Otterton
| Otterton | |
| Devon | |
|---|---|
 Fore Street, Otterton | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SY080851 |
| Location: | 50°39’29"N, 3°18’4"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 656 (2011) |
| Post town: | Budleigh Salterton |
| Postcode: | EX9 |
| Dialling code: | 01395 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | East Devon |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
East Devon |
Otterton is a village beside the River Otter in the east of Devon, and close to the coat on the English Channel. It stands on the east bank of the Otter, east of the B3178 road and of the village of East Budleigh. It is about a mile inland of Ladram Bay, on the Jurassic Coast.
In 2001 the parish population was 700, compared to 622 a hundred years earlier.
The village, which includes cob and thatched cottages, is described at some length by Pevsner as "an instructive example of local building from the 16th century onwards".[1] It is the location of Otterton Mill, a watermill and craft centre.
The Budleigh Salterton Railway, which was open from 1897 to 1967, ran along the valley of the River Otter. The station known as East Budleigh was closer to Otterton, being just over the river from the village. The platform and station building survive as a private house.[2]
History
The parish church, dedicated to St Michael, belonged to the monastery of Mont Saint-Michel at the time of the Domesday Book in 1086. After passing through ownership by Syon Abbey in the 15th century, the manor with the advowson was bought by Richard Duke (c. 1515–1572) at the Dissolution of the Monasteries.[3]
Duke converted some of the monastic buildings into a mansion, part of which still exists to the north of the present-day church, which was rebuilt in 1869–71 at the sole expense of Lady Rolle to the design of Benjamin Ferrey.[1]
In 1786 the manor of Otterton, with several other manors, was sold by the heirs of the Duke family for the huge sum of £72,000 to Denys Rolle (1725–1797) of nearby Bicton, and of Stevenstone, the largest private landowner in Devon.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Otterton) |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Nikolaus Pevsner: The Buildings of England: Devon, 1952; 1989 Penguin Books ISBN 978-0-300-09596-8pages 614–615
- ↑ Catford, Nick. "East Budleigh Station". Disused Stations. http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/e/east_budleigh/index.shtml. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
- ↑ Harris, Helen (2004). A Handbook of Devon Parishes. Tiverton: Halsgrove. p. 129. ISBN 1-84114-314-6.
