Newbuildings, Devon
| Newbuildings | |
|---|---|
| Hamlet | |
 Thatched cottages in Newbuildings – Staddlestones and Shoplands (shown) are Grade II listed buildings. | |
  Newbuildings Location within Devon | |
| OS grid reference | SS7952003520 |
| Civil parish | |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | CREDITON |
| Postcode district | EX17 |
| Dialling code | 01363 |
| Police | Devon and Cornwall |
| Fire | Devon and Somerset |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| UK Parliament | |
Newbuildings (less frequently New Buildings) is a hamlet in the civil parish of Sandford, in the Mid Devon district of Devon, England. It is located approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) northwest of Crediton.
There is a local church, Beacon Church, providing regular services. Newbuildings is served by the Dartline 369 bus route between Morchard Bishop and Exeter.[1] A postbox in the hamlet is collected daily by Royal Mail.[2] A BT telephone box was repurposed to contain an emergency defibrillator in 2021, with funding from a local charity.[3]
History
[edit]Newbuildings, occasionally referred to as New Buildings[4][5] and less commonly New-Buildings,[6] has been settled since at least 1650. Newbuildings was a frequent stopping place for coach travellers – an inn, the Hare and Hounds, was purpose-built to accommodate travellers and provide a resting place for horses; the inn is now a private cottage.[4] Local historian[7] Daphne Munday, in her work A Parish Patchwork, speculates this could be the origin of the hamlet's name.[8] Newbuildings is mentioned in John Ogilby's 1675 coaching map as being on the route from Exeter to Barnstaple.[9] The Bishop of Derry, Ezekiel Hopkins, was born in nearby Sandford in 1633, later transferring to Derry, Ireland.[10] The hamlet shares the name of Newbuildings, a County Londonderry village; it is unknown whether either settlement's name was influenced by Hopkins or the naming is coincidental.
A school was set up in the room of a local house in 1743, and was in use until 1874 when work began to establish a national school. The subsequent school was completed around 1876,[11] and the construction, alongside a school in the nearby East Village hamlet, cost £500.[11] The school had only a single room, with teachers facing difficulties as a result, and functioned as a place of worship on Sundays.[8][4]
A blacksmith and wheelwright were established in buildings built alongside the Hare and Hounds inn.[8] By 1800, an unofficial local census recorded 351 dwellings in the Sandford parish, which included Newbuildings and the nearby East Village hamlet.[12] The Hare and Hounds was still recorded as being a public house in the year 1825,[13] and a machinist, blacksmith, wheelwright, and schoolmistress are recorded as living in Newbuildings in 1878.[10] It is unknown exactly how long after 1825 that the Hare and Hounds ceased to function as a pub, becoming the private cottage it is today.[4]
The school later became Beacon Church, part of the combined "Parish of Sandford with Upton Hellions", and continues to provide regular services to residents of Newbuildings and nearby areas.[14][15] In 2024, locals marked the 80-year anniversary of D-Day at Beacon Church.[16]
References
[edit]- ^ "Exeter City Centre". Bus Times. 23 September 2024. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
- ^ "'EX17 23' Post Box Information". Post Hoc. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
- ^ Crediton Courier (30 April 2021). "Community shop gives £5,000 to Sandford charity". Crediton Courier. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
- ^ a b c d "New Buildings". DevonHeritage. Archived from the original on 8 November 2016. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
- ^ Wilson, John Marius (1866). The Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales, Vol. 2: Embracing Recent Changes in Counties, Dioceses, Parishes, and Boroughs: General Statistics: Postal Arrangements: Railway Systems, &c.; And Forming a Complete Description of the Country. The Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales; Embracing Recent Changes in Counties, Dioceses, Parishes, Etc. p. 416. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
- ^ Carlisle, N. (1808). A Topographical Dictionary of England ...: L-Z. Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme. p. 32-PP6. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
NEW-BUILDINGS, in the hund. of Crediton, Co. of Devon; in the Parish of Sandford. It is 5m. N. W. from Crediton.
- ^ Read, Sue (6 July 2018). "Sandford and the Crediton community remembers 'articulate, eloquent and discerning lady' Daphne Munday". Crediton Courier. Archived from the original on 23 September 2024. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
- ^ a b c Munday, Daphne (1985). A Parish Patchwork. Daphne Munday. ISBN 9780951042403. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
- ^ Sheldon, Gilbert (1928). From Trackway to Turnpike: An Illustration from East Devon. H. Milford. pp. 70, 125. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
Newbuildings on the old road from Exeter to Barnstaple is a typical example of the roadside hamlet; on the new road there are no hamlets at all.
- ^ a b J.G. Harrod & Co. (1878). J.G. Harrod & Co.'s Royal County Directory of Devonshire and Cornwall. Royal County Directory Offices. p. 587. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
- ^ a b White, W. (1879). History, Gazetteer and Directory of the County of Devon. History, Gazetteer and Directory of the County of Devon: Including the City of Exeter, and Comprising a General Survey of the County. William White. pp. 697–698. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
- ^ "Sandford". DevonHeritage. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
- ^ Ford, M. (January 2002). The development of a methodology for creating an earthen building inventory (PDF) (Thesis). University of Plymouth. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
- ^ "St Swithun's with Upton Hellions PCC". Parish of Sandford with Upton Hellions. 20 April 2018. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
- ^ "New Buildings: Beacon Church". A Church Near You. 1 June 2024. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
- ^ Crediton Courier (7 June 2024). "Sandford marks 80 years since D-Day". Crediton Courier. Retrieved 23 September 2024.