Loddiswell
| Loddiswell | |
|---|---|
 St Michaels and All Angels | |
  Loddiswell Location withinDevon | |
| Population | small |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Police | Devon and Cornwall |
| Fire | Devon and Somerset |
| Ambulance | South Western |
Loddiswellis aparishand village in theSouth Hamsdistrict ofDevon,England. It lies on the west side of theRiver Avon or Auneand is three miles NNW fromKingsbridge.[1]There is evidence of occupation going back to Roman times. The villages most famous son and benefactor wasRichard Peekwho retired here after being one of theSheriffs of London.The name Loddiswell is a corruption of Saint Loda's well, named after one of the many saints that occurred all over the westcountry, especially in Cornwall.
History
[edit]There is evidence at the northern end of this parish that Blackdown hill was used by the Romans,[2]on the hill Blackdown Rings, a ring-and-baileyhill fort,may be the remains of a wooden fortress of the 12th century, not otherwise documented.[3]The hill itself gives a commanding view of the area.
Loddiswell was mentioned in theDomesday bookin 1086 when the manor was valued at 100 shillings. The manor then belonged toJuhel of Totnes,but had belonged to an Anglo Saxon called Heca before theNorman Conquest.Domesday recorded that there was a fishery that gave 30 salmon asgeld.[4]
The parish church of St. Michael's and All Angels, is of the 14th century, enlarged in the 15th century; itsfontis Norman. The source of the village's medieval prosperity waswool.Woolston House, themanor houseof Staunton manor, is a 17th-century house built near the foundations of an earlier structure; rebuilt in the 18th century, it passed from the Wise/Wyse family to the Weymouth and Allin families.[5]
A copper mine opened in the parish in 1825.
In 1848, the congregationists built a chapel[2]funded by Richard Peek. This locally born philanthropist who retired to Loddiswell and built Hazlewood House (1830). also funded a local school (The British School), a reading and news room (1838) as well as giving to various other nearby chapels.
In 1850, the village had a population of 1,013 and the church (St Michaels) was then described as ancient.Yellow ochrewas collected here for resale complementing the employment at the mine and the mill.[6]
TheGreat Western Railway'sKingsbridge branch linearrived in 1893 with a stop atLoddiswell station.It was said that Loddiswell was a "brisk walk away" as in fact the station was closer to the less well known and smaller village ofWoodleigh.[7]The railway station continued through the steam age but by 1961 it was an unmanned halt and in 1963 it closed for ever.[7]Today the remains of the track is used as a walking route.
Modern Loddiswell is well served for a small village. There is still a post office, Mini Supermarket and village public house, the Loddiswell Inn. The South Devon Chilli Farm can be found just to the north of the village. Near the village isFosse Copsea 1.88 hectares (4.65 acres) woodland on the west facing slope of the Avon Valley owned and managed by theWoodland Trust.[8]
Famous residents
[edit]- Richard Peek,tea merchant and philanthropist was born here in 1782.[9]
References
[edit]- ^"Devon County Council: Loddiswell".Archived fromthe originalon 2 March 2008.Retrieved26 April2009.
- ^abMorris and Co.'s Commercial Directory and Gazetteer,1870, accessed April 2009
- ^"Devon County council: Loddiswell".Archived fromthe originalon 2 March 2008.Retrieved26 April2009.
- ^Domesday Book: A Complete Translation.London: Penguin, 2003.ISBN0-14-143994-7p.306
- ^Weymouth Probates in England from 1858 to 1968
- ^Loddiswell,Whites Directory,1850, at Genuki, accessed April 2009
- ^abLoddiswell stationArchived8 October 2007 at theWayback Machine,Nostagia site, accessed April 2009
- ^"Fosse Copse".Explore Woods.Woodland Trust.Retrieved3 July2016.
- ^Peek of HazwlwoodArchived2009-07-12 at theWayback Machine,accessed April 2009