Dunkeswell
| Dunkeswell | |
| Devon | |
|---|---|
 Dunkeswell | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | ST141077 |
| Location: | 50°51’48"N, 3°13’18"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 1,361 (2011) |
| Post town: | Honiton |
| Postcode: | EX14 |
| Dialling code: | 01404 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | East Devon |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Tiverton and Honiton |
Dunkeswell is a village in eastern Devon (three and a half miles from the Somerset border), which is to be found about five miles north of the town of Honiton, on no main route. At the 2011 census, the parish had a population of 1,361.
The parish is surrounded, clockwise from the north, by the parishes of Hemyock, Luppitt, Combe Raleigh, Awliscombe, Broadhembury and Sheldon.
The village is named in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Doduceswilla. It is recorded as having a population of at least 11 families of freemen and several bondsmen.
Churches
There are two churches in the parish, both of the Church of England. The parish church, St Nicholas, was built in 1868 and is of interest for its Norman font.
The second, Holy Trinity Church, is within the precincts of Dunkeswell Abbey. The abbey was founded in the thirteenth century but the church was built there in 1842 and is a daughter church of St Nicholas in Dunkeswell.
Dunkeswell Abbey
The remains of Dunkeswell Abbey are to be found two miles north of the village. The abbey was founded in 1201 by William Briwere as a Cistercian monastery and offshoot of Forde Abbey. The founder granted much property within Devon to the abbey. Around two years before his death in 1226, he entered the community and was eventually buried in front of the high altar of the abbey church.
Following the Dissolution of the Monasteries the abbey was closed in 1539 and granted to John Russell, 1st Baron Russell (1485–1555), later 1st Earl of Bedford, and was mostly demolished quickly, though a section remained in domestic use until the 19th century. In 1842, a parish church was built over part of the site. Some surviving fragments of monastery include the partial end wall of the cellarer's range and parts of a gatehouse. Some carved fragments survive within Holy Trinity Church which was built here in 1842 in Early English style.[1]
Aerodrome
Just to the west of the village is a busy small airfield, known as Dunkeswell Aerodrome. It was established as a United States Navy air base during the Second World War, and today it is open as an aerodrome for general aviation.
Dunkeswell Eco Business Park is located near the aerodrome. It was built as a small industrial estate with the declared aim of providing environmentally-friendly business space for start-up businesses and businesses that have outgrown existing premises.
Sport and leisure
The Churchill Playground , of just half an acre, and New Century Park on Court View (two and a half acres) in the village are both Queen Elizabeth II Fields.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Dunkeswell) |
References
- ↑ Nikolaus Pevsner: Pevsner Architectural Guides
- New, Anthony: A Guide to the Abbeys of England and Wales, p. 156-157. Constable.
