Axminster

Not to be confused with Exminster.
Axminster

Axminster
Axminster
 Axminster shown within Devon
Population 5,761 (2011)
OS grid referenceSY2998
Civil parishAxminster
DistrictEast Devon
Shire countyDevon
RegionSouth West
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town AXMINSTER
Postcode district EX13
Dialling code 01297
Police Devon and Cornwall
Fire Devon and Somerset
Ambulance South Western
EU Parliament South West England
UK ParliamentTiverton and Honiton
List of places
UK
England
Devon

Coordinates: 50°46′52″N 3°00′00″W / 50.781°N 3.000°W / 50.781; -3.000

Axminster is a market town and civil parish on the eastern border of the county of Devon in England, some 28 miles (45 km) from the county town of Exeter. The town is built on a hill overlooking the River Axe which heads towards the English Channel at Axmouth, and is in the East Devon local government district. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 5,626,[1] increasing to 5,761 at the 2011 census.[2] The town contains two electoral wards (town and rural) the total sum of both wards being a population of 7,110.[3][4] The market is still held every Thursday.

Axminster gave its name to a type of carpet. An Axminster-type power loom is capable of weaving high quality carpets with many varying colours and patterns. While Axminster carpets are made in the town by Axminster Carpets Ltd, this type of carpet is now manufactured all over the world.

History

Further information: History of Devon

The town dates back to the Celtic times of around 300 BC. It lies on two major Roman roads: the Fosse Way from Lincoln to Seaton, and the Dorchester–Exeter road. There was a Roman fort on the crossroads at Woodbury Farm, just south of the present town.

Axminster was recorded in the late 9th century as Ascanmynster and in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Aixeministra. The name means "monastery or large church by the River Axe" and is a mixture of languages; the river name Axe has Celtic origins and mynster is an Old English word.

The history of the town is very much linked to the carpet industry, started by Thomas Whitty at Court House near the church in 1755. The completion of the early hand tufted carpets was marked by a peal of bells from the parish church as it took a great amount of time and labour to complete them.

In 1210, a charter was granted to the town that included the right to hold a weekly cattle market which took place in the market square until it was moved to Trinity Square in 1834. It then moved in October 1912 to a site off South Street where it was held for 94 years. It finally closed in 2006 in the aftermath of the 2001 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak.[5] A building on the site then continued to be used for a general auction until all the buildings were demolished and replaced by a housing development.

Axminster Parish Church

The town was on the coaching route from London to Exeter. In 1760 a coaching inn named The George Hotel was opened on the corner of Lyme Street and Chard Street on the site of an old inn called the Cross Keys that was destroyed by fire in 1759. Over 16 coaches a day would stop at the hotel in its heyday for refreshments and to change horses, the building still stands but it is currently unoccupied.[5] Axminster was on the route of The Trafalgar Way which is the name given to the historic route used to carry dispatches with the news of the Battle of Trafalgar overland from Falmouth, Cornwall to the Admiralty in London in 1805 and there is a plaque commemorating this fact in the town centre.

Part of the parish of Axminster had historically been an exclave of Dorset until the Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844, when it was fully incorporated into Devon.

Axminster railway station was opened on 19 July 1860, with the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) offering direct services between Queen Street Station in Exeter and Yeovil. The station building was designed by the LSWR's architect Sir William Tite in mock gothic style. In 1903, the branch line from Axminster to Lyme Regis was opened. This branch line was closed with the Beeching cuts, in the 1960s. One engine has been preserved on the Bluebell Line, in Sussex, while the station was dismantled and reconstructed at New Alresford, on the Watercress Line, in Hampshire.

Axminster is the southern starting point of the Taunton Stop Line, a World War II defensive line consisting of pillboxes and anti-tank obstacles, which runs north to the Somerset coast near Highbridge.[6]

Nearby Kilmington was used as a location for the 1998 LWT adaptation of Tess of the d'Urbervilles. The celebrity chef and TV presenter Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall has his River Cottage H.Q. at a 60-acre (240,000 m2) farm in the Axe valley. He has since purchased an old inn that once provided the ballroom of the town, now converted to an organic produce shop/market and canteen.[7]

Geography

The hamlet of Abbey Gate lies to the south of the town near the A35 and A358 intersection.

Other villages within 5 miles (8.0 km) of Axminster include Chardstock, Colyford, Combpyne, Dalwood, Hawkchurch, Kilmington, Membury, Musbury, Raymond's Hill, Rousdon, Shute, Smallridge, Tytherleigh, Uplyme and Whitford.

Landmarks

Leisure facilities and shops

The town has Cloakham Lawns, the Axe Valley Sports Centre and Flamingo Swimming Pool, a library, several churches and a museum of local history. Shops include two supermarkets, a small department store, Trinity House, and several independent retailers. The Guidhall is a theatre with meeting rooms that hosts many events and clubs such as Axminster Drama Club and Axminster Operatic Society. The town is also home to a small, local hospital.

Education

Transport

Axminster station

Road

Axminster is at the crossroads of the A358 which links with the A303 at Ilminster and the A35 from Southampton to Honiton, which has been diverted by a bypass to the south of the town.

Rail

Axminster railway station is on the West of England Main Line that runs from Exeter via Salisbury to London Waterloo.

Twin towns

Notable people

See also

References

  1. ↑ Office for National Statistics : Census 2001 : Parish Headcounts : East Devon Retrieved 28 January 2010
  2. ↑ "Town population 2011". Retrieved 23 February 2015.
  3. ↑ "Axminster Rural ward 2011". Retrieved 23 February 2015.
  4. ↑ "Axminster Town ward 2011". Retrieved 23 February 2015.
  5. 1 2 Historical Axminster Rotary Club Blue Plaques
  6. ↑ "Land off Morton Way, Axminster, Devon – A Limited Archaeological Excavation and Recording Programme" (pdf). Archaeology Data Service. Context One Archaeological Services 2010. 2010. Retrieved 14 May 2011.
  7. ↑ "Views are the jewels in Devon’s crown". Portsmouth News. 17 November 2012. Retrieved 18 November 2012.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Axminster.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Axminster.
Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Axminster.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, August 20, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.