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Cullompton
Cullompton: the town from the south west
Cullompton  Cullompton shown within Devon
Population	7,609 (2001)[1]
OS grid reference	ST020071
District	Mid Devon
Shire county	Devon
Region	South West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	CULLOMPTON
Postcode district	EX15
Dialling code	01884
Police	Devon and Cornwall
Fire	Devon and Somerset
Ambulance	South Western
EU Parliament	South West England
UK Parliament	Tiverton and Honiton
List of places: UK • England • Devon

Cullompton

The derivation of the name Cullompton is disputed. One derivation is that the town's name means "Farmstead on the River Culm"^[4] with Culm probably meaning knot or tie (referring to the river's twists and loops).^[4] The other theory is that it is named after Saint Columba of Tir-de-Glas^[3] who is said to have preached in the area in 549 AD.^[2] There are 40 recorded spellings of Cullompton between the first recorded use of the name and present day,^[5] and even as late as the mid nineteenth century 3 spellings were in use: the post office spelt it Cullompton; in their 1809 first edition the Ordnance Survey map used Cullumpton and the railway station sign said Collumpton. The railway station sign was changed to Cullompton in 1874 and the Ordnance Survey used Cullompton in the edition of their map published in 1889.^[6] It is affectionately known as Cully.^[2]

On St Andrew's Hill, to the Northwest of Cullompton town centre, two successive Roman forts were discovered in 1984 by aerial photography carried out for Devon County Council. The earlier, smaller fort (the boundary ditches of which showed up in cropmarks) was later replaced by a second, larger fort. The ramparts of this second fort are preserved on two sides as modern field boundaries with substantial earthen banks with hedges on top. The banks on the other two sides were removed shortly before the site was recognised as Roman. The site was made a Scheduled Monument in 1986. The aerial photography also revealed two subsidiary military enclosures or annexes to each fort. In 1992 a geophysical survey was made of the fort and areas to the east and west and this was followed by a trial excavation to the west of the site. These confirmed the existence of two forts and the ditch of the second fort was excavated. Pottery from the site was dated from around 50-70 AD which is consistent with a previous date of before 75 AD based on finds from fieldwalking.^[7] A Roman settlement near Shortlands Lane was excavated in 2009. A large quantity of Roman pottery, burial grounds and fragments of hypocaust tile from the second and third century were found.^[8]

In 872 Alfred the Great bequeathed Columtune and its lands to his son Æthelweard. In 1087 William the Conqueror gave the manor to Baldwin, his wife's favourite nephew. It was subsequently held by the Earl of Devon for many years until in 1278 Amicia Countess of Devon willed it to the Abbott and Convent of Buckland Monachorum. With the Dissolution of the Monasteries it was sold to Sir John St Ledger.^[2] The five prebends of Cullompton (Colebrook, Hineland, Wiever, Esse, Upton) were presented by William the Conqueror to Battle Abbey, Sussex and were later held by the St Nicholas Priory, Exeter.^[9]

In 1278 the town was granted its first market to be held on a Thursday^[2]. In 1356 the town gained its first water supply by a deed of gift of the Abbott of Buckland^[2]. The water (known as the Town Lake or watercourse) came from a stream rising a Coombe Farm and flowed into a pond near Shortlands. From there it flowed in several open channels to all parts of the town. Water bailiffs were employed to protect the interests of the town in and a tradition of "possessioning" took place which was a ceremony which took place every seven years where a group of townsfolk would inspect the channel and ensure that it was not being abused. The first recorded possessioning was in 1716^[2] In the mid nineteenth century the water courses were used for boiling vegetables, surface drainage and emptying cesspools. A Board of Health Inspector in 1854 concluded that "typhus and other epidemic diseases are so prevalent here more so than in any other parish in the Union". They were eventually only used to keep the streets clean and continued to flow until 1962 when the town council decided that they were not willing to pay for its upkeep.^[2] In 1678 a local innkeeper, John Barnes was hanged after being found guilty of highway robbery He had waylaid, with the help of accomplices, a coach travelling from Exeter to London and made off with about £600 but he was recognised by the guards from Exeter (where he had been a taverner)^[2]. A second highwayman, Tom Austin, was hanged in August 1693^[2] after a series of robberies and murders including his aunt and her children.^[2]

