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Wilmington, Devon

Devon geography stubsVillages in Devon
Village Hall, Wilmington geograph.org.uk 1734386
Village Hall, Wilmington geograph.org.uk 1734386

Wilmington is a village between Axminster and Honiton in East Devon on the A35 road. The village is now in the parish of Widworthy although this is a recent change. Prior to 1989 houses on the north side of the A35 were in Offwell Parish and only those on the south side were in Widworthy. St Cuthbert's Church dates from the 14th century and nearby Castle Hill is of historical interest. From the 15th century onwards Wilmington sat astride the main Exeter to London road. It became the Honiton to Axminster Turnpike in 1765 but the importance of this route diminished when the Upottery to Ilminster turnpike opened in 1807, which led to a steady improvement in coaching facilities in the early 19th century on what is now the A30/A303 route over the Blackdown Hills from Honiton to Ilminster. In 1805 the village street rang to the clatter of horses' hooves as messengers raced through with news of the Battle of Trafalgar. In 2005 this historic event was marked by the unveiling of this plaque on the White Hart Inn. The plaque records details of the messengers and remembers local men who fought at the Battle. The Trafalgar Way climbs out of Honiton onto the ridge by way of Springfield Lane before descending into Wilmington along the A35. It passes through Wilmington village before leaving the A35 again and climbing steeply up Moorcox Lane to Moorcox Cross. From there it descends the next ridge to Shute Pillars and then passes through Shute Woods along the line of an old Roman Road into Kilmington.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Wilmington, Devon (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Wilmington, Devon
A35, East Devon

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Wikipedia: Wilmington, DevonContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 50.79195 ° E -3.10559 °
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Address

A35
EX13 7QH East Devon
England, United Kingdom
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Village Hall, Wilmington geograph.org.uk 1734386
Village Hall, Wilmington geograph.org.uk 1734386
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Nearby Places

Shute, Devon
Shute, Devon

Shute is a village, parish and former manor located 3 miles (5 km) west of Axminster in East Devon, off the A35 road. It is surrounded by farmland and woodland beneath 163-metre (535') Shute Hill. St Michael's Church dates from the 13th Century and contains many monuments to the Pole family, including a marble statue of Sir William Pole, 4th Baronet (1678-1741), Master of the Household to Queen Anne. A later 19th. century member of the family, Margaret Pole, is commemorated by an alabaster sculptured panel depicting her greeting her daughters at the gates of heaven. There exist within the parish the two former Pole Family Manor Houses of Old Shute House (or Shute Barton), a historic mediaeval house, now owned by the National Trust, and the Georgian New Shute House, privately owned. In 1981 the vicar of St Michael's and his wife founded the Shute Theatre and Arts Guild (STAG). The church was slightly altered to accommodate a permanent stage and extra power was bought in for stage lighting. STAG perform regular productions in the church and in nearby Kilmington Village Hall to this day. The village was the scene of the murder of 84-year-old Ivy Batten in 1987.The immediate village of Shute, with around only 150 residents, as opposed to the wider parish with a population of over 600, claims to be the smallest village in England to host a literary festival. Shute Festival was established in 2014, as an annual event, but was moved online with regular events following the 2020 pandemic lockdown. Previous guests have included the authors Phillipe Sands, Sophie Hannah, Tracy Chevalier, Christina Lamb, and Sir Anthony Selden.The West of England Main Line passes through Seaton Junction to the south of the village.