Stoke Gabriel
| Stoke Gabriel | |
| Devon | |
|---|---|
 Stoke Gabriel | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SX850572 |
| Location: | 50°24’12"N, 3°38’42"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 1,107 (2011) |
| Post town: | Totnes |
| Postcode: | TQ9 |
| Dialling code: | 01803 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | South Hams |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Totnes |
Stoke Gabriel is a village in south Devon, on a creek of the River Dart, half way between Totnes upstream and Dartmouth downstream.
The village is a popular tourist destination in this part of Devonshire and is famous for its mill pond and crabbing. It is equidistant from Paignton, Dartmouth and Totnes, and has a population of approximately 1,200, reducing slightly to 1,107 at the 2011 census.
Fisherman have worked at Stoke Gabriel since time immemorial, fishing salmon on the creek and sailing out down the River Dart to the sea.
The village has two public houses; The Church House Inn and The Castle Inn. Until relatively recently there were three pubs. The other being The Victoria and Albert Inn. The Church House Inn was built to accommodate the masons who constructed the church and also served as the courthouse. The old stocks can be seen outside the inn today; convenient for dealing with rowdy drunkards but not in fact ever used.
Parish church
The parish church is dedicated to St Mary and St Gabriel, a church which has stood since Norman times.
The village has an approximately 1,000-year-old yew tree in the parish churchyard. Idle local legend has it that if you walk backwards seven times round the yew's main stem you will be granted a wish.[1]
In popular fiction
Stoke Gabriel is the template for the fictional village of Thornford Regis in C. C. Benison's crime novels Twelve Drummers Drumming and Eleven Pipers Piping.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Stoke Gabriel) |