At the 2021 census, it had a population of 7,013, which was slightly more than the 6,378 recorded at the 2011 census.[1] Galmpton village itself is home to just over 1,400 people.[2] It has an older population: the average age in the village is 52, twelve years above the UK average.[3] Life expectancy, and the age at which residents remain free of disabilities, are significantly higher than elsewhere, though the proportion of people with long-term medical conditions is high.[4] The ward constitutes the least deprived area of Torbay with an unemployment rate of 1.2%.[3]
History
The ancient manor of Galmpton was first recorded in the Domesday Book as ‘Galmetona’, the name deriving from the Saxon ‘Gafolsman’, meaning a community of rent-paying peasants.[5]
Galmpton had an economy driven largely from agriculture until industry arrived in the 1800s, chiefly quarrying of Devonian limestone. Richard Harvey, a Cornishcopper magnate, acquired the manor in the 1860s, residing locally at Greenway House. Harvey was noted as making great improvements to the Tudor housing of Galmpton's inhabitants, which he had called “miserable hovels”, and for making a generous donation towards the restoration of Churston's medieval church, St Mary's.[7]
The Dartmouth and Torbay Railway from Paignton station to Churston (a half mile from Galmpton) was opened for passengers in 1861, assisting the expansion of the village and its industry. The line, designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, once ran to Brixham and two of his viaducts still stand at Broadsands.
In the 20th century, Greenway became the home of the author Agatha Christie, who paid for a new stained glass window in St. Mary's Church depicting the Christmas story and life on the estate.[7]
Nearby Lupton House was recorded in the 1086 Domesday Survey as being woodland; the house can be traced to 1408. In 1480 the Upton (in French: L’Upton) family settled there. The present house was built in 1772 and purchased in 1788 by Mr Justice Francis Yarde Buller − the first judge to sentence a criminal to deportation to Australia.[7]
Large numbers of troops were stationed around Galmpton during World War Two. Small boats from the Dart joined in the Dunkirk evacuation of 1940 and the river provided anchorage for many of the landing craft used in the D-Day invasion. Motor launches and motor torpedo boats used in the war effort were built and repaired at Galmpton Creek.
The main road from Newton Abbot to Dartmouth once ran through the village before being bypassed to the north by the Brixham Road (A379).
Galmpton grew fivefold in the 1960s when low density estates consisting largely of bungalows were constructed, replacing fruit orchards. Industry largely abandoned the village in the 20th century and its economy returned to being led mainly by farming and related businesses.
Areas closely associated with Galmpton are:
Galmpton Warborough, set up in Saxon times as a defensive position to bring together the fighting men of Galmpton and Churston. Later, in 1588, Sir John Gilbert of Greenway led 3,000 militia to Galmpton Warborough in readiness to repel invaders arriving with the Spanish Armada.[8]
Galmpton Creek, a tributary of the River Dart, now in the South Hams borough of Devon. Brixham fishing smacks and other small trading vessels were constructed here from Victorian times.[9] Marine related businesses are still based there.
Broadsands and Elberry Cove: beaches surrounded by recent residential developments, now separated from Galmpton by the A379 road.
Environment
Galmpton village is sited within the catchment area of the River Dart, 25 metres above high water. The area includes “agricultural areas of significant landscape value” and farmland covers some 60% of Galmpton. Most fields are used for the grazing of livestock.
To the west of the village, hills retain continuous ‘green skylines' and riverine landscape protected from development by their AONB status.
Galmpton Warborough, a rare example of lowland calcareous grassland, provides views over Tor Bay and the Dart Valley to Dartmoor, and is protected by Torbay Council as an Urban Landscape Protection Area. It is regularly frequented by some two-thirds of Galmpton residents for recreation, and serves as a ‘green wedge’ separating Galmpton and Churston from the urban sprawl of Paignton.[10]
The River Dart at Galmpton Greek
The River Dart and its watercourses, including the Galmpton watercourse, are prone to flooding during heavy rainfall and in 1999 a man died in flooding in the village.[11] Following this incident the Environment Agency approved a £500,000 flood defence scheme which all but eliminated the threat of heavy damage to the village.[12] The Broadsands area is somewhat prone to coastal flooding.
Greenway estate, a Grade II* listed house and garden acquired by the National Trust in 1999, is nearby. It is significant as the former home of author Agatha Christie. Visitors to Lupton House are attracted to its parkland, Italianate garden and history. The Paignton and Dartmouth Steam Railway has stations at Churston, less than a mile from Galmpton, and Greenway Halt. Other local attractions include Churston Golf Club, Cayman golf course pitch and putt and Battlefield Live [(a combat game using infra red guns)] . Sports facilities are available at the Memorial Field, and are used by Galmpton United Football Club who have 2 Senior teams and youth teams from Under 8's up to Under 16's. The Adults play in the South Devon Football League and the youth teams in the Pioneer Youth League.
Remains of a 19th-century windmill on Galmpton Warborough.
Annual events include the charitable Gooseberry Pie Fair[13] and events run by the local history and floral societies. The 'September Skills Day' concludes with a concert of seasonal readings and music.
A playgroup and pre-school are run from the village hall.
