Copplestone
| Copplestone | |
|---|---|
 Copplestone | |
  Copplestone Location withinDevon | |
| Population | 1,253(2011) |
| OS grid reference | SS7602 |
| Civil parish |
|
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | CREDITON |
| Postcode district | EX17 |
| Dialling code | 01363 |
| Police | Devon and Cornwall |
| Fire | Devon and Somerset |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| UK Parliament | |
Copplestone(ancientlyCopelaston,Coplestoneetc.[1]) is a village, formermanorandcivil parishinMid Devonin theEnglishcounty ofDevon.It is not anecclesiastical parishas it has no church of its own, which reflects its status as a relatively recent settlement which grew up around the ancient "Copleston Cross" (see below) that stands at the junction of the three ancient ecclesiastical parishes ofColebrooke,CreditonandDown St Mary.[2]
The small parish is surrounded clockwise from the north by the parishes ofSandford,Crediton Hamlets,Colebrooke,Clannaborough,andDown St Mary.[3] According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 894,[4]increasing to 1,253 in 2011.[5]It is situated right in the middle of Devon halfway betweenExeterandBarnstapleon theA377,nestled in a valley.Copplestoneis a major part of the Yeoelectoral wardwhose total ward population was 3,488 at the above census.[6]
TheTarka Linerailway goes through the middle of the village and calls atCopplestone railway station.Copplestone is surrounded by hills and is not far fromDartmoor,visible to the east andExmoorto the north, a little farther away. The surrounding countryside has been used for agriculture from beforeRomanoccupation of the area.
Copplestone Cross
[edit]
In the centre of the village, standing at the junction of the three parishes ofColebrooke,CreditonandDown St Mary,[2]is theCopplestone Cross,agranitepillar, said to be either a boundary stone[7]or the surviving shaft of a decorated lateSaxoncross.[2]It stands 3.2 metres high, and is 0.6 metres square, covered with intricate relief sculpted decoration. Parallels of the intricate interlacing design have been drawn with those designs of crosses found in the Isle of Man.[8]The granite for the cross must have been brought some 9 miles fromDartmoor,which suggests it had some deep cultural significance. It was mentioned asCopelan Stan[7]in a charter dated 974.[9]Putta, the second and last Bishop ofTawton(reigned 906-910), was murdered in 910 whilst travelling from his see atBishops Tawton,on theRiver Taw2 miles south ofBarnstaplein North Devon, to visit the Saxon viceroy Uffa, whose residence was at Crediton.[10][11]It is believed that Copplestone Cross, situated 6 miles north-west of Crediton and 22 miles south-east of Bishops Tawton, was erected in commemoration of his murder at this spot.[12]
Manor of Coplestone
[edit]
The Copleston Cross or Stone gave its name to theestate or manorof Copleston (modern: Coplestone) which was the earliest known home of the Copleston family.[13][14]
Copplestone Family
[edit]The Copplestone family married into both the french landowningUmfravillefamily and the nobleFerrers family,both noble aristocratic english families.
Notable members of the Copplestone Family includeThomas Coplestone,Edward Copleston,and more recentlyMichael Onslow, 7th Earl of Onslow.
More recently,the concentration of Copplestone family members has gradually moved fromDevonintoHampshireandWest Sussex.
References
[edit]- ^Victor Watts, ed. (2004).The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names.Cambridge University Press. p. 157.ISBN978-0-521-16855-7.
- ^abcPevsner, Nikolaus& Cherry, Bridget, The Buildings of England: Devon, London, 2004, p.276
- ^"Map of Devon Parishes"(PDF).Devon County Council. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2 November 2013.Retrieved20 June2013.
- ^Office for National Statistics:Census 2001: Parish Headcounts: Mid DevonArchived3 March 2016 at theWayback MachineRetrieved 27 January 2010
- ^"Parish Population 2011".Retrieved23 February2015.
- ^"Yeo ward 2011".Retrieved23 February2015.
- ^abHoskins, W.G.,A New Survey of England: Devon, London, 1959 (first published 1954), p.372
- ^Goodwins, Sara.Cross Purposes: an introduction to mediaeval Manx crosses p. 32
- ^Baring-Gould, Sabine(1834-1924), A Book of the West, Being an Introduction to Devon & Cornwall, Vol. I, Devon, London, 1900, p.98[1]
- ^Chattaway, Joseph, An Historical Sketch of the Danmonii: Or Ancient Inhabitants of Devonshire, 1830, p.79[2]
- ^Pole:"Putta was next Bishop of Tawton & was slayne in his journey towards Crediton to visitt the Kinge",as recorded byJohn Hooker(d.1601) (Pole, Sir William(d.1635), Collections Towards a Description of the County of Devon, Sir John-William de la Pole (ed.), London, 1791, p.27)
- ^"Copplestone Cross, Copplestone, Devon".
- ^Paul Coplestion."Copelston Family History".copleston.net.
- ^"General history: Families removed since 1620 | British History Online".
External links
[edit]
Media related toCopplestoneat Wikimedia Commons