Okehampton

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Okehampton
Okehampton former A30.jpg
Fore Street, Okehampton
Okehampton is located in Devon
Okehampton
Okehampton
Location within Devon
Population5,922 (2011)
OS grid referenceSX5895
• London201 miles (323 km)
Civil parish
  • Okehampton
District
  • West Devon
Shire county
  • Devon
Region
  • South West
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townOKEHAMPTON
Postcode districtEX20
Dialling code01837
PoliceDevon and Cornwall
FireDevon and Somerset
AmbulanceSouth Western
UK Parliament
  • Central Devon
WebsiteOfficial Town Website
List of places
UK
England
Devon
50°44′20″N 4°00′15″W / 50.7388°N 4.0041°W / 50.7388; -4.0041Coordinates: 50°44′20″N 4°00′15″W / 50.7388°N 4.0041°W / 50.7388; -4.0041

Okehampton (/ˌoʊkˈhæmp.tən/ also /ˈoʊ.kæmp.tən/) is a town and civil parish in West Devon in the English county of Devon. It is situated at the northern edge of Dartmoor, and had a population of 5,922 at the 2011 census.[1] Two electoral wards are based in the town (east and west). Their joint population at the same census is 7,500.[2][3]

Okehampton is 21 miles (33 km) west of Exeter, 26 miles (42 km) north of Plymouth and 24 miles (38 km) south of Barnstaple.

History[]

Okehampton was founded by the Saxons. The earliest written record of the settlement is from 980 AD as Ocmundtune, meaning settlement by the Ockment, a river which runs through the town. It was recorded as a place for slaves to be freed at cross roads.[4]

Like many towns in the West Country, Okehampton grew on the medieval wool trade.[5] Notable buildings in the town include the 15th century chapel of St. James and Okehampton Castle, which was established by the Norman Sheriff of Devon, Baldwin FitzGilbert (d.1090).[6]

Feudal barony[]

Main article: Feudal barony of Okehampton
Remains of Okehampton Castle today

Okehampton was the caput of a large feudal barony, which at the time of the Domesday Book was held by Baldwin FitzGilbert. After his death in 1090 the tenure of the barony is obscure for the next twenty years after which it was held by the heiress Maud d'Avranches until her death in 1173, which passed to her daughter, Hawise de Curci (died 1219), who married Reginald de Courtenay.[7] His French possessions were confiscated by the French King Louis VII, but were given, together with the marriage of his daughter Elizabeth de Courtenay, to his youngest brother Peter I of Courtenay. The Courtenay family rebuilt Okehampton Castle, until King Henry VIII seized the lands and had Henry Courtenay, 1st Marquess of Exeter executed for treason in 1539.[8] Presently, the castle is owned by English Heritage and is open to the public during the summer season. The town is also home to the Museum of Dartmoor Life, which has received notable visitors such as Prince Charles.

Political representation[]

Okehampton elected two members to the Unreformed House of Commons. The Reform Act of 1832 abolished its representation as a rotten borough.

Map of Okehampton from 1946

Military presence[]

There is a substantial army training camp on Dartmoor which can be reached via Okehampton, and is commonly referred to as "Okehampton Camp". It is managed by the Defence Training Estate, and used by a variety of military units, including the Commando Training Centre Royal Marines (CTCRM), Lympstone, Devon, and many cadet training units. The Ten Tors event is run by the Army each year in early May from Okehampton Camp.[9]

Education[]

Schools in the town include Okehampton Primary School[10] and Okehampton College. There are also a number of smaller primary schools in the surrounding areas for children within the catchment area of Okehampton that include South Tawton, Hatherleigh, Chagford, North Tawton and Bridestowe.

Sport[]

The town's football team, Okehampton Argyle F.C., is a non-league club which was established in 1926 after the original side, Okehampton Town, disbanded. The club competes in the South West Peninsula League which sits at Steps 6 and 7 of the National League System; four leagues below the top division of non-league football, the Football Conference.[11] The town also has a rugby club, Okehampton RFC, which is believed to have been founded in 1884.[12] There is also a table tennis club in the town that was purpose-built for the sport beside the local post office off the town.

Transport[]

Okehampton's location at the edge of the moor means that it has always been a route centre. After years of uncertainty, the A30 trunk road was finally re-routed in 1988 to bypass[13] the town, which had previously acted as a holiday traffic bottleneck at summer weekends. Okehampton railway station is on the former northerly rail route from Exeter to Plymouth via Tavistock. The line from Exeter remains open for freight traffic to and from Meldon Quarry, two miles (3 km) west of Okehampton. All train services have been suspended until further notice. The Heritage trains last ran on 29 September 2019 and the summer Sunday service from Exeter last ran on 8 September 2019.

