Northlew

Northlew
Devon
Cottage and church at Northlew
Location
Grid reference:	SX504991
Location:	50°46’20"N, 4°7’16"W
Data
Population:	592  (2001)
Post town:	Okehampton
Postcode:	EX20
Dialling code:	01409
Local Government
Council:	West Devon
Parliamentary constituency:	Torridge and West Devon
Website:	http://www.northlew.com/

Northlew is a village in the west of Devon. It is part of the county's part of Black Torrington Hundred.

To the west of the village, but within its parish, are the hamlets of West Kimber and East Kimber. The hamlet of Crowden is on the Highampton side of the village.

The parish population at the 2011 census was 2,024.

The village is about seven miles north-west of Okehampton, and most places in the village have excellent views over Dartmoor. The village is relatively isolated, not being served by any main roads. It has an attractive main square surrounded by traditional buildings, some of them thatched; just off the square are a pub, the local primary school and two churches

Churches

The interior of St Thomas's Church

• Church of England: St Thomas of Canterbury, which is noted for its magnificent rood screen
• Methodist (originally a Bible Christian chapel)

The evangelical preacher Ann Freeman was born here in 1797. The ecclesiastical parish of Northlew has been combined with the neighbouring village of Ashbury.

History and legend

The manor of Lew is listed in the Domesday Book and takes its name form this manor; the village of Lewdown and the River Lew are nearby.

The village has the melancholy distinction of having lost the highest proportion of its enlisting population of any municipality in the United Kingdom during the First World War: of 100 men who enlisted in the forces, 24 died. A stone memorial to them was recently erected in the churchyard, replacing wooden memorial tablets within the church.

Legend has it that the Devil died of the cold in Northlew. There is a stone in the village that represents where the Devil is meant to have died of the cold. (Elsewhere in the world though there is no sign of any diminution in the Devil's liveliness, alas.)

The Bell Ringers Song

The village features in the song The Bellringing popularised by Tony Rose.

The song harks back to the days of prize ringing, when bands of ringers would compete for a prize. The bells were rung in the "full-circle" style, and the winners would be those who "struck" or caused the bells to strike, in the neatest and most regular way. The "Men of Northlew" – who "rang so steady and true", beat the bell ringers of Broadwood in two competitions; first at Ashwater Town, and then later at Callington Town. This song and "The ringers of Egloshayle" are the best known of the traditional ringing folk songs.

"The Bell Ringing" was collected by the Rev S Baring Gould and published in "Songs of the West".

Sights about the village

Telephone kiosk

In 2009 BT decided to decommission Northlews only public telephone kiosk due to it being 'uneconomical'. The kiosk in Northlew has stood on the same site since 1939 and is one of the few remaining K6 boxes designed by architect Sir Giles Scott to commemorate the silver jubilee of King George V. Five directors of Nothlew broadband decided to take it over with the assistance of Northlew Parish Council. They then re-activated the kiosk back into a working telephone box; the very first village in the Britain to do so.

War memorial

Northlew, lost proportionately more young men from the enlisted population than any other town city or place in the United Kingdom, and in memorial the residents of Northlew agreed to honour them with the worlds longest Poppy Avenue of just over 10 miles (20 miles of verges) from the town of Okehampton to Broadbury by way of Northlew. This involved the planting of over 360 million poppy seeds.

The project will break a number of world records; namely, the world's longest poppy avenue, the world's longest carpet of flowers (beating one in China by 8.6 miles). It will also be the longest war memorial in the Northern Hemisphere.

On the evening of 28 June 2014, Christopher Marson designed and hosted an international evening attended by almost 1500 people and leading international media companies to mark the passage of 100 years since trhe outbreak of the war. This included an original SE5 Bi plane flypast, Various military agencies and a 3D projection onto the ancient Saxon square to give the impression of being on the battlefield. The link to the evening can be found here. Northlew WW1 Memorial

Sutton Seeds who is the UK's main supplier of seeds also supplied over 42 kg of poppy seeds to the village have also agreed to name a poppy, 'The Northlew Poppy' They also donated a Canadian Oak Tree which will grow to be the tallest tree in the village and turn a blood red around Armistice day in memorial of our fallen, it stands in the village park.

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Northlew)

• Northlew Village
• Northlew Broadband
• Northlew and Ashbury Parochial Primary School

References

• Northlew Community Page on the Devon Libraries Local Studies Service web site
• Devon Roots page about Northlew – prepared by a genealogical enthusiast