Chudleigh

Chudleigh
Devon
Chudleigh
Location
Grid reference:	SX865795
Location:	50°36’14"N, 3°36’18"W
Data
Post town:	Newton Abbot
Postcode:	TQ13
Dialling code:	01626
Local Government
Council:	Teignbridge
Parliamentary constituency:	Central Devon

Chudleigh is a village in Devon, found between Newton Abbot and Exeter.

Chudleigh is very close to the edge of Dartmoor and bypassed by the A38 road in 1972. Nearby Castle Dyke is an Iron Age Hill Fort which demonstrates far earlier settlement in the area.

Chudleigh has expanded a good deal in recent years as commuter houses have been built around its edges, but despite this it still retains a fairly traditional village centre. Outside the centre are such facilities as an outdoor swimming pool, cricket field and football pitches and a skate park. There is a village primary school but for secondary education the village's children must fare beyond.

Nearby Chudleigh is "the Rock", a natural beauty spot with a limestone crag which attracts rock climbers who scale the range of routes on the crag.

Chudleigh Carnival

There has been an annual carnival each summer which draws a large crowd from the surrounding area.

The Great Fire of Chudleigh

The weather conditions in Devon in the year 1807 have been described as a drought. Weeks without rain left many families short of water and had farmers worrying about their crops. There was a bakery in Culver Street (now New Exeter Street) and around noon on May 22, a small fire broke out in pile of furze that was stacked near the ovens.

Later reports state that the staff in the bakery seemed unaware of the danger this posed, but the fire, fed by the exceptionally dry fuel, exploded. In the shortest time imaginable, the fire had spread to the roof of the bakery (thatched, as was the roofing on almost all the houses in Chudleigh at the time) and huge hunks of burning reed and straw were swept aloft by a rapidly growing north-easterly wind.

After the fire, only the church and seven houses were left standing.

Chudleigh in popular culture

The village's name is spoofed as Chudley in the J K Rowling's Harry Potter books. The "Chudley Cannons" are one of only thirteen Quidditch teams that have been playing in the professional Quidditch League of Britain and Ireland that was established in 1674. The team players wear bright orange robes emblazoned with a speeding cannonball and a double "C" in black. The last time they won the League was 1892.

Outside links

• Chudleigh Pool
• East Dartmoor Baptist Church in Chudleigh
• Chudleigh Information web site, provided by The Chudleigh Business Guild
• The Chudleigh History Group website
• Chudleigh Phoenix Community Newsletter

References

• Chudleigh now and then (1996)