Hele, Devon

{{Short description|Village in Devon, England}}

{{about|the village near Bradninch, Mid Devon}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}

{{Infobox UK place

|coordinates = {{coord|50.813|-3.430|region:GB-DEV_type:city|display=inline,title}}

| static_image_name=Devon_Valley_Mill_at_Hele_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1734798.jpg

| static_image_caption=The old mill at Hele

|country = England

|official_name= Hele

|cornish_name =

|population=

|civil_parish = Bradninch

|shire_county = Devon

|shire_district=

|region= South West England

|os_grid_reference = SS9902

|dial_code=

|post_town=

|postcode_area=

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|constituency_westminster=

|hide_services=true

}}

Hele is a village in Devon, England, lying about {{Convert | 1 | mi | spell = in}} SSW of Bradninch and {{Convert | 10 | mi }} NNE of Exeter, on the River Culm.

The village is home to a paper mill once belonging to the company Wiggins Teape, now part of the multinational company Purico Group. The Devon Valley Mill produces sausage casing paper and teabag paper under the "Crompton Paper" brand name.{{cite web | url = http://www.purico.co.uk/companies/43 | title= Devon Valley Mill | accessdate= 4 October 2012}}

The mill site was originally that of a grist mill which was converted to a paper mill in 1762. It was here that John Dewdney produced the first glazed writing paper in England in the 1840s. He was also famously called upon to supply the paper for the catalogues of the Great Exhibition in 1851.{{cite web | url = http://www.devon.gov.uk/historicbraninch | title = Historic Bradninch | accessdate = 2 January 2013 | url-status = dead | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20130126105055/http://www.devon.gov.uk/historicbraninch | archivedate = 26 January 2013 }}

The nearby railway station, now closed, used to serve Hele and Bradninch.