Uffculme

Uffculme is a village located in the Mid Devon district, of Devon, England.

History

Situated in the Blackdown Hills on the B3440, close to the M5 motorway, Uffculme is on the upper reaches of the River Culm. Historically, it was a parish in Bampton Hundred, under the Peculiar jurisdiction of the Prebendary of Uffculme, Salisbury Cathedral. Uffculme is of particular interest to local historians because the wills & inventories for Uffculme have survived due to the parish being a peculiar of the Bishop of Salisbury, and hence they were not among the Devon probate records that were destroyed by fire in Exeter following a bombing raid during the Baedeker Blitz of World War II. [Peter Wyatt and Robin Stanes eds. (1997) "Uffculme: A Peculiar Parish: A Devon town from Tudor times". ISBN 0952985004]

The earliest (1801) census put the population of Uffculme parish at 1837. The 2001 census indicated the population at 2631. From the 16th century, Uffculme was a significant part of the West Country's wool industry, reaching its height in the middle of the 18th century "when large quantities of Uffculme serges were exported to Holland by the Tiverton merchants". [
Hoskins, W. G. and Finburg, H. P. R. "Devonshire Studies" (London: Jonathan Cape, 1952)] Coldharbour Mill, the last woollen mill to operate in the village was built in 1799 by Thomas Fox. [http://www.coldharbourmill.org.uk Coldharbour Mill] In 1983, the mill was opened as a working museum.

Geography

The Culm Valley Light Railway, which opened in 1876, had two stations in the village; Coldharbour Halt and Uffculme Station. The railway, operating between Tiverton Junction and Hemyock closed to passenger traffic in 1963, and completely in 1975. [Maggs, C.G. (2006) "The CULM VALLEY LIGHT RAILWAY: Tiverton Junction To Hemyock". The Oakwood Press ISBN 0853616523] A path on the route to [http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/331002 Coldharbour Mill] takes in the old railway bridge.

Culture

A grammar school was founded in 1701 by Nicholas Ashford who endowed it with £47 per annum. [The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) Transcribed by Colin Hinson 2003] Uffculme now has two schools - Uffculme Primary School, and a secondary - Uffculme School which specialises in mathematics and computing. Other utilities include a public house - "The Ostler", a male-only working-men's club - the "Uffculme Men's Institute", three churches, some shops and a take away.

Until 1998, Uffculme housed a fireworks factory, which was destroyed by an explosion on November 17 1998.

During 2008 the village's Langlands Business Park featured in the Channel 4 fly-on-the-wall documentary "Willie's Wonky Chocolate Factory", being the location of Willie Harcourt-Cooze's chocolate factory, one of the first places to make cocoa in the UK since the Cadbury family.

The singer Joss Stone lived near Ashill, a hamlet in the parish of Uffculme, and attended Uffculme School.

References

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External links

* [http://www.uffculme.com// Uffculme Website]
* [http://www.uffculme.devon.sch.uk/ Uffculme School]
* [http://www.uffculme-pri.devon.sch.uk Uffculme Primary School]
* [http://www.theostler.co.uk The Ostler]
* [http://www.uffculmeshow.co.uk/ Uffculme Sheep Show]
* [http://www.coldharbourmill.org.uk/ Coldharbour Mill]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/216507.stm/ BBC News Article on Fireworks Factory Explosion]