Woodbury Common in East Devon, England is an area of common land that is predominantly heathland adjacent to the village of Woodbury. It is bordered to the south by the edge of the towns of Exmouth and Budleigh Salterton, the hamlet of Yettington to the east, and the A3052 to the north. It is part of the East Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, [1] and is a Site of Special Scientific Interest.
Within the common is Woodbury Castle, an Iron Age hill fort situated on a viewpoint overlooking westwards the villages of Woodbury and Woodbury Salterton and across the Exe estuary to the Haldon Hills, and overlooking eastwards the Otter Valley, part of the East Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
The heathland has wide swathes of gorse and heather (bell, cross-leaved and ling varieties) and is a popular spot for orienteering, hill-walking, mountain biking and flying radio-controlled aircraft. It has a wide variety of wildlife, in particular the Nightjar, which migrates from Africa each year.
The common contains a training ground for the Royal Marines, part of the Commando Training Centre Royal Marines based at nearby Lympstone in the parish of Woodbury.
To the north end of Woodbury Common is the Woodbury Park Hotel, Golf and Country Club complex established by former Formula One driver Nigel Mansell. [2]
The Battle of Woodbury Common, which took place on 4 August 1549, was part of the Prayer Book Rebellion.
Reinforcements in the form of Italian mercenaries and German Landsknechts under the command of Lord William Grey arrived on 2 August to assist the king's troops under John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford., who was charged with defeating a large force of rebelling men from Cornwall and Devon. [3]
The next day, the king's army of some 5,000 men began a march from Honiton to relieve Exeter, which was under siege at the time, but instead of taking the heavily barricaded highway, Russell went westward, across the downs. Russell's scouts found their way barred by 2,000 men at Alfington and sent in Captain Travers to clear the road. In the words of Edward VI's chronicler, John Hayward, those Cornishmen who were disarmed in this assault were "slain like beasts". Russell's advance continued onto Woodbury Common, where he pitched camp at a windmill. Here, Paulo Batista Spinola, the Italian commander, kept his men awake all night, fearing a night attack. This actually occurred at dawn the next day, on 4 August, when Devonian and Cornish forces defending Clyst St Mary came out to confront the larger force at the windmill. The difference in numbers and force of arms did nothing to deter them and the second battle of the uprising began. There were heavy losses on both sides and the result was inconclusive but Russell's army took many prisoners, 900 of whom were executed the next day in the Clyst Heath massacre. This number was confirmed by John Hayward. [4] [5]
Bodmin is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated south-west of Bodmin Moor.
Devon is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west. The city of Plymouth is the largest settlement, and the city of Exeter is the county town.
The Prayer Book Rebellion or Western Rising was a popular revolt in Cornwall and Devon in 1549. In that year, the first Book of Common Prayer, presenting the theology of the English Reformation, was introduced. The change was widely unpopular, particularly in areas where firm Catholic religious loyalty still existed, such as Lancashire. Along with poor economic conditions, the enforcement of the English language led to an explosion of anger in Cornwall and Devon, initiating an uprising. In response, Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset sent John Russell to suppress the revolt, with the rebels being defeated and its leaders executed two months after the beginning of hostilities.
Michael Joseph, better known as Michael An Gof, was one of the leaders of the Cornish rebellion of 1497, along with Thomas Flamank.
Thomas Flamank was a lawyer and former MP from Cornwall, who together with Michael An Gof led the Cornish rebellion of 1497, a protest against taxes imposed by Henry VII of England.
The Cornish rebellion of 1497, also known as the First Cornish rebellion, was a popular uprising in the Kingdom of England, which began in Cornwall and culminated with the Battle of Deptford Bridge near London on 17 June 1497.
