Halwell
Halwell | ||
---|---|---|
Shire county | ||
Region | ||
Country | England | |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom | |
Post town | TOTNES | |
Postcode district | TQ9 7 | |
Dialling code | 01548 | |
Police | Devon and Cornwall | |
Fire | Devon and Somerset | |
Ambulance | South Western | |
UK Parliament | ||
Halwell is a village, former parish and former manor, now in the parish of Halwell and Moreleigh, in the South Hams district, in the county of Devon, England.
Geography
It is located 5 miles (8.0 km) south of
Civil parish
On 1 April 1986 the parish of Moreleigh was merged with Halwell. On 12 July 1990, the new parish was renamed to "Halwell & Moreleigh".[1] In 1961 the civil parish of Halwell (prior to the merge) had a population of 219.[2]
Toponymy
The name means "The holy well" and it derives from Old English halig: "holy" plus wylle: "well". It is first attested as halganþille in a 16th-century copy of an early 10th-century document. Other early forms include Halgewill(e) and Halgh(e)wille (14th century or earlier), Hallewell (c. 1400), and Holwell (1675).[3]
History
During the Saxon era Halwell was one of the four burhs, or fortified settlements, established in Devon by King Alfred the Great (d.899), King of Wessex from 871 to 899, to defend against invasion by Vikings.[4] At that time the other three were Exeter, Pilton (near Barnstaple) and Lydford.[5] According to the Burghal Hidage (an early 10th Century document describing all burhs then functioning), Halwell's town wall was 1,237 feet long and the garrison consisted of 300 men who could be drawn from the surrounding district in the event of an invasion. However, by the close of the 11th century[6] its status as a burh had been transferred to Totnes, 5 miles to the north and situated on the River Dart, probably because it was better placed for trade at a time when the Viking threat had diminished,[citation needed] after which the significance of Halwell greatly decreased.
Descent of the manor
According to
References
- ^ "Newton Abbot Registration District". UKBMD. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
- ^ "Population Statistics Halwell AP/CP through time". Vision of Britain. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
- ISBN 978-0-521-16855-7.
- Hoskins, W.G., A New Survey of England: Devon, London, 1959 (first publish1ed 1954), p.104
- ^ Hoskins, p.104
- ^ Hoskins, p.104 "within a century" of the 10th century
- ^ Pole, Sir William (d.1635), Collections Towards a Description of the County of Devon, Sir John-William de la Pole (ed.), London, 1791, p.486
- ^ a b For heraldry see: D'Elboux, Raymond H. (1949). "The Brooke Tomb, Cobham". Archaeologia Cantiana. 62: 48–56, esp. pp.50-1.
- ^ a b Pole, p.292
- ^ Philip Payton, Cornwall: A History (Revised and Updated Edition)
- ^ Douglas Richardson, Magna Carta Ancestry, 2nd ed. p.266 [1]
- ^ Risdon, Tristram (d.1640), Survey of Devon, 1811 edition, London, 1811, with 1810 Additions, p.166
- ^ Risdon, p.166
- ^ HoP biog of son
- ^ see images