Hide
hide
Hide

CULLOMPTON

[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868)]

"CULLOMPTON, (or Collumpton), a parish and market town in the hundred of Hayridge, in the county of Devon, 10½ miles N.E. of Exeter, and 7 N. of Tiverton. It is situated on the river Culme and the Great Western railway, on which it has a station. It contains Matterton, Langford, and Ponsford, and in the Saxon times belonged to King Alfred. At the Conquest it was given by William I. to Battle Abbey, in Sussex. The town received a charter from Edward I. conferring on it the privilege of a market and fairs, which was confirmed by his successor. Its situation in a valley, surrounded by an expanse of level country, gives it a specially pleasing appearance. It consists of about 800 houses, some of them old, arranged in one principal street, which is indifferently paved but well supplied with water, and contains a bank. The inhabitants are chiefly employed in the manufacture of woollen cloth, kerseymere, and serge, and in the paper-mills and tanneries. The parishioners annually appoint six constables, three for the town, and three for the rest of the parish. Cullompton is a polling-place for the northern division of the county, and a petty sessions town. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Exeter, value £400, in the patronage of Mrs. Chave; The church, dedicated to St. Andrew, is a stone structure in the perpendicular style of architecture, with fine carved oak roof, and contains a beautiful screen and rood-loft, also a handsome chapel. The charities amount to £223 per annum. The Baptists, Wesleyans, Unitarians, and Independents have each a chapel. Here is a National school. The Black Down hounds have a meet here. W. C. Grant, Esq., is lord of the manor. A cattle market is held on the first Saturday in every month, excepting May and December, when a fair is held, commencing the first Wednesday in each of these months.

Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003