Chudleigh

Chudleigh (/ˈtʃʌdli/)[1] is an ancient wool town located within the Teignbridge District Council area of Devon, England between Newton Abbot and Exeter. The electoral ward with the same name had a population of 1,488

at the 2011 census.[2]
This article is about the town in England. For other uses, see Chudleigh (disambiguation).
"Victory Ground" redirects here. For the ground in Suffolk, see Victory Ground, Bury St Edmunds.

Chudleigh
Chudleigh
Chudleigh is located in Devon
Chudleigh
Chudleigh
Location within Devon
Population1,488 (2011 Census)
OS grid referenceSX865795
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townNEWTON ABBOT
Postcode districtTQ13
Dialling code01626
PoliceDevon and Cornwall
FireDevon and Somerset
AmbulanceSouth Western
UK Parliament

Geography
Chudleigh church

Chudleigh is very close to the edge of Dartmoor and in the Teign Valley. Nearby Castle Dyke is an Iron Age Hill Fort which demonstrates far earlier settlement in the area. It is also near Haldon Forest, a Forestry Commission property.[3] The town has been bypassed by the A38 road since 1972.[4]

Great Fire of Chudleigh

The weather conditions in Devon in the year 1807 have been described as a drought. Weeks without rain left many people short of water and had farmers worrying about their crops. At around noon on 22 May, a small fire broke out in a pile of furze stacked near the ovens at a bakery in Culver Street (now New Exeter Street). According to later reports, the staff in the bakery seemed unaware of the danger this posed, but the fire, fed by the exceptionally dry fuel, exploded. In the shortest time imaginable, the fire had spread to the roof of the bakery (thatched, as were 90% of the houses in Chudleigh at the time) and huge hunks of burning reed and straw were swept aloft by a rapidly growing north-easterly wind. After the fire, only 180 houses out of 300 house were left standing.[5]

Parish church

The church of St Martin and St Mary was consecrated in 1259. The structure is medieval but was heavily restored in 1868. The rood screen has paintings of saints and prophets and the Courtenay family coat of arms.[6]

In 1887 St Bridget's Abbey of Syon built a monastery, known as Chudleigh Abbey, which they occupied until 1925.[7]

Town hall
Chudleigh Town Hall

Chudleigh Town Hall, which was designed in the Italianate style dates from 1865.[8]

Historic estates

Various historic estates are situated in the parish of Chudleigh, including:

Ugbrooke House

Property of the Clifford family since 1604, Ugbrooke is an important stately house and family seat of the Barons Clifford of Chudleigh (a title created in 1672).

Whiteway

Whiteway House is a Grade II* listed Georgian house set in parkland 2+1⁄2 miles north of Chudleigh, at the foot of the Haldon Hills, built in the 1770s by John Parker, 1st Baron Boringdon (1735–1788) of Saltram House, Plympton, Devon.[9]

Hams

Hams Barton is a grade II* listed building,[10] formerly the seat of the Hunt family, situated one-mile north-east of the town, near Kate Brook. The Hunt family was settled there before the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558-1603).[11] Thomas Hunt (d.1548) was thrice Mayor of Exeter,[12] including in 1517 and 1537. A fine banqueting room survives, called by Pevsner "the sumptuous first-floor great chamber, one of the best of its date in the county".[13] Several monuments to the Hunt family survive in the Hunt Aisle in Chudleigh church.[14]

Chudleigh Carnival

The carnival takes place annually in the second week in July and lasts a week.[15]

See also

References
  1. Jones, Daniel (2011). Roach, Peter; Setter, Jane; Esling, John (eds.). Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary (18th ed.). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-15255-6.
  2. "Ward population 2011". Ukcensusdata.com. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
  3. "Haldon Forest Park". Forestry Commission. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
  4. "The Teign Valley Railway". Chudleigh History Group. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
  5. Jones, Mary (1875). The History of Chudleigh, Devon. D. Drayton and Sons. p. 63.
  6. Pevsner, N. (1952) South Devon. (The Buildings of England.) Harmondsworth: Penguin; p. 79
  7. "St Bridget's Abbey of Syon". Chudleigh History Group. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
  8. Historic England. "The Town Hall (1334259)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
  9. Historic England. "Whiteway House (1097095)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
  10. Historic England. "Hams Barton (1097128)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
  11. Jones 1875, p.154
  12. Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p.494, pedigree of "Hunt of Chudleigh"
  13. Pevsner, Nikolaus & Cherry, Bridget, The Buildings of England: Devon, London, 2004, p.264
  14. Jones; Pevsner
  15. "Carival". Chudleigh Town Council. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
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