivocally that Reichel (an earlier identification) was incorrect and supported Hoskins’ findings. If so, North Ward would at one time have contained a small manor quite separate from Silverton. Until the 1990s the only settlements comprised a dozen or so working farms. Today most of these have been converted into small groups of dwellings including Underleigh, Dorweek, Ravenshayes and Leigh Barton. Bounded to the west by the small Burn river and to the north by the village of Butterleigh and lying on the slopes of the Hayridge Hills, North Ward provides views of the Exe, Burn and Culm valleys.

Silverton Parochial Trust

The Silverton Parochial Trust is a historic charity still operating in the Silverton area. It comprises a collection of 13 legacies, the earliest dating from 1616 and now formed into a modern charitable trust controlling property, land and investments. It is managed by seven resident trustees. Funds are available for the immediate assistance of parishioners who are in a condition of ‘need, hardship or distress’ which is not provided for by the state schemes such as Social Services or state benefit programmes.

Parish church

The parish church, dedicated to St Mary, is a building mainly of the 15th and 16th centuries; it has a nave, chancel and north and south aisles. The west tower has battlements, buttresses and four pinnacles. The north aisle was built with funds left by a rector who died in 1479; a rebus referring to a rector of 1519-49 is on the east respond of the north arcade. A new chancel, vestry and two western bays were added by the architects Hayward and Ashworth in 1860-63.Pevsner, N. (1952) ''South Devon''. Harmondsworth: Penguin; p. 263

Twin city

* Saint-Thégonnec, Brittany, France since 2008.

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