In 1746, Thomas Bilbie moved to the village, from Chew Stoke in Somerset, to establish a bell foundry in Shortlands Lane.^[10] The Cullompton Company of Volunteers was first raised in 1794 and continued until 1810.^[2]. The first Nonconformist congregation began in 1662 when the vicar of Cullompton, Revd William Crompton, was ejected from the established church. He continued to preach and a Protestant dissenters meeting house was built in 1698 which became the Unitarian Chapel. In the eighteenth century there was a stronghold of dissenters with the local vicar recording in 1736 that of a population of 3358 there were 508 Presbyterians, 133 Anabaptists and 87 Quakers. By 1743 the first Baptist Chapel had been built. John Wesley's journal records preaching near the town in 1748. ^[2]

In 1805/6 the last bull-baiting in the town took place. On 7 July 1839 a severe fire destroyed many houses in Cullompton. About two thirds of the town burnt with 145 houses and other buildings being destroyed.^[2] Another serious fire occurred on 17 October 1958 when Sellwood's tannery in Exeter Street was gutted by fire with the site now being used for a Somerfield supermarket. The town acquired its first steam driven fire engine in 1914 which cost £100 and was paid for by voluntary subscription.^[2]

In 1857 the first Police Station was rented with 3 cells and a petty session courtroom. In 1974 a new police station was built. ^[2] The parish council was formed in 1894.^[2] In April 1903 a petition objecting to the renewal of alcohol licences for local inns, signed by 450 people was presented to the Brewsters sessions (Magistrates court meetings in England where pub licences were renewed or granted^[11]). A deputation sent to the session explained that the number of licensed houses was too large in proportion to the population. In 1917 the cattle market was moved from being held in the Higher Bullring to a field near the station. The first cinema was opened in the Victoria Hall in 1918 by Bill Terry. Cullompton got its first permanent library in 1938 in a building on Exeter Hill and in 1977 the town was twinned with Ploudalmézeau in Britanny, France.^[2][12]

In 1920 a public company was formed to to provide an electricity supply for Cullompton. The company merged with the Bradninch Electricity Company in 1927 to form the Culm Valley Electricity Supply Co. Ltd. A gasworks was set up in Cullompton in 1865 for the Cullompton Gas Light and Coke Co. This was taken over by the Devon Gas Association and nationalised in 1949. The gasworks was closed in 1956 and Cullompton was then supplied from Exeter.^[2]. In 1998 the Cullompton website was set up and in 2000 CCTV was installed in the main street. ^[2]

The town had a major expansion in the 1970s as the construction of the motorway in 1977 made it a popular commuter town. It was expanded again during the closing years of the 20th century and the first few years of the 21st. The Mid Devon Local Development Framework Proposals plans for 95 new dwellings a year, and 4000 square metres of new employment floorspace a year between now and 2026.^[13]

In 2001 the proportion of people living and working in Cullompton was 43% with 19% of the town's working population employed in Exeter.^[14]

In 2001 the retail sector in Cullompton met fairly local needs only.^[14] The town now has two supermarkets a Somerfield and a Tesco (which opened on the 9th September 2008 despite opposition from Somerfield^[15]). The local trade association closed in September 2008 after a relaunch in April. According to local businesswoman Ms Tyas-Peterson, this "reflects that Cullompton is a dying town" and the new Tesco will "make or break the town".^[16] Mole Valley Farmers has a store in the town which sells a wide range of goods including farm requirements to garden supplies and hardware.^[17]

The Cullompton street market came to an end in the late 1950s but was revived for a trial period of seven weeks starting on Saturday June 28, 2008^[18] but takings for traders were disappointing after an initial few weeks which were good.^[16] The town also has an indoor market in the town hall every Wednesday^[18][19] and a monthly farmers' market held on the second Saturday of every month.^[20] It was founded in 1998 making it the oldest event of its kind in the South West.^[21]

Pubs are the White Hart Inn on Fore Street, the Kings Head and Market House on High Street, the Pony & Trap on Exeter Hill, the Bell Inn on Exeter Road and the Weary Traveller on Station Road.^{[citation needed]}

