Otterton
Coordinates: 50°39′29″N 3°18′04″W / 50.658178°N 3.301008°W
| Otterton | |
 Otterton. |
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 Otterton
Otterton shown within Devon |
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| Population | 700 (2001 census) |
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| OS grid reference | SY080851 |
| Shire county | Devon |
| Region | South West |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Postcode district | EX9 |
| Dialling code | 01395 |
| Police | Devon and Cornwall |
| Fire | Devon and Somerset |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| EU Parliament | South West England |
| UK Parliament | East Devon |
| List of places: UK • England • Devon | |
Otterton is a village and civil parish in East Devon, England.
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[edit] The village
The village is located on the east bank of the River Otter, east of the B3178 road and the village of East Budleigh. It is about a mile inland of Ladram Bay, on the Jurassic Coast. It was first settled by the Saxons and because of its favourable location and rich resources was by 1000 AD the centre of one of the major rural communities in Devon.[1]
The church, dedicated to St Michael, belonged to the monastery of Mont Saint-Michel at the time of the Domesday Book. After passing through ownership by Syon Abbey in the 15th century, it was bought by Richard Duke at the Dissolution.[2] Duke converted some of the monastic buildings into a mansion, part of which still exists to the north of the present-day church, which was rebuilt in 1869–71 by Benjamin Ferrey.[3] Burials in the churchyard ceased in 1986.[4]
The village includes attractive cob and thatched cottages and is the location of Otterton Mill which is a watermill and craft centre.
The Budleigh Salterton Railway, which was open from 1897 to 1967, ran along the valley of the River Otter. The station known as East Budleigh was closer to Otterton, being just over the river from the village. The platform and station building survive as a private house.[5]
[edit] The parish
Otterton civil parish is bounded by the coast on the east and the River Otter on the west; these two bounds meet at the mouth of the river, just east of the town of Budleigh Salterton, after passing through the 57-acre (230,000 m2) Otter Estuary Nature Reserve - a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The northern parish boundary leaves the river near Colaton Raleigh and swings south to meet the coast at Peak Hill, west of Sidmouth.[6]
About ¾ of a mile west along the coast from Peak Hill is High Peak, a 157-metre high cliff. Excavations into the earthworks on top of this have shown habitation in the Iron Age, Roman period and in the 6th–8th centuries AD. Many of these earthworks have been lost to the sea by erosion.[2] The cliffs below High Peak have yielded rare fossils from the Middle Triassic age, for example Mastodonsaurus.[7]
[edit] References
- ^ Millington, Gerald. "A History of the Otter Estuary, Ice-age to Saxon period. Budleigh Salterton, Otterton, East Budleigh.". Otter Valley Association. http://www.ovapedia.org.uk/index.php?page=a-history-of-the-otter-estuary-ice-age-to-saxon-period-budleigh-salterton-otterton-east-budleigh. Retrieved 2010-07-01.
- ^ a b Harris, Helen (2004). A Handbook of Devon Parishes. Tiverton: Halsgrove. p. 129. ISBN 1-84114-314-6.
- ^ Pevsner, Nikolaus; Cherry, Bridget (revision) (1989) [1952]. The Buildings of England: Devon. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. pp. 614–615. ISBN 0 14 071050 7.
- ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 50472. p. 4373. 27 March 1986. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
- ^ Catford, Nick. "East Budleigh Station". Disused Stations. http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/e/east_budleigh/index.shtml. Retrieved 2010-07-02.
- ^ Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 scale map. Sheet 115: Exmouth & Sidmouth (2004)
- ^ "Educational Register of Geological Sites: Ladram Bay to Sidmouth". Devon County Council. http://www.devon.gov.uk/geo-ladram-bay-to-sidmouth.pdf. Retrieved 2010-07-02.
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Otterton |
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