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Chapter 1

Village features

The view from the Broad Hill towards the Post Office in the 1910’s.

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The Square full of cars in the mid 1980’s. Notice the oldbus shelter is still there.

The parish of Bradworthy is situated in rural WestDevon and is bounded to the north and west bytwo of the major rivers in the South West region.The landscape reflects the ravages of the oftenfierce south-westerly winds that blow in from theNorth Atlantic.

The village itself, standing above the little RiverWaldon, boasts what is reputed to be the largestsquare in the west country, a green, a Church

dating back to Norman times, aschool, a Memorial Hall and a WarMemorial, an Inn, a bowling greenand playing field, a modernindustrial estate, a number of longestablished village stores, as well asa range of services such as PostOffice, garage, doctor, and vets.

The SquareThe Square was originally a grass covered‘towne place’ around which the invadingSaxons sited their settlement, circa 700AD.

Today the great quadrangle, measuring 150yards by 50 yards, has been easily adapted tomodern needs. By arrangement with theParish Council, Devon County Council

The Square, viewed from the church tower in the 1960’s.

The Square, viewed from the church tower in1995. Thiswas taken during the VE Day celebrations - hence the‘V’ of the tables.

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assumed responsibility for the maintenance of theSquare in 1961, when it was also given a tarmacsurface.

Situated on the Square are a war memorial, apump-house, a bus shelter and a telephone kiosk.

The first trees were planted on the Square by theCoronation committee in 1913. These werereplaced by Mr. Elliott in 1936 with 3 Cornish Elmtrees. Protective palings were erected at the sametime.

A road enters theSquare at its south-eastcorner, runs along theeast side of the Squarepast the Inn and anumber of houses,then continues out ofthe north-east cornerof the Square. Anotherroad crosses theSquare just below its

Village Parking

At the recent meeting of the ParishCouncil it was reported that theChief Constable of Devon hadgranted the Council permission toprescribe an area on the villagesquare, within the limits of whichcars will be allowed to park withoutlights at night during the hours ofpublic lighting. Major E.J.W. Spreadwas deputed by the Council to su-pervise the marking out of the areafor parking. (June 1939)

The Chief Constable of Devon hadgranted permission for the wholearea from the Jubilee Pump to thesouth end of the Square to be used,when adequately illuminated, forthe parking of cars without lights.(March 1949)

Presumably nota lot came ofthis, because theParish Councillater reportedthat:

The edge of the Square with the War Memorial and the road leading to Lower Village in 1959.

The Square in the 1930’s.

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north-east and north-west corners. The Square isbounded to the north, west and south by shops andhouses.

Bus shelterThe first bus shelter, presented to the parish by theBradworthy Women’s Institute to commemoratethe Queen’s coronation in 1953, was built on theSquare and opened in 1955 by Mr. J.C. Hilton ofClovelly. The site originally selected for the busshelter had been where the entrance to theMemorial Hall now stands - but this was changed toits present site to accommodate the Memorial Hall.

The original structure, featuring much glass, was atarget for repeated attacks by vandals. It wasreplaced with a more robust structure in 1987 bybuilder Alan Balsdon.

Pump-houseThe pump-house,situated on theSquare, was built tocommemorate theDiamond Jubilee ofQueen Victoria in1897.

Public seatingThe first public seatsappeared in thevillage in 1935. Onewas bought by theparish council and

positioned opposite the OldForge. Another was positionedon the Berridon road, but it wasbrought back into the village thesame year as it wasn’t used verymuch. Other seats have beenadded since.

Playing fieldAfter the last war it was thoughtthat a playing and sports fieldwas needed. The School alreadyowned an adjoining small field.Ground next to this field, atTucker’s Park, was owned by thelocal Rural District Council whoagreed that part of the landcould be used as a play area. Anintervening hedge was removed,

creating an area that was largeenough for both a football pitch anda play area for the children.

Slides, swings and other equipmentwas purchased and a small sheltererected. A grant was obtained fromthe Devon Playing Fields Associationand in 1957 their Chairman, ColonelWadham, presented the cheque;whilst Miss Coham Fleming officiallyopened the playing field.

Ever since its opening the playingfield has been used by BradworthyFootball Club, who previously playedPart of the Square, showing seating and the new

bus shelter in 1995.

The opening of the original bus shelter in 1955 featuring Mrs Hilton,Mrs. W. Seldon, and Mr. J.C. Hilton.