Mid Devon District Council owns 11 industrial units at the Kingsmill industrial estate^[22] which are let by a variety of businesses. Business based on the estate include Gregory Distribution^[23], a flour mill, milk depot, and an industrial clothing shop^[24]. Higher Kings Mill, is a paper mill owned by St Regis. It manufactures recycled coloured papers and boards. Paper was first made on the as early as 1750. A Fourdrinier machine was installed in 1892 and continued to make paper at Higher Kings until a new machine was built in 1956 to make blue sugar bags and other products. St Regis acquired Higher Kings in the early 1980s and since then the mill has diversified into making a very wide range of recycled coloured papers and boards.^[25][26]

In 1746 Thomas Bilbie set up a bell foundry in the town which continued until 1850 when the business was moved to Exeter.^[2] In the past Cullompton had employment in weaving and in the 15th century fine kersies and later serges were manufactured in the area. John Lane was one of the best known local cloth merchants. In 1816 Mr Upcott employed 60 weavers and many spinners and the nearby Fox Bros branch factory was built in 1990 and made high quality woolen and worsted cloth until 1977. The leather industry was also a source of employment in the town with tanning, a leather dressing works (founded in 1921 and which closed in 1982) and a glove maker. There was also a jam factory, flour mills, and a foundry.^[2]

The street plan of the town still reflects the medieval layout of the town. Most shops lie along Fore Street with courts behind them linked by alleyways. The length of the high street reflects the prosperity of the town from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century when it was a centre of the cloth trade.^[27] There are two grade I listed buildings in Cullompton: the fifteenth century parish church (St Andrew's) and the Walronds at 6 Fore Street. There are also seven grade II* listed buildings and ninety grade II listed buildings.^[2] The centre of the town is a conservation area - the only one in the Mid Devon area.^[28]

The Walronds was probably built in 1605 which is the date over the hall fireplace. John Peter, a lawyer, acquired the family by marriage into the Paris family and his initials are over the fireplace. The plan is a traditional one with the ground floor hall divided from the entrance passage by a screen. The main range has three stories and there are two wings which are both two stories high. In the upper south-east room is a barrel shaped ceiling and a second fireplace with the date 1605. The association with the Walrond family only dates from the eighteenth century.^[27]

It is now owned by Cullompton Walronds Preservation Trust which was registered as a charity and as a private company limited by guarantee in the spring of 1997. It inherited half the building in 2005 from Miss June Severn and bought the other half. However, a survey has indicated that £948,000 will be need to restore the property. As well as restoring the building the aim is to retain the three rooms adjoining the path from Fore Street for public use. These comprise a meeting room, a kitchen and a lavatory. These rooms are already in use for meetings, coffee mornings, etc. Additionally it is hoped to convert the garden which stretches back to Shortlands Lane into a park for the people of the town.^[29] In 2008 the building became the only building in Mid Devon to be put on English Heritage's Buildings at Risk Register and has received £250,000 from Devon County Council and £100,000 from Mid Devon District Council for restoration work. Emergency repairs costing £15,000 were carried out during 2008 and it is now hoped that it will be possible to obtain a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund to complete the restoration. ^[30]. A first step towards getting £1.6m from the Heritage Lottery Fund was taken in June 2009 when the trust was awarded £33,000 towards drawing up detailed plans for the restoration.^[31]

St Andrew's Church is set back from the main street but despite this its tower is a landmark which is highly visible from the surrounding area. The tower is 100 feet (30 m) tall with pinnacles on top which add a further 20 feet (6 m) to its height^[9]. On the west face are the badly damaged remains of a Crucifixion scene with figures of Edward VI and St George to either side.^[32] The tower also has a large clock face by Norman of Ilfracombe dating from about 1874.^[9] Despite being the first part of the church to be seen when approaching from the main street, it is however the most recent part of the church, being built 1545-1549. The tower is built in the local red sandstone with carved parts in Beer and Ham Hill stone^[27].

