Hartland
| Hartland | |
| Devon | |
|---|---|
 Fore Street, Hartland | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SS2524 |
| Location: | 50°59’35"N, 4°28’59"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 1,676 (2001) |
| Post town: | Bideford |
| Postcode: | EX39 |
| Dialling code: | 01237 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Torridge |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Torridge and West Devon |
Hartland (whose parish incorporates also the hamlet of Stoke to the west and the village of Meddon in the south), is the most north-westerly village in Devon. It is close to the promontory of Hartland Point, where the coast of Devon turns from facing north into the Bristol Channel to face west into the Atlantic Ocean. There is an important lighthouse on the point. The south-west of the parish encompasses Knaps Longpeak, a salient of hard shale projecting into the sea that forms the most westerly point of the county.
The name "Hartland" appears to be from the Old English "heort" meaning hart.
Until the Tudor period Hartland was an important port. Today it acts as a centre for a rural neighbourhood and has minor tourist traffic. The town's harbour, Hartland Quay, is to the south of Hartland Point. The quay was originally built in the late 16th century but was swept away in 1887.
The high tower of the St Nectan's Church at Stoke remains a significant landmark for ships in the Bristol Channel.
Contents
Parish church
The parish church is St Nectan's and stands in the hamlet of Stoke near Hartland. St Nectan was a 5th-century Welsh hermit who lived in Stoke and the later legend tells that he was a son of the King of Brycheiniog.
The Church of St Nectan has the highest tower in Devon, at 128 feet and the church itself is 137 feet long. It is built in the late Perpendicular style, built in the mid 14th century. Notable features include the fine Norman font, the rood screen (the finest in north Devon so they say) and the old wagon roofs. The monuments include an elaborate mediæval tomb-chest, a small brass of 1610 and a metal-inlaid lid of a churchyard tomb of 1618.[1]
History and notable buildings
The town was in the past known as Harton and was an unreformed borough, finally abolished in 1886.[2] In mediæval times there was an important abbey at Hartland where the shrine of St Nectan was venerated. Hartland Abbey and the parish church are located some two miles away at Stoke.
Hartland Abbey
Hartland Abbey was built in 1157 and consecrated by Bartholomew Iscanus in 1160[3] (Bartholomew was appointed Bishop of Exeter the following year). It was converted into an Augustinian abbey in 1189. In 1539 it was the last monastery to be dissolved by Henry VIII. The King gave the building to William Abbot, his Sergeant of the Wine Cellar at Hampton Court.[3] William Abbot converted what had been the Abbot's Lodging into a mansion. The present house incorporates a few components from Tudor times but is mainly the wing added to the old house in 1705 (the north-west corner being the work of 'Mr Mathews' (according to the author of the Beauties of England and Wales). Further alterations were done about 1860.[1] The gardens were laid out by Gertrude Jekyll.
In early 2008, scenery and a cottage on the Hartland Abbey estate were featured in the BBC adaptation of Sense and Sensibility.[4]
Round about Hartland
Hartland is a convenient centre for walking parts of the South West Coast Path, and the wild coastal scenery around the point is some of the most dramatic on the path, with excellent views across to Lundy Island. It is from Hartland Point that the Lundy Company operate their helicopter service to Lundy, during the five months from November to March.
The coast at Hartland is part of the North Devon Coast "Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty". The British Geological Survey operate a magnetic observatory (one of three in the United Kingdom) just to the north of Hartland.[5]
References
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Hartland) |
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Pevsner, N. (1952) North Devon. Penguin Books
- ↑ Hartland Town Trust. "Walk Through Hartland". http://www.hartlandforum.co.uk/towntrust/walk.htm.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 http://www.hartlandabbey.co.uk/history.htm
- ↑ "Sense and Sensibility". http://www.hartlandabbey.com/Sense_&_Sensibility.htm.
- ↑ http://www.geomag.bgs.ac.uk/hartland.html geomad.bgs.ac.uk