In 1997, Devon County Council revived a passenger rail service from Exeter, on summer weekends only, in an attempt to reduce motor traffic to the national park. In March 2010, the freight operator Devon & Cornwall Railways announced plans to reinstate a daily passenger service terminating in Exeter.[14]

In the wake of widespread disruption caused by damage to the mainline track at Dawlish by coastal storms in February 2014, leaving Plymouth and Cornwall with no rail connection to the rest of the country, Network Rail considered reopening the Exeter-to-Plymouth route via Okehampton and Tavistock.[15]

The railway line between Exeter and Okehampton is presently being refurbished, and is due to reopen later in 2021.[16]

Okehampton is served by various bus services from Exeter, Bude, Newquay and Tavistock. Stagecoach South West service 6 links from Exeter bus station via Exeter St Davids to Okehampton and then to Bude. Other services from Exeter bus station include the 6A service via Exeter St Davids, which continues to Launceston.

Nearby settlements[]

Okehampton is surrounded by many smaller villages and towns. Notable examples are the villages of South Zeal with its ancient burgage plots, granite thatched cottages and Dartmoor Folk Festival; Belstone, noted for its location on the very outskirts of Dartmoor and links to Agatha Christie's The Sittaford Mystery[citation needed]; and Sticklepath which has an annual fire show on Bonfire Night, 5 November. Other nearby villages and settlements include Hatherleigh, North Tawton, Whiddon Down, Chagford, Bratton Clovelly, Lydford, Folly Gate, Southcott, Northlew, Jacobstowe, Bridestowe and Sourton.

Further reading[]

  • Some Account of the Barony and Town of Okehampton; Bridges, W. B.; Thomas, C.; Fothergill, H. G.; new ed. by Wright, W. H. K.;

Tiverton: W. Masland, 1889[17] (Plymouth : printed and published, for the Proprietors, by G. P. Hearder, [c. 1839)

References[]

  1. ^ Devon County Council: Okehampton Area Definition. Archived 1 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine devon.gov.uk. Retrieved on 1 August 2017.
  2. ^ "Okehampton West ward 2011". Archived from the original on 17 February 2015. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
  3. ^ "Okehampton East ward 2011". Archived from the original on 17 February 2015. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
  4. ^ Okehampton Town Council Archived 20 January 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Okehampton.gov.uk. Retrieved on 5 March 2011.
  5. ^ The medieval wool trade Archived 4 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine. World Timelines. Retrieved on 5 March 2011.
  6. ^ Some Descendants of the BRIONNE Family Related to George Washington 1st US President Archived 7 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Washington.ancestryregister.com. Retrieved on 5 March 2011.
  7. ^ Sanders, Ivor John (1960). English Baronies: a study of their origin and descent, 1086–1327. Oxford: Clarendon Press. pp. 69–70. Archived from the original on 24 July 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2020.[ISBN unspecified]
  8. ^ Historic England. "Okehampton Castle (440855)". Research records (formerly PastScape). Retrieved 5 March 2011.
  9. ^ Ten Tors 2011 Archived 19 January 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Events.exeter.ac.uk. Retrieved on 5 March 2011.
  10. ^ "Home | Okehampton Primary School". www.okehampton-pri.devon.sch.uk. Archived from the original on 29 March 2020. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  11. ^ Okehampton Argyle Archived 14 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine Okehampton Argyle
  12. ^ Okehampton RFC Archived 12 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine Google
  13. ^ "DNP fact sheet on the Okehampton Bypass". Dartmoor National Park Authority. Archived from the original on 30 September 2015. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
  14. ^ Joint, Laura. (29 March 2010) BBC – Okehampton to Exeter railway line back on track Archived 18 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine. BBC News. Retrieved on 5 March 2011.
  15. ^ "Network Rail chooses Dawlish alternative route". BBC News. 10 February 2014. Archived from the original on 11 February 2014. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
  16. ^ url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/dartmoor-line-rail-services-will-be-restored-for-first-time-in-half-a-century Archived 14 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine
  17. ^ Some Account of the Barony and Town of Okehampton ... Including the journals kept by Messrs. Rattenbury and Shebbeare ... from the 21 James I., to the death of William III.; with notes genealogical, descriptive, and explanatory ... Edited and enlarged from the collections made by W. B. Bridges, the Rev. C. Thomas and the Rev. H. G. Fothergill ... A new edition, with additional chapters, edited by W. H. K. Wright. Tiverton: W. Masland, 1889

External links[]

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