Ashill, Devon
Encyclopedia
Ashill is a village
located in the parish
of Uffculme
, in the English
county
of Devon
. It has a small church, and small pub.
In the early 20th Century it had one or two shops, plus beer and cider houses. Later came a small garage with petrol pump, and a post office. None of these now survive. Towards the end of the century the character of the village changed, moving from a predominantly farming community to more of a residential character, with several new homes and a mini-estate and starter-home development built during the 1980s and 1990s. Nevertheless, a few historic farms remain active into the early 21st century, along with the more recently arrived alpaca breeders.
St. Stephen's Church is part of the parish of St. Mary's, Uffculme. Ashill Inn was built in 1835.
One of the more visible features is a 3-storey Victorian red-brick dwelling at the lower end of the village. Legend has it that it began life as a 2-storey building (which would have been rather more in keeping with the character of the rest of the village), but during its construction the woman to whom the new owner was betrothed left him, and in order to win her back the man tried to impress her by commissioning an extra storey to his new home, thus assuring her of a greater status as the wife of a 'property owner'. As the story goes, he was unsuccessful in this, and she never returned to him.
Ashill lies approximately two miles from Uffculme
and Kentisbeare
.
It was soul
/R&B
singer Joss Stone
's teenage home (specifically, the hamlet of Rull, approximately half a mile away).
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
located in the parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
of Uffculme
Uffculme
Uffculme is a village located in the Mid Devon district, of Devon, England.-History:Situated in the Blackdown Hills on the B3440, close to the M5 motorway, near Cullompton Uffculme is on the upper reaches of the River Culm. Historically, it was a parish in Bampton Hundred, under the Peculiar...
, in the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
county
Counties of England
Counties of England are areas used for the purposes of administrative, geographical and political demarcation. For administrative purposes, England outside Greater London and the Isles of Scilly is divided into 83 counties. The counties may consist of a single district or be divided into several...
of Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
. It has a small church, and small pub.
In the early 20th Century it had one or two shops, plus beer and cider houses. Later came a small garage with petrol pump, and a post office. None of these now survive. Towards the end of the century the character of the village changed, moving from a predominantly farming community to more of a residential character, with several new homes and a mini-estate and starter-home development built during the 1980s and 1990s. Nevertheless, a few historic farms remain active into the early 21st century, along with the more recently arrived alpaca breeders.
St. Stephen's Church is part of the parish of St. Mary's, Uffculme. Ashill Inn was built in 1835.
One of the more visible features is a 3-storey Victorian red-brick dwelling at the lower end of the village. Legend has it that it began life as a 2-storey building (which would have been rather more in keeping with the character of the rest of the village), but during its construction the woman to whom the new owner was betrothed left him, and in order to win her back the man tried to impress her by commissioning an extra storey to his new home, thus assuring her of a greater status as the wife of a 'property owner'. As the story goes, he was unsuccessful in this, and she never returned to him.
Ashill lies approximately two miles from Uffculme
Uffculme
Uffculme is a village located in the Mid Devon district, of Devon, England.-History:Situated in the Blackdown Hills on the B3440, close to the M5 motorway, near Cullompton Uffculme is on the upper reaches of the River Culm. Historically, it was a parish in Bampton Hundred, under the Peculiar...
and Kentisbeare
Kentisbeare
Kentisbeare is a village and civil parish in the Mid Devon district of Devon, England. Its nearest town is Cullompton....
.
It was soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
/R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
singer Joss Stone
Joss Stone
Jocelyn Eve Stoker , better known by her stage name Joss Stone, is an English soul singer-songwriter and actress. Stone rose to fame in late 2003 with her multi-platinum debut album, The Soul Sessions, which made the 2004 Mercury Prize shortlist...
's teenage home (specifically, the hamlet of Rull, approximately half a mile away).