Shebbear
| Shebbear | |
|---|---|
  Shebbear Location withinDevon | |
| Population | 1,021 (2021 census) |
| Civil parish |
|
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Beaworthy |
| Postcode district | EX21 |
| UK Parliament | |
Shebbear(/ˈʃɛbɪər/;SHEB-eer) is a village andcivil parishin theTorridge districtinDevon,England. It was once itself centre ofShebbear Hundred.An electoral ward exists titledShebbearandLangtree.The 2021 census population was 1,021.[1]The village shares its name with the Shebbeare family, who owned land in the area, and of which 18th century political satiristJohn Shebbearewas a member.
Religion[edit]
The church ofSt Michaeland All Angels is anAnglicanchurch which lies in the centre of the village. Thenaveandchanceldate back to the12th century.[2]The south doorway is from about 1180 and is ofNormanorigin; similar doorways exist inBuckland Brewer,ParkhamandWoolfardisworthy.[2]
William O’Bryanfounded theBible Christian Churchin Shebbear in 1815.[3]The first Bryanitechapel,Lake chapel, was built in the village in 1817. The Bryanites also foundedShebbear College.A symbolic act of reconciliation was held in 2009 between theMethodistandAnglicancommunities in Shebbear, after the founding of the Bible Christian Church caused an almost 200 year long religious split.[4]
According to the 2021 census, 53.4% of residents are Christian, and 45% report following no religion.[1]0.3% of residents are Muslim and 0.4% are Buddhist.
The Devil's Stone[edit]
The Devil's Stone is a probableglacial erraticboulder[5]that lies on the village green outside of St Michael's church. At 8 pm on5 Novembereach year, residents gather outside St Michael's church to watch the villagebellringersturn the Devil's Stone. This takes place instead of traditionalbonfire nightcelebrations.
Local legend states that the stone was dropped on theDevilduring a battle witharchangel Michael.[6]Consequently, the stone fell on top of him, flattening him under it. The folklore reasoning for the turning is that it takes a year for the Devil to dig down and up the other side of the rock, at which point it is flipped again, re-trapping him; if the stone is not turned every year disaster will fall on the village. As apparent evidence of this, the stone was not turned on the 5th of November one year during theSecond World War[7](either due toblackoutmeasures or to most able-bodied men being enlisted), and after a few days of bad news befalling the village a decision was made to turn the stone anyway.
Various alternative versions of the story exist, including that the Devil dropped the stone on the way to the nearby village ofNorthlew,[8]or that it was an original foundation stone for Henscott church which moved across theRiver Torridgeby supernatural means.[9]
The village pub, The Devil's Stone Inn, is named after the stone. The inn is said to be haunted.[10]
Education[edit]
Shebbear has three schools: Shebbear Community School, astate primary schoolfor children from 4 to 11 years of age;[11]Little Bearspreschool,which lies within the grounds of the community school; andShebbear College,aprivate schoolfor children from 3 to 18 years of age.
Notable people[edit]
- Ernest Walter Martin,writer and social historian (born in Shebbear, 1912)[12]
- John D. Prior,trade unionist (born in Shebbear, 10 March 1840)
- Rev. William Strong Hore,clergyman and botanist (vicar of Shebbear, 1855 to 1882)
- James Thorne,leader of the Bible Christian Church (born in Shebbear, 1795)[13]
Twin towns[edit]
Shebbear istwinnedwithBalleroy,France.[14]
References[edit]
- ^ab"Shebbear (Parish, United Kingdom) - Population Statistics, Charts, Map and Location".citypopulation.de.Retrieved24 May2024.
- ^ab"St Michael, Shebbear, Devon".CRSBI.Retrieved24 May2024.
- ^GENUKI."Genuki: Bible Christians of Shebbear, Devon".www.genuki.org.uk.Retrieved24 May2024.
- ^"A Splendid Day for Shebbear".My United Methodists.Retrieved24 May2024.
- ^John, Brian (18 March 2014)."Stonehenge and the Ice Age: The Shebbear Erratic".Stonehenge and the Ice Age.Retrieved24 May2024.
- ^Fitton, Jade Angeles (3 November 2023)."Turn the stone to keep the devil away: Bonfire Night in a Devon village".The Guardian.ISSN0261-3077.Retrieved24 May2024.
- ^Davis, Alex (5 November 2021)."Villagers will save world tonight by flipping Devil's Stone".Devon Live.Retrieved24 May2024.
- ^Fitton, Jade Angeles (3 November 2023)."Turn the stone to keep the devil away: Bonfire Night in a Devon village".The Guardian.ISSN0261-3077.Retrieved24 May2024.
- ^https://www.shebbearvillage.co.uk/DevilsStone.pdf
- ^"Devil's Stone Inn".ghostwatch.net.Retrieved24 May2024.
- ^Shebbear Community SchoolArchived2006-02-01 atarchive.today
- ^"Ernest W. Martin".
- ^"A Fine Herbarium: The Reverend Hore Collection. – Museum of Barnstaple and North Devon".Retrieved24 May2024.
- ^"British Towns Twinned with French Towns".Complete France.Retrieved9 July2016.
External links[edit]
