Stoodleigh is a village and civil parish in the Mid Devon district of Devon, England, located 6 miles (10 km) north of Tiverton and 5 miles (8 km) south of Bampton. It is situated 800 feet (240 m) above the Exe Valley, close to the Devon / Somerset border. The centre of the village is a conservation area.[1]

Stoodleigh
Stoodleigh parish church
Stoodleigh is located in Devon
Stoodleigh
Stoodleigh
Location within Devon
OS grid referenceSS9218818980
Civil parish
  • Stoodleigh
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townTIVERTON
Postcode districtEX16
Dialling code01398
PoliceDevon and Cornwall
FireDevon and Somerset
AmbulanceSouth Western
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Devon
50°57′34″N 3°32′10″W / 50.9595°N 3.5362°W / 50.9595; -3.5362

In the past it formed part of Witheridge Hundred and it is within the Tiverton Deanery of the Church of England.[2]

Castle Close

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Castle Close

Castle Close is a circular earthwork, close to Stoodleigh, that is most likely to be an Iron Age Hill fort or enclosure.[3]

Church of St Margaret's

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The Church of St Margaret's was constructed in the 15th century and was extensively restored in 1782.[4] It contains a Norman font which is likely to have come from an earlier church in the parish where the first recorded incumbent was installed in 1264.[1]

Stoodleigh Beacon

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Stoodleigh Beacon is situated about 2 miles west of Stoodleigh village. It was anciently known as Warbrighsleigh,[5] Warbrightley,[6] Warpsley,[7] etc., also the name of the high hill on which it stood. The beacon was ordered to be set up by King Edward II (1307–1327) "when he doubted of the landing of his queen Isabel and Sir John (sic) of Henold" (Risdon)[8] This refers to Isabel's Invasion of England in 1326, having betrothed her son Prince Edward to Philippa of Hainault, the daughter of William I, Count of Hainaut, from whom she received a substantial dowry and several warships.[9] In the 16th and 17th centuries the estate of Warbrighsleigh, etc., was the seat of the Broughton family.[10]

References

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  1. ^ a b "About Stoodleigh", Stoodleigh.org
  2. ^ "Stoodleigh community page", Devon County Council
  3. ^ R.R.Sellman; Aspects of Devon History, Devon Books 1985 – ISBN 0-86114-756-1 – Chapter 2; The Iron Age in Devon. Map Page 11 of Iron Age hill forts in Devon includes Castle Close.
  4. ^ "Stoodleigh St. Margaret's", Rootsweb.com
  5. ^ Risdon, Tristram (d.1640), Survey of Devon, 1811 edition, London, 1811, with 1810 Additions, p. 66
  6. ^ Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p. 111, pedigree of Broughton of Warbrightley
  7. ^ Vivian, p. 400, re Elizabeth Giffard, wife of George Broughton (Vivian, p. 111) of Warpsley
  8. ^ Risdon, p. 66
  9. ^ Kibler, William W., Medieval France: an Encyclopedia, London, 1995, p. 477.
  10. ^ Vivian, p. 111
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