The pump-house in the 1930’s.

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on Bradworthy Moor. In about 1970 they erected aClub Room with changing area and showerfacilities.

For many years a sports day was held on theplaying field at the end of May.

The copper beech tree was planted tocommemorate the coronation of King GeorgeVI in 1937. Two cherry trees were planted onthe Broad Hill to commemorate theCoronation in 1953. It was cleaned up,

levelled and re-seeded in 1966to commemorate the death ofSir Winston Churchill.

Bradworthy MoorBradworthy Moors are thecommon lands of the ancientmanor. Last century some locallandowners tried to enclosesome of the commons, but thehedges which were built byday were demolished byvillagers at night.

During the Second World War themoor was requisitioned by the War

and Agricultural Committee whoploughed up some of the landand planted wheat andpotatoes. The western moor ofBradworthy Common wasreleased by Devon War andAgricultural Committee inDecember 1946, with othersections returned to thepossession of the village as lateas October 1950.

Of fond memory was theunofficial practice of swaling.

Broad HillThe name probably survives fromthe ‘broad estate’ of the Saxons,which has remained as an opengreen. The Broad Hill was formerlyused by the cottagers for stackingtheir wood faggots and for theirclothes lines.

In the early 1960’s Ray Ham’s donkey, Arabella, roamed the Broad Hill.Here with J. Burrow, G. Burrow, A. Elliot, S. Jennings and L. Elliot.

This involved burning the furse on the Moor andwas supposed to take place on Good Friday -usually a bunch of kids put a match to it!

Bradworthy Moor was designated a site of specialscientific interest in 1992. Sadly, the moors are nolonger the haunts of curlews and peewits(horniwinks).

Public ConveniencesIn 1949 the Public Conveniences were built on thesite of the old Carlyle cottage, which was bought bythe Council for £680 and demolished.

Planting a tree on the Broad Hill to celebratethe Coronation in 1937 of George VI. withA.G. Elliott, Mrs. R.L. Ashton, R.L. Ashton,Miss Grace Ashton, Miss Allen, Mrs. AlfredSlee.

A complaint was brought forwardpertaining to matters concerningthe green in Lower Village knownas Broad Hill. It was contended thatno one could monopolise thisgreen. The children had alwaysplayed there and it was ideal for thatpurpose. The Councillors wereunanimous in the resolution thatsteps should be taken to ensure thefree access of the children to theBroad Hill. Another complaintlodged regarding obstruction bycars in Lower Village was left on thetable for another meeting. (June1939)

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A Devon Starling Roost

One of the biggest starling roostsin North Devon is to be found in thepark of Berridon Hall. The birdsbegan to congregate there aboutfive years ago. Each season theyhave increased a little, but it is onlythis year that the roosting flockshave risen to such enormous pro-portions. (November 1953)

Footpaths and Rights of WayThere were originally 14 designated footpathswithin the parish, but the one connecting thechurchyard to the Holsworthy Road was withdrawnby the Parish Council to enable the Men’s Instituteto be constructed in the early 1920’s.

The footpath from Bradworthy Mill to Little Fordwas redesignated as a bridleway in 1971.

Land, rivers, woodlands and treesThe village stands above the valley of the RiverWaldon, but the parish is bounded on two sides bythe two important rivers Torridge and Tamar. Theserise on high sedgy ground, known as WoolleyMoors, which the great artist Turner chose as asubject for one of his landscapes. Their sources are

in Morwenstow parish,only a few hundredyards from theBradworthy border.

The Tamar flows duesouth to Plymouth andthe English Channel,the Torridge south-eastward making adramatic loop toempty into BidefordBay, only a few milesfrom its source.

There are two notablebeech tree linedavenues in the parish -at Berridon and Blatchborough. These wereplanted in the last decade of the 19th century. TheBerridon avenue was damaged during storms in

1989, when 22 trees were felled, but a programmeof stock replenishment is currently underway.

From To

Northmoor Lower DinworthyWestash Cottage Quoit GateCrosspark WhiteleyVillage Square Holsworthy RoadBradworthy Cleverdon-Silworthy

Cross RoadWaterland SutcombeSilworthy Field IrishDinworthy Road Blatchborough RoadDinworthy MaddocksNorth Worden WordenStowford West StowfordBradworthy Mill Little FordStoneford North Wrangworthy

The tree lined avenue leading to Blatchborough in 1990.

