| Whiddon Down | |
|---|---|
 The Old Toll House | |
  Whiddon Down Location within Devon | |
| Population | 267 [1] |
| OS grid reference | SX691925 |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Okehampton |
| Postcode district | EX20 |
| Dialling code | 01647 |
| Police | Devon and Cornwall |
| Fire | Devon and Somerset |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| UK Parliament | |
Whiddon Down is a hamlet within the parish of Drewsteignton in Devon. At the 2011 census, it had a population of 267. [2]
The hamlet lies on the old east–west A30 (London-Penzance) road, between Exeter and Okehampton at the cross-roads with the south–north route up to Bideford. The 'down' itself is a ridge of high farmland some 800 feet above sea level with commanding views. Recorded [3] as Whyddon Doune in 1535 and as Whiddon Downe in 1661, it is named after its medieval landowners, the Whiddon family of nearby Chagford.
There have been scattered farms in the area since Saxon times, but the hamlet was only established [4] with the turn-piking of the south–north road in the 18th century, when a 15th-century crossroads dwelling became a coaching inn and post point (The Post Inn). In the modern era, the village has long been well-served by buses due to its location. The dualling of this section of the A30 in the late 1980s means that the hamlet is now bypassed by the A30 itself, but it remains a major road junction point, with a service station (Whiddon Down Service Area) and Travelodge.
Population growth in the 19th century was sufficient for the establishment of a small primary school in 1879 [5] and a Methodist church in 1906. [6] The school closed in 1959 and now serves as a village hall. The community was expanded with council housing in the 1970s. There is a small number of agricultural businesses in the hamlet, and a caravan park, but there are no longer any shops apart from the nearby service station.
Farmland on the south side of the hamlet provided the setting for the annual Chagstock music festival, held in July from 2007 to 2022.
Camborne is a town in Cornwall, England. The population at the 2011 Census was 20,845. The northern edge of the parish includes a section of the South West Coast Path, Hell's Mouth and Deadman's Cove.
Okehampton is a town and civil parish in West Devon in the English county of Devon. At the 2021 census, the parish had a population of 7,313, which was slightly more than the 7,104 recorded at the 2011 census. The Okehampton built-up area had a population of 9,112 at the 2021 census, up from 7,647 in 2011.
Moretonhampstead is a market town, parish and ancient manor in Devon, situated on the north-eastern edge of Dartmoor, within the Dartmoor National Park. The parish now includes the hamlet of Doccombe, and it is surrounded clockwise from the north by the parishes of Drewsteignton, Dunsford, Bridford, Bovey Tracey, Lustleigh, North Bovey and Chagford.
Chagford is a market town and civil parish on the north-east edge of Dartmoor, in Devon, England, close to the River Teign and the A382, 4 miles (6 km) west of Moretonhampstead. The name is derived from chag, meaning gorse or broom, and the ford suffix indicates its importance as a crossing place. At the 2021 census, it had a population of 1,539, which was slightly more than the 1,449 recorded at the 2011 census.
Charfield is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England, south-west of Wotton-under-Edge near the Little Avon River and the villages of Falfield and Cromhall. The parish includes the hamlet of Churchend.
Alrewas is a village and civil parish in the Lichfield District of Staffordshire, England.
Barrowby is a village and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It is 2 miles (3.2 km) west of Grantham. It overlooks the Vale of Belvoir and has a Grade I listed parish church. The hamlet of Casthorpe is part of the parish. The 2001 Census listed 795 households and a population of 1,996, which fell to 840 households with 1,952 inhabitants at the 2011 census. It was estimated at 1,986 in 2019.
Hook is a civil parish and large village in the Hart District of northern Hampshire, England.
Dummer is a parish and village in Hampshire, England. It is 6 miles south-west of Basingstoke and near Junction 7 on the M3 motorway.
Abbotskerswell is a village and civil parish in the English county of Devon. The village is in the north part of the parish and is located two miles (3 km) south of the town of Newton Abbot, 7 miles (11 km) from the seaside resort of Torquay and 32 miles (51 km) from the city of Plymouth. The A381 road between Newton Abbot and Totnes runs down the western side of the parish and the main railway line between these two towns forms part of its eastern boundary.
Docking is a village and ancient civil parish in the King's Lynn and West Norfolk borough of Norfolk, England. It is near the North Norfolk Coast Site of Special Scientific Interest.
Northwold is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It covers an area of 19.72 km2 (7.61 sq mi) and had a population of 1,070 in 448 households at the 2001 census, increasing to 1,085 at the 2011 Census. For the purposes of local government, it falls within the district of King's Lynn and West Norfolk. The civil parish also includes the hamlets of Whittington and Little London.
Whimple is a village and civil parish in East Devon in the English county of Devon, approximately 9 miles (14 km) due east of the city of Exeter, and 3 miles (4.8 km) from the nearest small town, Ottery St Mary. It has a population of 1,642, recounted to 1,173 for the village alone in the United Kingdom Census 2011. The electoral ward with the same name had a population of 2,380 at the above census.
New Buckenham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk.
Barton Stacey is a village and undulating civil parish, which includes the hamlets of Bransbury, Newton Stacey, Drayton and Cocum, in the Test Valley district of Hampshire, England, centred about 7 miles (11 km) south-east of Andover. It is bounded to the north by the estate of Drayton Lodge, and, to the south, by the minor A30 road; both being east–west routes, and connected by The Street/Cocum Road, the main road that bisects the village. The distance between the A303 and A30 at this point is 2 miles (3.2 km), which is twice the width of the parish.
Scawby is a village and civil parish in North Lincolnshire, England. It is situated 2 miles (3 km) south-west from Brigg, and just east from the A15 road, and south from the M180 motorway. According to the 2001 census, Scawby population was 2,277, reducing slightly to 2,243 at the 2011 census.
Sound is a hamlet and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The hamlet is located 3+1⁄4 miles (5.2 km) to the south west of Nantwich. The civil parish covers 1,089 acres (441 ha) and also includes the small settlements of Newtown and Sound Heath, with a total population at the 2011 census of 239. Nearby villages include Aston, Ravensmoor and Wrenbury.
South Newton is a village and civil parish about 4 miles (6.4 km) north-west of Salisbury in Wiltshire, England. Topologically it lies between chalk downs to the north-east, and downland with Grovely Wood to the south-west. The village straddles the A36 road and is on the left bank of the River Wylye, which defines much of the western boundary of the parish; the eastern boundary follows the A360 Salisbury-Devizes road.
Wootton is a hamlet in the civil parish of New Milton in Hampshire, England. It is in the south of the New Forest.
Over Stratton is a small village in the district of South Somerset, Somerset, England. It is part of the parish of South Petherton along with the nearby hamlets of Lower Stratton, Wigborough, Yeabridge, Drayton and Watergore. As of census day 2011, the population was 317.
