West Buckland is a small village and former manor, now in the parish of

East and West Buckland East and West Buckland is a Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Counties of England, English county of Devon. Forming part of the district of North Devon its main settlements are West Buckland, Devon, West Buckland and East Buckland. ...

, 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 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.

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 ...

is the nearest town,

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 ...

is west-north-west. The

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

of Elwell lies to its north-east. In 1961 the parish had a population of 251.

History

The manor was formerly part of the Fortescue Estate, owned by the Earls Fortescue of nearby

Castle Hill, Filleigh Castle Hill in the parish of Filleigh in North Devon, is an early Neo-Palladian country house situated north-west of South Molton and south-east of Barnstaple. It was built in 1730 by Baron Clinton, Hugh Fortescue, 14th Baron Clinton (169 ...

. Earlier the manor together with the

advowson Advowson () or patronage is the right in English law of a patron (avowee) to present to the diocesan bishop (or in some cases the ordinary if not the same person) a nominee for appointment to a vacant ecclesiastical benefice or church living, a ...

of the church had been acquired by the influential Barnstaple merchant and MP John Delbridge (1564-1639). On 1 April 1986 the parish was abolished and merged with East Buckland to form "East and West Buckland".

Access

Most travellers reach West Buckland by a steep, winding, mostly single track hill up from the North Devon Link Road (A361).

Facilities

Until 2008 the village had a small

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

; the post office is now held in the church on two afternoons a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays. West Buckland was one of the first villages in the country to arrange such a facility. The village has a refurbished

village hall A village hall is a public building in a rural or suburban community which functions as a community centre without a religious affiliation. United Kingdom In the United Kingdom, a village hall is a building which is owned by a local gover ...

. There is no

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

, but the village hall now has a licensed bar which is opened during a considerable number of social events throughout the year.

West Buckland School

The village may be best known for having given its name to the adjacent

co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

West Buckland School West Buckland School is a private co-educational day and boarding school in West Buckland, Devon in the English public school tradition. It comprises a senior school, preparatory school, and a nursery. It is a relatively high performing sch ...

: educators of, amongst others,

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 ...

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

Harold Gimblett Harold Gimblett (19 October 1914 – 30 March 1978) was a cricketer who played for Somerset and England. He was known for his fast scoring as an opening batsman and for the much-repeated story of his debut. In a book first published in 1982 ...

and British world record triple-jumper

Jonathan Edwards Jonathan Edwards may refer to: Musicians *Jonathan and Darlene Edwards, pseudonym of bandleader Paul Weston and his wife, singer Jo Stafford *Jonathan Edwards (musician) (born 1946), American musician **Jonathan Edwards (album), ''Jonathan Edward ...

. Despite taking the name, the school comprising its preparatory school, three boarding houses and the public school itself is located on an extensive campus about 1 km east of the village and instead it is the small parish church which draws most visitors from the local area. The daily school traffic includes a fleet of long coaches which pass through the narrow village street twice a day.

West Buckland Festival

Previously, there was a thriving, annual four-day "Festival of Music, Art and Entertainment", which included both international and local performers, a very successful Art and Craft Exhibition and various workshops. We regret to say that we no longer hold a Festival in the village.

References

External links

GENUKI page
{{authority control Villages in Devon Former manors in Devon Former civil parishes in Devon North Devon