Mortehoe

Mortehoe
Devon
Cottages at Mortehoe
Location
Grid reference:	SS457452
Location:	51°11’7"N, 4°12’30"W
Data
Local Government

Mortehoe is a village on the rocky north coast of Devon, sitting ten miles north-west of Barnstaple, near Woolacombe and Lee Bay. It stands in a valley within the hilly sand-dune-like land behind Morte Point. The parish population at the 2011 census was 1,637.

Mortehoe can trace its origins back to the Domesday Book, and beyond. Always a farming community, in former years it was a base for smugglers and wreckers. Since the coming of the railway, notably the Ilfracombe Branch Line, Mortehoe has become much more dependent on tourism, with numerous camp sites and holiday camps in the vicinity.

Geology

Mortehoe, like most of the surrounding area, is built on a band of Devonian slates, sandstones and igneous rocks such as basalt. This gives the area a rugged and rocky quality which is typical of north Devon.

Parish church

The parish church is St Mary's. The oldest parts of the church date back to Norman times, but it has been added to in subsequent years. The bell tower, carved pews and the de Tracy tomb are mediæval.

The chancel-arch mosaic and the 'archangel' window were designed by Selwyn Image. The later parts of the building are of the 14th and 16th centuries. The carved bench-ends are 13th century, the wagon roof of the nave 15th century and the chest tomb of William de Tracey, Rector of Mortehoe has been dated to 1322.

History

The popularity of this remote corner of Devon was boosted by the coming of the railway in 1874. However, Mortehoe station was nearly two miles inland from the village, so Mortehoe was rather less affected by the additional population than its now much larger neighbour, Woolacombe. The Ilfracombe Branch Line railway closed in 1970.

About the village

The Mortehoe Heritage Centre, based in the Cart Linhay building. On the upper floor is a museum of the history of the most north-westerly tip of North Devon. The museum has displays about the local farming communities, the railway, and the numerous shipwrecks that occurred off the treacherous rocks around the nearby coast. The rebuilding of the heritage site was managed by surveyor, and later landlord, Douglas Victor Watkins.

Bull Point Lighthouse is a short walk along the South West Coast Path from the centre of the village, and Morte Point is also easily accessible.

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Mortehoe)

• Woolacombe and Mortehoe Residents Association
• mortehoe.org – what's on when, and other Mortehoe news and information
• Images and descriptions at West Country Walks