The nave and chancel are carried on 5 pairs of piers and the interior has a boarded wagon roof coloured in blue, crimson and gold which stretches the whole length of the church. At the time of the construction of the Bristol and Exeter Railway, William Froude - the engineer given responsibility for this section of the line by Isambard Kingdom Brunel - inserted iron stringers to prevent the walls from spreading as a result of vibrations from the trains.^[9]. A screen runs across the the whole width of the church. At the end of the nave is a Jacobean gallery with 4 oak pillars about 9 feet (3 m) tall. The central window of the North Aisle is a World War II memorial and a World War I memorial is on the other side.^[9]. Moores Chantry (the last bay of the North Aisle) contains some original box pews and at the rear of the church are two large pieces of oak which one were the base of a rood screen. The are carved with rocks, skulls and bones. They were probably removed from the church in 1549 and cut into 2 pieces. For many years they remained in the graveyard^[9].

On the south side of the church is the first major addition to the church: Lane's Aisle. This was built 1526-1529 by a local cloth merchant, John Lane. It is fan vaulted in a style inspired by the Dorset aisle at Ottery St Mary and some of the carvings are similar to John Greenway's Chapel at Tiverton. John Lane and wife are buried at the east end of the aisle.^[32]

The Catholic church, St Boniface was built 1929 by Manuel de las Casas who was descended from the uncle of Bartolomé de las Casas.^[2] The Methodist church in New Cut is the third chapel on the site. The first was started in 1764 and the current building was built following a fire in 1872 which did serious damage to the chapel built in 1806.^[2] The Unitarian chapel on pound square dates from 1913 following the collapse of the previous building in 1911. It is the oldest nonconformist congregation in Cullompton.^[2] Hebron Evangelical church was built in 1962.^[2] The Baptist Church is the site of a meeting house erected in 1743 on High Street.^[2].

Cullompton Manor House is a grade 1 listed building with sections built in 1603 (dated panel and initials TT for Thomas Trock on the top corner of the front of the house) and 1718 (on a lead cistern head of a drainpipe, are the letters (L) S/WT (R) and the date 1718). It was originally a private residence and now forms part of the Manor House Hotel. It has a jettied half timbered front with four gables and stone end walls with upper windows on carved brackets. It was probably built in the sixteenth century but was refurbished in 1603 for Thomas Trock, a clothier. The original structure consisted only of the front part, in which there were three rooms and a passage on the ground floor, three rooms opening into each other on the floor above, and above again. The front room on the left was the former hall with large oak panels of the Queen Anne period, and a moulded and beamed ceiling. Part of an earlier newel stair which descended to the hall or kitchen survives above a back staircase. The house was remodelled in 1718 for William Sellock. At the front of the building is a hooded shell porch of the early 18th century supported on pilasters and the back of house is also early 18th century of red and blue brick, with windows with thick glazing bars beneath a hipped slate roof with coved eaves. It was given the name of The Manor House in 1850 by Mr JS Upcott who owned the property at that time. During World War II it was requisitioned by the army and used to billet officers. The adjacent house, Veryards, was originally a separate residence but was bought by the owners of the Manor House Hotel and incorporated into the hotel in the 1980s.^{[2][3][27][33]}

Running parallel to the main high street is a leat with a public footpath running along it. The leat runs from Head Weir, north of Cullompton, and takes its water from the Spratford Stream. It flows past three former watermills (Upper, Middle and Lower Mill) and then empties into the Culm near First Bridge. It is uncertain when the leat was first made but the south end of the leat and Lower Mill are shown on an early seventeenth-century map. The leat is no longer in use for powering mills and the Environment Agency is not interested in managing the leat nor keeping it flowing so the Cullompton Leat Conservancy Board was formed to restore and maintain the Leat in 2005.^[34]

Junction 28 of the M5 lies within the parish of Cullompton and a short distance from the town centre. Other major road links are the A373 to Honiton and the former A38 to Exeter which runs through the town, and is now the B3181^[35]. As of 2001 61.6% of people living in Cullompton travelled to work by car or van and 83% of households had at least one car.^[36] In October 1969 a bypass was completed^[3] but after only five years this was upgraded to form part of the M5.^[37] Since this time traffic coming from the south of Cullompton to the M5 junction has had to pass through the centre of the town. There are now problems with air quality in the town and Mid Devon District Council have made the whole of the built up area in Cullompton an Air Quality Management Area^[38]. In addition traffic on the exit slip road leaving the M5 northbound often backs up onto the motorway.^[37] The Highways Agency wants to improve traffic flow by widening roads, introduce traffic lights and reopen the left hand land of the slip road, which will cost £1.3m. This cost is to be covered by businesses moving to Cullompton.^[37] There are two routes for relief roads being considered by Mid Devon District Council - a western route and an Eastern route. If a lower growth option is chosen it is proposed that only the western route would be constructed. An alternative Outer Eastern Relief Road crossing the M5 at Old Hill was rejected as the existing bridges would need rebuilding, making the cost prohibitive.^[39] There is some opposition to both routes - a group called Cullompton Against Western Relief Road has been formed to oppose one route^[40] and there is opposition to the eastern route which passes through the Cullompton Community Fields.^[41] The town council's opinion is that the only way to solve Cullompton’s traffic problems is to build both roads^[42] and there is also a campaign for a new motorway junction south of Cullompton.^[43]

