Lustleigh
| Lustleigh | |
| Devon | |
|---|---|
 Lustleigh | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SX784812 |
| Location: | 50°37’4"N, 3°43’13"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 600 (2011) |
| Post town: | Newton Abbot |
| Postcode: | TQ13 |
| Dialling code: | 01647 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Teignbridge |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Central Devon |
Lustleigh is a small village nestled in the Wrey Valley, inside the Dartmoor National Park in Devon. It sits between the towns of Bovey Tracey and Moretonhampstead.
The village is focused around the parish church of St John the Baptist. Surrounding this are old buildings, many of which are thatched. There is a village shop, garage, tea room and a pub. There was formerly a Post Office but this closed in 2009, however the village is currently served by an outreach Post Office located in the shop.
History of the village
The area where Lustleigh now stands has been inhabited since before records began as shown by the remains of stone hut circles, which can still be seen in the 'Cleave' (meaning 'Cliff' or 'Cleft', which is the defining geological feature of the valley) and the presence of an ancient burial monument "Datuidoc's Stone" which dates from before 600 AD.
In the 899 will of King Alfred the Great, Lustleigh was left to his youngest son Aethelweard (c.880-922).
Whilst the name of Lustleigh (nor any variation) is not found in the Domesday Book, it is believed that the village was recorded under the name of Sutreworde,[1] Old English for 'south of the wood'[2] or 'south place'.
At the time of the Domesday Book, the Lord of the Manor of Sutreworde was Ansgar, who controlled 12 farms of around 1,200 acres and a large area of forest. Unusually for the Domesday Book, beekeeping was mentioned as a key activity of the parish. At the time of the Domesday Survey, there were around 155 people living in the village.
The manor of Lustleigh was bought by Sir John Wadham in 1403 and stayed in the Wadham family for eight generations, when it formed part of the estate of Nicholas Wadham (1531-1609), co-founder of Wadham College, Oxford.[3] It continued as an estate manor until the beginning of the 19th century when it was broken up and sold off.
Over time, the village expanded from its original boundaries (signified by the Bishop's stone at Caseley as the entrance, and the Wrey brook in the valley), to encompass the area beyond the Wrey brook (known as Wreyland) which was previously a separate village – although its residents attended Lustleigh's parish church – and out to Brookfield (in 1957).
Lustleigh today
The village has a population of between 600 and 700.
There is a Village Hall, reopened in February 2005, a village shop with limited post office facilities and a pub, The Cleave. The pub was converted from a farmhouse into 'The Cleave Hotel' with the coming of the railway to the village.
About the village
Wreyland is a particularly picturesque area of Lustleigh, with a large number of thatched houses, including Wrayland Manor, Souther Wreyland, Yonder Wreyland and the Tallet House. Wreyland was not formerly a part of Lustleigh, but was incorporated into the village in the 19th century. The track that leads from Knowle Road into the village centre is called the Wreyland Path.
The Orchard is a plot of common land donated to the village some years ago, with a children's playground. A large granite boulder, topped by a granite throne, is used for the annual coronation of the May Queen.
Kelly Mine near the village is an old mine working occasionally opened to the public for tours.
Lustleigh Cleave is a large geological feature above the village. Paths criss-cross the Cleave (which is mostly common land) and surrounding fields, meadows and woods. Walkers may enjoy the views to the moor from the ridge or the lazy bubble of the River Bovey as it flows along the wooded valley bottom. Wildlife to be seen includes deer, rare butterflies and the pretty river bird, the dipper. In early June the slopes are covered in masses of bluebells and foxgloves.
Pullabrook Woods nestling at the foot of the moors, and are a destination for walkers and riders. The woods are managed in parts by the Woodland Trust, English Nature and the Dartmoor National Park.[4]
The Bishop's Stone commemorates the visit of the Bishop of Exeter, though it is not know which bishop.[5] This stone, at the bottom of Caseley Hill and the top of the station approach road can still be seen, although worn by years of neglect.
Datuidoc's Stone is Lustleigh's most ancient monument, dating from around 550–600 AD is now in the church, and marked a burial site in a graveyard on the site of the present church.
Churches
- Church of England: Church of St John the Baptist
- Baptist: East Dartmoor Baptist Church, on Rudge Hill, built in around 1853[6]
- Independent: Gospel Hall, below the village green next to the Primrose Cottage tea rooms on the Wreyland path.
There was previously a private Roman Catholic chapel, beside Pixies Cottage on Mapstone Hill but it closed when the owner, Dolly Walmsley, moved away in 1984.
The parish church, St John the Baptist, stands at the centre of the village. The oval shape of the churchyard suggests that a Romano-British burial ground may have first occupied this site. This conjecture is supported by the presence of Datuidoc's Stone in the north aisle (originally in the porch), dating from around 550–600 AD.
The first part of the church, including the basic rectangle and the south porch, was built around 1250.[7] The south chapel was added in the early 14th century by the Lord of the Manor, Sir William le Prouse. The church tower was built in the late 14th century. In the 15th century the north aisle was built, including removal of the north wall and replacing it with pillars. The last major addition to the church was the vestry, built in Victorian times.
