Sampford Spiney

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Sampford Spiney
Devon
The Old Schoolhouse and Church Tower, Sampford Spiney - geograph.org.uk - 139922.jpg
The Old School and the Church, Sampford Spiney
Location
Grid reference: SX533724
Location: 50°32’1"N, 4°4’12"W
Data
Post town: Yelverton
Postcode: PL20
Local Government
Council: West Devon

Sampford Spiney is a little, isolated hamlet on Dartmoor in Devon, on the moorland to the east of Tavistock, above the valley of the River Walkham and at the edge of the open moorland of the High Moor, reaching up to Pew Tor. The hamlet itself sits sheltered in a little hollow.

There is little here beyond the farm, a church, a manor house, an old school house and timeless charm.

History

In 1997 a Dark Age inscribed stone was discovered at a farm in Sampford Spiney that is thought to have dated back to AD600.[1]

The place is listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Sanford.

About the village

The parish church, St Mary's, was built in the 14th century, though a place of worship was first started on the site in 1250, as a private chapel. The church of today is built of Dartmoor granite, with a tall, narrow, pinnacled granite tower in the typical Devon style. It was restored in 1867.[2]

In front of the church stands a school house, built as a church house in the 16th century, it was converted into a national school in 1888.[3] In the late twentieth century it became a private house.

The manor house, now a farm, is now known as Sampford Barton Farmhouse. It is of the 16th century. With a wing built in the 17th century, and alterations of later ages.[4]

Outside links

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("Wikimedia Commons" has material
about Sampford Spiney)

References

  1. Sampford Spiney Church – Legendary Dartmoor
  2. Stampford Spiney; St Mary's- Devon Historic Churches
  3. National Heritage List 1326239: Old National School, Sampford Spiney
  4. National Heritage List 1326221: Sampford Barton Farmhouse