Famous residents
Agatha Christie was not the only literary figure associated with Galmpton: a blue plaque at Vale House records that novelist and poet Robert Graves lived here 1940-1946.
Football commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme, famed for his phase ".. they think it's all over - it is now" after Geoff Hurst scored England's fourth goal in the 1966 England v West Germany World Cup final, lived in Galmpton until his death in 2002, aged 81.
Related Research Articles
Torbay is a unitary authority with a borough status in the ceremonial county of Devon, England. It is governed by Torbay Council, based in the town of Torquay, and also includes the towns of Paignton and Brixham. The borough consists of 24.27 sq mi (62.9 km2) of land around the east-facing Tor Bay, part of Lyme Bay on the English Channel. A popular tourist destination, Torbay's sandy beaches, mild climate and recreational and leisure attractions have given rise to its nickname of the English Riviera. The neighbouring districts are South Hams and Teignbridge.
Paignton is a seaside town on the coast of Tor Bay in Devon, England. Together with Torquay and Brixham it forms the borough of Torbay which was created in 1968. The Torbay area is a holiday destination known as the English Riviera. Paignton has origins as a Celtic settlement and was first mentioned in 1086. It grew as a small fishing village and a new harbour was built in 1847. A railway line was opened to passengers in 1859 creating links to Torquay and London. As its population increased, it merged with the villages of Goodrington and Preston. Paignton is around 25 miles (40 km) north east of Plymouth and 20 miles (32 km) south of Exeter.
Greenway, also known as Greenway House, is an estate on the River Dart near Galmpton in Devon, England. Once the home of the author Agatha Christie, it is now owned by the National Trust.
The Dartmouth Steam Railway, formerly known as the Paignton and Dartmouth Steam Railway, is a 6.7-mile (10.8 km) heritage railway on the former Great Western Railway branch line between Paignton and Kingswear in Devon, England. Much of the railway's business is from summer tourists from the resorts of Torbay, who travel to Kingswear, where the Dartmouth Passenger Ferry takes them across the River Dart to Dartmouth.
Totnes was a parliamentary constituency in Devon represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament.
Kingswear is a village and civil parish in the South Hams area of the English county of Devon. The village is located on the east bank of the tidal River Dart, close to the river's mouth and opposite the small town of Dartmouth. It lies within the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and has a population of 1,332, reducing to 1,217 at the 2011 census.
Churston railway station is on the Dartmouth Steam Railway, a heritage railway in Torbay, Devon, England. It is situated beside the main road to Brixham and close to the villages of Churston Ferrers and Galmpton. There has been no scheduled service at the station since 2020.
Torquay was a county constituency in Devon, South West England, which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
The Dartmouth and Torbay Railway was a broad gauge railway linking the South Devon Railway branch at Torquay with Kingswear in Devon, England. It was operated from the outset by the South Devon Railway.
The Torbay and Brixham Railway was a 7 ft broad gauge railway in England which linked the Dartmouth and Torbay Railway at Churston railway station, Devon with the important fishing port of Brixham. It was a little over two miles long. Never more than a local branch line, it closed in 1963.
Churston Ferrers Grammar School is a selective coeducational Grammar School with Academy status, situated in the village of Galmpton in Torbay, South Devon, England. It is also a specialist Humanities College. Year 7 annual intake is approximately 130 pupils.
Goodrington is an area of Paignton in Devon, England. It is situated in Tor Bay and lies between Paignton town centre and Brixham, less than 1 mile (1.6 km) south of central Paignton. Its beach is known as Goodrington Sands.
Churston Ferrers is an area and former civil parish, in the borough of Torbay, Devon, England, situated between the south coast towns of Paignton and Brixham. Today it is administered by local government as the Churston-with-Galmpton ward of the Torbay unitary authority. It contains the coastal village of Churston, the now larger village of Galmpton and the Broadsands area.
Broadsands is a beach on the coast of Torbay in South Devon, England. It is also the name of an area of housing inland from the beach, in the Churston Ferrers part of Torbay between Paignton and Brixham.
Churston Court is the manor house of the former manor of Churston Ferrers, near Brixham in Devon and is a Grade II* listed building.
Greenway Halt railway station is a small railway station on the Dartmouth Steam Railway, a heritage railway in Devon, England. It is situated near the northern end of the 495-yard long Greenway Tunnel and convenient for visitors to the Greenway Estate, the historic home of Agatha Christie.
The hundred of Haytor was the name of one of thirty two ancient administrative units of Devon, England. The hundred covered the coastal area between the River Teign and River Dart. It was likely named after a lost village located somewhere between Totnes and Newton Abbot.
Churston Woods is an area of semi-ancient woodland near the village of Churston Ferrers and the town of Brixham. The woodland is made up of two main sections called The Grove and Ball Copse, both of which are owned by Torbay Council and managed by Torbay Coast and Countryside Trust.
The Broadsands Chambered Tomb is a Neolithic burial chamber located on a slope overlooking Broadsands Beach in Torbay in Devon, England. It is listed as a Scheduled Monument by English Heritage and was first listed in 1957.
↑ South Devon and Torbay CCG (2015). "Deprivation in Paignton and Brixham Locality"(PDF). Paignton and Brixham Locality Development: 8–9 – via 2015 English Indices of Multiple Deprivation, ONS.
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