Mill Valley in the 1920’s.

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In the 1920’s Mrs. Desmond Humphreys, acelebrated novelist who wrote under thenom de plume ‘Rita’, travelled throughoutDevon and Cornwall. She was undoubtedlyimpressed by Berridon Avenue as in her

bookAsenathof theFord shewrote of‘the longlovelyavenuethatleads to

Bradworthy’ where ‘the trees bent towardseach other on either side entwining boughand branch with loving intimacy, as friendslink arm in arm, or lovers clasp hands’.

Much of the parish is high (732 feet at thehighest point on the Great Ridge atBlatchborough), affording magnificent

views,away toDartmoorand fardown intoCornwall.But theseheights are sweptby south-westerlyAtlantic gales

Nightingales Heard

A nightingale which is reputed tohave been heard in Lake valley haskept a number of people from theirbeds until the early hours. A fewhave been fortunate, apparently, inhearing the elusive songster, andsome consider there are two pairsof nightingales nesting in the val-ley. (May 1953)

The well in the lane frequently over-flows during heavy rainfall, and theTorridge District Council has beenapproached regarding the possibil-ity of the well being connected tothe main drainage. (December1978)

Tamar LakesThe Lower Tamar Lake was created early lastcentury as a reservoir to supply the old Bude Canal,and subsequently to provide Bude with drinkingwater. It covers about seventy acres and was madea bird sanctuary in 1949. It is a feature of sceniccharm unique in this area.

The reservoir known as the Upper Tamar Lake wasconstructed in 1973 and is about eighty acres inextent. It cost £1.5 million, and was opened inOctober 1977. Fly fishing, sailing, and other watersports are catered for. There is good parking space,a picnic area, a cafe and shop.

About 80% of the Tamar Lakes are actually in theparish of Bradworthy.

St. Peter’s WellA Holy Well in the lane named for it, not far fromthe Church. From early records it would appearthat at onetime theChurch wasdedicated toSt. Peter.

In December 1935 it was reportedthat a period of hard frost broughta number of skating enthusiasts toTamar Lake. Older people wereable to recall a season many yearsearlier when, after exceptionallyhard frost, hundreds of people vis-ited Tamar Lake. The ice was nearly2ft thick, and besides skating, bi-cycle races were held on it, whilsta gentleman residing in the vicinityrode in a sleigh drawn by a horsearound the lake.

(the sea being about seven miles away), withconsequent dearth of trees and foliage.

A bridge over the River Tamar in the 1950’s.

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original plan had been for this areato remain as an open site.Bradworthy now wanted it as a sitefor bowls. I asked Torridge Coun-cil if they would sell it to the ParishCouncil with a view to then sellingit to the bowling club when theywere in a position to purchase it.When this proposal was put be-fore the develop-ment committeethere wasstrong opposi-tion from manymembers whofelt that the landshould be keptfor buildinghouses on. Withthe support ofthe Chief Execu-tive and the Plan-ning Officer theParish Councilbought the site tobe passed on tothe bowlingclub.

As District Councillor forBradworthy and hearing that theland was for sale I made an ap-pointment with the Chief Executiveto let him know that the land wasfor sale and asked him to preparea report to put before the Develop-ment Committee with offer to pur-chase. After much opposition froma few Bideford members it waspassed to be purchased and thePlanning Officer was told to preparea plan and layout. At that timeDartington was interested in ruralindustries and Torridge DistrictCouncil invited them to undertakethe industry part of the plan.Torridge would do the layout of thedrains, roads etc. Half the site forhouses and half for industry withthe site which is now the BowlingGreen to be kept as an open space.When several of the houses werebuilt close to where the bowlingclub is now, it was seen to be theideal site for bowls. Then the funbegan. Again I approached theChief Executive for help as the

Industrial EstateIn the late 1960’s Devon County Council drew upwhat was known as the Devon Structure Plan andBradworthy was one offour parishes in theHolsworthy RuralCouncil area that wasselected as a ‘keysettlement’. The landsouth of North Road wasincluded in the plan forBradworthy as land forindustrial use. In theearly 1970’s afterHolsworthy Rural DistrictCouncil was disbandedand Torridge DistrictCouncil was formed theowner of the land setaside for industry offeredit for sale.

The view from the Church tower to the north-east, with Lew in the background.