Events
May Day celebrations
The May Day celebrations are the biggest event of the year for the village, with a carnival procession, maypole dancing, and crowning of the May Queen. The May Day tradition had lapsed until 1905, when Cecil Torr revived it. The celebrations have since been held on the first Saturday in May. Initially the 'crowning' took place on a hillside above Greyland. The granite boulder where the ceremony took place has inscribed upon it the names of all the May Queens up to the beginning of the Second World War when the event was suspended due to the sinister nature of 'crowning' young village girls in an inaccessible woodland on the outskirts of the village.
In 1954, the celebrations were again revived and moved to the Town Orchard where the May Queen's throne was erected on a rock. Like its predecessor this rock, known as the May Day Rock, has the names of all the May Queens inscribed on it from 1954 to the present. In May 2000 a new throne was unveiled at the May Day celebrations. The throne was cut from granite from the nearby Blackingstone Quarry. It was designed by Doug Cooper and carved by Warren Pappas; on it is inscribed 'MM'.
Lustleigh Village Show and Dance
On August Bank Holiday Monday the village hosts a large show, which in 2010 attracted more than 4,500 visitors. The show has classes for items ranging from fruit and vegetables to photography, as well as a horse show and a dog show. There are also stalls and activities, a six-mile charity run, terrier racing, displays from local charities and sheep shearing demonstrations.
The show is usually held in the fields at Kelly Farm, although during the Foot and Mouth year it was held on the field next to the cricket field.
It is not known when the show started, but it gradually grew to incorporate the local flower show, previously held at the Conservative Hall (where the village hall now stands). Until 1990, the Lustleigh horticultural society organised the show, but subsequently a separate committee organised it. In 1998, this split further, with the growing horse show being organised separately from the rest of the show.
Surplus funds raised from the show are spent in the village on numerous community projects and good causes. Thus far more than £15,000 has been reinvested in the village.
The show is sometimes preceded on the Saturday by the "can't miss" show dance: the locals gather in the show tent for music, dinner and dancing. For the dance most of the village dresses in costume for a night's entertainment in a themed tent. The music is often provided by a local band, such as Scratch, who have featured in the show since 1997.
The Railway at Lustleigh
Lustleigh Station, and the smaller Hawkmoor or Pullabrook Halt, were stops on the Moretonhampstead and South Devon Railway, a twelve-mile branch of the South Devon Main Line from Newton Abbot to Moretonhampstead.
The line opened to the public in 1866 and converted from broad gauge to standard gauge in 1892. It brought tourists to the area, and this led to local business flourishing. The conveniently placed Gatehouse Farm was converted into the Cleave Hotel, still the village pub to this day. The railway was also used by local industries: farmers' produce, nursery plants and blacksmiths' products were all sent by train.
The station was used in 1931 for the film 'Hound of the Baskervilles', its name being temporarily changed (Ewans 1964).
Railway traffic grew until the 1930s when it went into decline. Despite a significant summer tourist trade, being featured in many contemporary guide books to the region, traffic was not enough to cover rising costs. The line closed in 1964 (several years before the Beeching axe).
Several miles of the line between Bovey Tracey and Lustleigh, some of which is now a public path, are planned by the council to become a cycle track. The old Lustleigh station house is visible from the old railway bridge at Brookfield, as are the Brookfield, Caseley and Knowle bridges.
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Lustleigh) |
- Entry in Kelly's Directory of Devon & Cornwall, 1893
- The Lustleigh Society
- Lustleigh Show
- Lustleigh Village Hall
- Information about Kelly Mine
- Photographs from the Lustleigh Society collection, in the Dartmoor Archive
- Information on Lustleigh from GENUKI
References
- ↑ A. Jones in the Book of Lustleigh, 2001
- ↑ Lusterliegh Society: The History of Lustleigh
- ↑ Lustleigh Record Society, and C.Worthy, Devonshire Parishes: or the antiquities, heraldry and family history of twenty-eight parishes in the archdeaconry of Totnes (2 vols), Exeter, W. Pollard (1887) - Vol 2, pp.183-194. Also, Chap XX: Lustleigh - Lords of the manor; WADHAM of Edge, including Nicholas WADHAM of Lustleigh (founder of Wadham College, Oxford), Rev. William Davy
- ↑ Woodland Trust: Index of woods
- ↑ "Bishop Stone". Legendary Dartmoor. http://www.legendarydartmoor.co.uk/bish_stone.htm. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
- ↑ Cutts & Green, 2001, in Book of Lustleigh
- ↑ Robinson T., 2001, in Book of Lustleigh
- Torr, Cecil (1918) Small Talk at Wreyland. 3 series. Cambridge University Press, 1918, 1921, 1923 (combined edition by Adams & Dart, 1970)
- Ewans, M. C. (1964) The Haytor Granite Tramway & Stover Canal. Newton Abbot: David & Charles; p. 43
- Crowdy, J. (ed) (2001) The Book of Lustleigh. Halsgrove ISBN 1-84114-107-0