Chulmleigh

{{short description|Market town and civil parish in Devon, England}}

{{hatnote|For other uses, see Chulmleigh (disambiguation). Chimley redirects here. For the devices known as chimleys in some English dialects, see chimney.}}

{{Infobox UK place

| static_image_name = Chulmleigh - main street - geograph.org.uk - 420150.jpg

| static_image_width = 240

| static_image_caption = Main Street in Chulmleigh

| coordinates = {{coord|50.912778|-3.869167|display=inline,title|format=dms}}

| country = England

| official_name = Chulmleigh

| population = 1,017

| population_ref = (2011)

| civil_parish = Chulmleigh

| shire_district = North Devon

| shire_county = Devon

| region = South West England

| os_grid_reference = SS6814

| dial_code = 01769

| post_town = CHULMLEIGH

| postcode_district = EX18

| postcode_area = EX

| constituency_westminster = North Devon

| website = {{URL|https://chulmleighparishcouncil.org.uk|Parish Council}}

}}

Chulmleigh ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|tʃ|ʌ|m|l|i}} {{respell|CHUM|lee}}) is a small Saxon hilltop market town{{efn|Since at least 1292, Chulmleigh has held the right to hold a regular market,{{cite web |url= http://www.history.ac.uk/cmh/gaz/devon.html#Chul |title=Devon – Chulmleigh |work=Gazetteer of Markets and Fairs to 1516 |publisher=history.ac.uk |access-date=4 January 2017}} making it a market town. However, the parish council has not elected to give itself the status of a town as it could do under s.245(6) of the Local Government Act 1972,{{cite web |url= http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1972/70/section/245 |title=Local Government Act 1972 |work=legislation.gov.uk |access-date=18 December 2016}} so it does not have a town council and cannot have a town mayor.}} and civil parish in North Devon, in the heart of the English county of Devon. It lies {{convert|20|mi|km}} north west of Exeter, just north of the Mid Devon boundary, linked by the A377 and B3096 roads.

History

The first documentary reference to the place is in the Domesday Book of 1086 where it is recorded as Calmonlevge. The name derives from the Old English personal name Ceolmund and the common place-name element leah which has various meanings including "woodland", "a woodland clearing" and "meadow".{{cite book |title=The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names |editor=Victor Watts|year=2004 |publisher=Cambridge University Press|ISBN=978-0-521-16855-7 |pages=xlvi, 138}} At the time of Domesday the land was held by Baldwin the Sheriff from whom it passed to the Courtenay family, who made the settlement a borough in the mid-thirteenth century. Situated on the main road between Exeter and Barnstaple, Chulmleigh thrived during the 17th and 18th centuries; it was a centre of wool production, had a good market and three cattle fairs. The wool trade had ceased by the early 19th century, but the road traffic kept the town prosperous until a new turnpike road bypassed the town in about 1830; the opening in 1854 of the North Devon Railway also contributed to its decline.{{cite book| last = Hoskins| first = W. G.| authorlink=William George Hoskins| title = A New Survey of England: Devon| publisher = Collins| location = London| year = 1972| edition = New| isbn = 0-7153-5577-5| pages = 367–8}}

Colleton is a historic estate within the parish.

Description

The parish includes the hamlets of Cheldon, Colleton and Week. It is surrounded, clockwise from the north, by the parishes of King's Nympton, Romansleigh, Meshaw, East Worlington, Chawleigh, Wembworthy (a short border only), Ashreigney, Burrington, and Chittlehamholt.{{cite web |url=http://www.devon.gov.uk/devon_districts_2002_.pdf |title=Map of Devon Parishes |publisher=Devon County Council |access-date=7 July 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131102183100/http://www.devon.gov.uk/devon_districts_2002_.pdf |archive-date=2 November 2013 |url-status=dead }} In 2001 the population of the parish was 1,308,{{cite web |url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/viewFullDataset.do?instanceSelection=03070&productId=779&$ph=60_61&datasetInstanceId=3070&startColumn=1&numberOfColumns=8&containerAreaId=790362 |publisher=Office for National Statistics : Census 2001 |title=Parish Headcounts: North Devon |access-date=27 January 2010 |archive-date=12 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110612112123/http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/viewFullDataset.do?instanceSelection=03070&productId=779&$ph=60_61&datasetInstanceId=3070&startColumn=1&numberOfColumns=8&containerAreaId=790362 |url-status=dead }} decreasing to 1,017 at the 2011 census.{{cite web|url=http://www.citypopulation.de/php/uk-england-southwestengland.php?cityid=E34000445|title=Parish population 2011|access-date= 21 February 2015}} An electoral ward with the same name also exists whose total population at the same census was 2,081.{{Cite web|url=http://www.ukcensusdata.com/chulmleigh-e05003540#sthash.1vUHOnK0.dpbs|title=Ward population 2011|access-date= 21 February 2015}}

Because of its former prosperity the town has several fine old buildings, many constructed of cob and thatch. The parish church dedicated to St{{nbsp}}Mary Magdalene was originally a collegiate church and was founded early. It was completely rebuilt in the 15th century and partially restored in 1881.

Chulmleigh has a retained fire station{{cite web |title=SS6814: Chulmleigh Fire Station |url=https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/68002 |access-date=28 November 2010 |publisher=geograph.org.uk}} which is part of Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service. The secondary school is Chulmleigh College.{{cite web |url=http://www.chulmleigh.devon.sch.uk |title=Chulmleigh Community College |publisher=chulmeigh.devon.sch.uk }} The town's pub is the Old Court House{{cite web |url=http://www.oldcourthouseinn.co.uk |title=Old Court House |publisher=oldcourthouseinn.co.uk}} on South Molton Street.

Local businesses and organisations include a health centre, a dentist, a butcher, Chulmleigh Cricket Club, Winston Pincombe, a deli, an antiques shop, a florists, a hair and beauty salon, a bakery and Chulmleigh Golf Course.

Transport

Chumleigh is close to the Tarka Line, the railway from Exeter to {{stnlnk|Barnstaple}}. Kings Nympton railway station is within the parish although it is around {{convert|2|mi|km}} from the town. Eggesford station is closer to the town.

Notes

References

External links

[https://chulmleighparishcouncil.org.uk/ Chulmleigh Parish Council]

Category:Towns in Devon

Category:North Devon