The history of Cornwall goes back to the Paleolithic, but in this period Cornwall only had sporadic visits by groups of humans. Continuous occupation started around 10,000 years ago after the end of the last ice age. When recorded history started in the first century BCE, the spoken language was Common Brittonic, and that would develop into Southwestern Brittonic and then the Cornish language. Cornwall was part of the territory of the tribe of the Dumnonii that included modern-day Devon and parts of Somerset. After a period of Roman rule, Cornwall reverted to rule by independent Romano-British leaders and continued to have a close relationship with Brittany and Wales as well as southern Ireland, which neighboured across the Celtic Sea. After the collapse of Dumnonia, the remaining territory of Cornwall came into conflict with neighbouring Wessex.
St Veep is a civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, situated above the east bank of the River Fowey about three miles (5 km) south-east of Lostwithiel. It is bordered by the parishes of St Winnow to the north-west, Boconnoc to the north, Lanreath to the east Polperro to the south-east and Lanteglos to the south. The River Fowey forms its western boundary. The parish is named after Saint Veep of whom little is known.
Clyst St Mary is a small village and civil parish 3 miles (4.8 km) east of Exeter on the main roads to Exmouth and Sidmouth in East Devon. The name comes from the Celtic word clyst meaning 'clear stream'. The village is a major part of the electoral ward of Clyst Valley. At the 2011 Census this ward population was 2,326.
The Jacobite uprising in Cornwall of 1715 was an unsuccessful Jacobite attempt at launching a rebellion against the Hanoverian regime which took place in the county of Cornwall.
This timeline summarizes significant events in the History of Cornwall
Today Clyst Heath is a suburb to the south east of the city of Exeter, Devon, England. An area of relatively high ground to the west of the River Clyst, it remained heathland until the early nineteenth century when it was cultivated for the first time.
The Battle of Sampford Courtenay was one of the chief military engagements in the Western Rebellion of 1549.
The Cornish dialect is a dialect of English spoken in Cornwall by Cornish people. Dialectal English spoken in Cornwall is to some extent influenced by Cornish grammar, and often includes words derived from the Cornish language. The Cornish language is a Celtic language of the Brythonic branch, as are the Welsh and Breton languages. In addition to the distinctive words and grammar, there are a variety of accents found within Cornwall from the north coast to that of the south coast and from east to west Cornwall. Typically, the accent is more divergent from Standard British English the further west through Cornwall one travels. The speech of the various parishes being to some extent different from the others was described by John T. Tregellas and Thomas Quiller Couch towards the end of the 19th century. Tregellas wrote of the differences as he understood them and Couch suggested the parliamentary constituency boundary between the East and West constituencies, from Crantock to Veryan, as roughly the border between eastern and western dialects. To this day, the towns of Bodmin and Lostwithiel as well as Bodmin Moor are considered the boundary.
The Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Rising of 1549 was a rural rebellion that took place in Tudor England under the rule of Edward VI's Lord Protector, Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset. Part of a series of disturbances across the country, it took place at the same time as the better-known Prayer Book Rebellion or Western Rising and for many of the same reasons: discontent at the introduction in June 1549 of the Book of Common Prayer, fuelled by economic distress and resentment at enclosures of common land. Kett's Rebellion, which centred on enclosures, took place in the same month, contributing to a growing sense of national disorder in what was popularly known afterwards as "the commotion time".
John Blackaller of Exeter, Devon, was an English politician, who served as both Mayor of Exeter and Member (MP) for Exeter.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Cornwall: Cornwall – ceremonial county and unitary authority area of England within the United Kingdom. Cornwall is a peninsula bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall is also a royal duchy of the United Kingdom. It has an estimated population of half a million and it has its own distinctive history and culture.
The East Devon Pebblebed Heaths is an area of rare lowland heath in east Devon, England. Lying inland of the coastal towns of Exmouth and Budleigh Salterton, it forms a north–south ridge on the western side of the River Otter at heights above sea level varying between 70 and 150 m. The main area, to the south, consists of the contiguous East Budleigh Common, Lympstone Common, Bicton Common, Woodbury Common and Colaton Raleigh Common; to the north are Hawkerland Valley, Harpford Common, Aylesbeare Common and Venn Ottery Common; and there are a few smaller nearby areas.
Presented below is an alphabetical index of articles related to Cornwall: