Belstone
| Belstone | |
| Devon | |
|---|---|
 Belstone Village Green | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SX620936 |
| Location: | 50°43’35"N, 3°57’20"W |
| Data | |
| Post town: | Okehampton |
| Postcode: | EX20 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | West Devon |
Belstone is a small village in Devon, on the northern edge of Dartmoor, three miles south-east of Okehampton. The western boundary of the parish is mostly formed by the East Okement River and the eastern by the River Taw. To the south, looking down on the village, is Belstone Tor, which reaches 1,508 feet.[1] The parish population was recorded in 2001 as 257; relatively unchanged from the 1901 figure of 236.[1]
The village is recorded in the Domesday Book as Bellestam. It sits around 990 feet above sea level and is only accessible by minor roads from the A30 road.
Parish church
The parish church, dedicated to St Mary The Virgin, dates from the 13th century; parish priests recorded from 1260.[1][2]
About the village
There are a number of Bronze Age remains are found within the parish, including the Nine Maidens stone circle, which is now reckoned to be the remains of the outer wall of a burial chamber.[1]
In the 19th century, copper was worked on the moor at Taw River mine which closed in 1892, and at Greenhill in the north-east.[1]
It is possible that Fatherford, in the north west of Belstone parish, was one stage in a Roman extension of the Fosse Way road from Exeter to Launceston.[3]
Belstone in fiction
- Agatha Christie's 1931 novel The Sittaford Mystery would appear to use Belstone as the location of the fictional settlement of Sittaford.
- The story of The Ballad of the Belstone Fox (1970) by David Rook was based on the area, later made into a film The Belstone Fox in 1973.
- Michael Jecks made the village the setting for his 1999 novel Belladonna At Belstone.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Belstone) |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Harris, Helen (2004). A Handbook of Devon Parishes. Tiverton: Halsgrove. p. 16. ISBN 1-84114-314-6.
- ↑ Dorothea, James (1911). Belstone: Some Account of the Parish. Past and Present. Winchester: Warren and Son.
- ↑ "Belstone History". South Zeal & its Dartmoor Environment. http://www.south-zeal.eu/page061.html. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
- The Book of Belstone by Chris and Marion Walpole, 2002