The Bristol and Exeter Railway opened a station at Cullompton when the railway opened on 1 May 1844. It closed to passengers on 5 October 1964^[3], the site now being used for the M5 motorway Cullompton services. The nearest railway station is now Tiverton Parkway.^[44] Devon County Council’s Travel Transport Plan includes the re-opening of Cullompton Railway Station.^[45] The 1, 1A and 1B buses run by Stagecoach provide regular bus services to Tiverton and Exeter. There is also a town circular bus run by Dartline, and an express bus run by First Somerset & Avon which runs from Exeter to Taunton and stops at Cullompton.^[46]

Cullompton has two primary schools: St Andrews Primary School which is a medium-sized primary school with approximately 230 pupils in Key Stages 1 & 2, and nine classes^[47] and Willowbank Primary School^[48]. The secondary school is Cullompton Community College. It opened in 1968 on the present site and became fully comprehensive in 1979. It is now a co-educational comprehensive school for students aged between 11 and 16 with approximately 650 students on roll and in December 2003 it secured sponsorship of £50,000 from The Co-operative Group to enable it to become a Business and Enterprise college.^[49][50]

The town has its own library which is on Exeter Hill and currently^[update] is open 4 days a week. Services available include books and DVDs for loan and internet access.^[51] In 2010 a new library and information technology hub will start being built with the opening planned for March 2011. It will cost three million pounds and be four times biggest than the current library.^[52]

Cullompton Rugby Club was formed in 1892 and played on thirteen different grounds in and around the town before their current ground - Stafford Park - was purchased in 1980.^[53] In 2008-9 the senior 1st XV team won the Western Counties West League finishing the season unbeaten.^[54] On Saturday May 9 2009 they won the EDF Energy Senior Vase by beating Tyldesley 8-7 at Twickenham.^[55] Exeter Chiefs prop Ben Moon formerly played for Cullompton and has now played for the England unders 20s.^[56] Ladies Rugby started at Cullompton in 1997 and now the team has two qualified coaches. They currently play in the National Challenge 2 South West.^[57] Former Cullompton flanker Izzy Noel Smith, currently playing for Bath has been capped for the England Women's A team.^[58] The local football team is Cullompton Rangers who were formed in 1945 and play in Premier Division of the South West Peninsula League. Their ground is called Speeds Meadow. There is also a women's football team - Cullompton Rangers L.F.C. who were formed when Exeter City L.F.C. amalgamated with Cullompton Rangers AFC.^[59] Cullompton cricket club was established in 1891 and they play at Landspeed Meadow, by the Cullompton Community Association Fields.^[60]

There are also a variety of clubs including several bowls clubs and badminton, running and squash clubs.^[61]

The town has a sports centre, Culm Valley Sports Centre, which is currently run by Mid Devon District Council. It was opened in 1985 and facilities include a fitness studio, an all weather pitch, a sports hall, squash courts and a sauna.^[62] The Cullompton Community Association owns 32 acres of fields next to the riverside walk along the leat which are open for the public.^[63] The town is also home to Padbrook Park - a golf course and sporting and recreational centre which first opened in March 1992.^[3] The facilities include a Parkland Golf Course, a Golf School, a 40 bedroom hotel, conference suites, health & fitness centre, indoor bowls, fishing lake, beauty salon, restaurants and a sports bar ^[64]

The architect Charles Fowler was born in Cullompton^[65] and the Puritan clergyman Thomas Manton was town lecturer here for a time^[66]