Hittisleigh

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Hittisleigh
Devon
St Andrew's Church, Hittisleigh - geograph.org.uk - 1739375.jpg
St Andrew's Church, Hittisleigh
Location
Grid reference: SX734954
Location: 50°44’28"N, 3°47’52"W
Data
Population: 113
Post town: Exeter
Postcode: EX6
Dialling code: 01647
Local Government
Council: Mid Devon
Parliamentary
constituency:
Central Devon

Hittisleigh is a small, rural village just north-east of the edges of Dartmoor in Devon.

The name 'Hittisleigh' may be derived from 'Hyttin's leah' (from the Old English for wood/clearing). Alternatively it may come from the Old English for a 'family' or 'tenants' and have meant 'tenant's place or pasture'. Although difficult to date the initial settlement Hittisleigh is mentioned in the Domesday Book.[1]

The village has a church, Church of St Andrew, Hittisleigh, village hall, several farms and a public telephone box. In the past it has also boasted a school, public house (The Hunters Inn), post office, blacksmith, bakery and Wesleyan Methodist chapel. These have all since closed with the buildings often becoming residential.

The church has a nave and chancel of the 14th century and a 15th-century aisle built of granite. According to John Betjeman "it was restored late and lovingly" and is "an adorable little church".[2]

The village is known to history as the birthplace of the eighteenth-century pirate Samuel Bellamy.

Outside links

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("Wikimedia Commons" has material
about Hittisleigh)

References

  1. "Hittisleigh in Domesday Book". http://www.bedandbreakfastdevon.org/community/hittisleigh.shtml. Retrieved 2009-09-25. 
  2. Betjeman, John, ed. (1968) Collins Pocket Guide to English Parish Churches; the South. London: Collins; p. 163