Haldon

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The A380 on the top of Haldon.

The Haldon Hills, usually known simply as Haldon, are a line of hills in Devon, England. They are situated between the Exe and Teign estuaries and run from Teignmouth on the south coast of Devon, northwards, for roughly 15 miles until they dwindle away northwest of Exeter. They reach their highest points of 250 Metres above Sea Level to the South West of Exeter.

The hills are heavily forested and a significant proportion of the highest parts of the range is owned by the Forestry Commission, and as a result it is popular with local people for walks and orienteering.^[1]

1 Roads & Buildings
2 History
3 See also
4 References

[edit] Roads & Buildings

Haldon lies across the path of two of the main routes into Devon: the A38 which goes to Plymouth and beyond into Cornwall; and the A380 to Newton Abbot and Torbay.

The bridge over the A380 at the top of Telegraph Hill.

The A380 has a steep ascent to the top of Haldon, known as Telegraph Hill. At the top of this hill was a crossroads known as Haldon Chalets which was an accident blackspot, with 43 recorded collisions including one fatal and five serious accidents since January 1998. In 2005 a new bridge was built over the A380 to remove this danger.^[2]

Haldon Belvedere

The Exeter Racecourse is situated at the highest point on the A38.^[3] It is a National Hunt course and holds the Haldon Gold Cup event every November.

Haldon Belvedere (also known as Lawrence Castle), a Grade II* triangular tower, stands at a prominent position of the hills overlooking the Exe Estuary. The tower, which was erected to the memory of Major-General Stringer Lawrence, is a prominent local landmark and can be seen from a considerable distance.^[4]

About a kilometre north-west of Haldon Belvedere, at the foot of the hills, lay Haldon House which was built for Sir George Chudleigh in the early 18th century. It was bought by Sir Robert Palk in around 1770 and was visited by many great people, including King George IV and Guglielmo Marconi. The majority of the house was demolished in the 1940s, the remaining east wing now forms the Lord Haldon Hotel.

Just beyond this is the small village of Dunchideock and beyond this, on a continuation of the Haldon ridge is Cotley Castle, an Iron age Hill fort^[5]

[edit] History

During the 1930s, unemployed men were set to work in Haldon Forest, breaking ground, building tracks, and undertaking other heavy labour. The men lived in a work camp in the Forest, which was one of a number of so-called Instructional Centres run by the Ministry of Labour in order to 'harden' young men who had been out of work for some time. By 1938, the Ministry was operating 35 Instructional Centres across Britain, with a total capacity of over 6,000 places.

By 1939, unemployment was declining in the face of impending war, and the Ministry closed down its work camps. Kennford Court and its tennis courts were later built on the site of Halford Instructional Centre.