Whiddon Down
| Whiddon Down | |
| Devon | |
|---|---|
 The Post Inn, Whiddon Down | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SX691925 |
| Location: | 50°43’7"N, 3°51’2"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 267 (2011) |
| Post town: | Okehampton |
| Postcode: | EX20 |
| Dialling code: | 01647 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | West Devon |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Central Devon |
Whiddon Down is a hamlet within the parish of Drewsteignton in Devon, and a hill on Dartmoor on whose northern slope the hamlet stands.
The hamlet lies on the old east-west London to Penzance road, between Exeter and Okehampton at the cross-roads with the south-north route up to Bideford.
The hill
Whiddon Down, the hill from which the village is named, stands in the north-eastern part of Dartmoor. It is a ridge of high farmland some 800 feet above sea level with commanding views. The name of the hill is recorded[1] as Whyddon Doune in 1535 and as Whiddon Downe in 1661: it is named after its mediæval landowners, the Whiddon family of nearby Chagford.
History
The hill has been farmed since prehistory, and the remains of ancient ages are found across its slopes. In historical times, there were many scattered farms on the hill.
The hamlet of Whiddon Down is modern: it was established in the 18th century with the turnpiking of the south-north road.[2] At this time, a 15th-century crossroads dwelling became a coaching inn and post point (now The Post Inn).
Population growth in the 19th century was sufficient for the establishment of a small primary school in 1879[3] and a Methodist church in 1906.[4] The school closed in 1959 and now serves as a village hall. The community was expanded with council housing in the 1970s. There is a small number of agricultural businesses in the hamlet, and a caravan park, but there are no longer any shops apart from the nearby service station.
In the late 1980s the A30 was made a dual carriageway bypassing the village, which then largely lapsed into slumber, but it remains a major road junction point, with a service station (Whiddon Down Service Area) and a Travelodge.
Chagstock music festival
Farmland on the south side of the hamlet provides the setting for the annual Chagstock music festival, held in July.
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Whiddon Down) |
References
- ↑ "The Historical Gazetteer of England's Place Names". http://placenames.org.uk/index.php/browse/mads/epns-deep-09-d-mappedname-001407.
- ↑ "Drewsteignton Parish History". Drewsteignton Parish Council. http://www.drewsteigntonparish.co.uk/history.html.
- ↑ "Whiddon Down School". The National Archives. http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/rd/509cd0f0-b092-40c1-b7dd-184a99644bdf.
- ↑ "Whiddon Down Methodist Church". http://exeterccmethodist.org.uk/whiddon-down.
