West Buckland, Devon

West Buckland
West Buckland
 West Buckland shown within Devon
OS grid referenceSS655315
Civil parishEast and West Buckland
DistrictNorth Devon
Shire countyDevon
RegionSouth West
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town BARNSTAPLE
Postcode district EX32
Dialling code 01598
Police Devon and Cornwall
Fire Devon and Somerset
Ambulance South Western
EU Parliament South West England
UK ParliamentNorth Devon
List of places
UK
England
Devon

Coordinates: 51°04′01″N 3°55′15″W / 51.06703°N 3.920947°W

West Buckland is a small village and former manor located 8 miles (13 km) east-south-east of Barnstaple in North Devon, England. South Molton is the nearest town. The hamlet of Elwell lies to its north-east.

History

The manor was formerly part of the Fortescue Estate, owned by the Earls Fortescue of nearby Castle Hill, Filleigh. Earlier the manor together with the advowson of the church had been acquired by the influential Barnstaple merchant and MP John Delbridge (1564-1639).

Description

West Buckland is reached by most travellers along a winding, mostly single track, steep hill up from the A361 North Devon Link Road.

Facilities

Until 2008 the village was served by a small post office; the post office is now held in the church on two afternoons a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 14:30–16:00. West Buckland was one of the first villages in the country to arrange this facility. The village has a refurbished village hall, a busy garage, which no longer serves petrol and there is no public house.

West Buckland School

Main article: West Buckland School

The village may be best known for having given its name to the adjacent co-educational independent West Buckland School: educators of, amongst others, England cricketer Harold Gimblett and British world record triple-jumper Jonathan Edwards.[1] Despite taking the name, the school comprising its preparatory school, three boarding houses and the public school itself is located on an extensive campus about 1 km east of the village and instead it is the small parish church which draws most visitors from the local area. The daily school traffic includes a fleet of long coaches which pass through the narrow village street twice a day.

West Buckland Festival

In September there is a thriving, annual four-day "Festival of Music, Art and Entertainment", which includes both international and local performers, a very successful Art and Craft Exhibition and various workshops.

References

  1. David Foot. Harold Gimblett: Tormented Genius of Cricket (1984 ed.). Star (W. H. Allen). ISBN 0-352-31426-5.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to West Buckland, Devon.