Aylesbeare
| Aylesbeare | |
| Devon | |
|---|---|
 Crossways Cottage at Aylesbeare | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SY038917 |
| Location: | 50°43’3"N, 3°21’46"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 527 (2001) |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | East Devon |
Aylesbeare is a village in eastern Devon, standing eight miles to the east of Exeter. According to the 2001 census the parish, which includes the hamlet of Nutwalls, had a population of 527.
Part of Aylesbeare Common is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest, and is managed by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds as a reserve.[1]
Aylesbeare Common and Woodbury Common are amongst eight commons in the parish. The parish is on the northern side of the 'East Devon Pebbled Heathlands'.
The oldest buildings in the parish are parish church, of the 13th century, and the pub, which is 400 years old.
Geography, geology and environment
From the highest point of the parish, at 512 feet on the Common, the land gradually falls away to the northwest reaching its lowest point of 98 feet near Exeter Airport. The village gives its name to a sequence of mudstone and sandstone rocks of Triassic age, the Aylesbeare Mudstone Group which occurs from the east Devon coast northwards into Somerset.[2]
Although the population is widely distributed around the parish, it clusters in Aylesbeare Village itself, the hamlets of Rosamundford and Withen, and small groups of houses on the site of former farm buildings.
Parish church
The oldest building in the parish is the church, the Church of St Mary The Virgin. It dates to the 13th century. Gregory was the first recorded incumbent, in 1261. The church has been rebuilt and restored many times – in the 14th century, a major refurbishment in 1899 and a new roof in 2004.
History
Aylesbeare has a long, but lightly recorded, history. Tumuli on Aylesbeare Common indicate that the area was inhabited in prehistoric times.
In the Domesday Book of 1086, the village is recorded as Ailesbergon though, in common with many place names, it had many spellings over the years, including Aillesbir and Ailesberga.
Economy
Originally a farming parish, Aylesbeare still has two working farms within the village itself with many others spread throughout the parish. However, agriculture is no longer the main source of employment, with many people working in Exeter and surrounding towns.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Aylesbeare) |