Hartland, Devon
Encyclopedia
The town of Hartland, which incorporates the hamlet of Stoke to the west and the village of Meddon in the south, is the most north-westerly settlement in the county
of Devon
, England
.
Now a small town which acts as a centre for a rural neighbourhood and has minor tourist traffic, until Tudor
times Hartland was an important port
. It lies close to the promontory of Hartland Point
, where the coast of Devon turns from facing north into the Bristol Channel
to face west into the Atlantic Ocean
. There is an important lighthouse
on the point. The town's harbour, Hartland Quay, is to the south of the point: the quay was originally built in the late 16th century but was swept away in 1887. The high tower of the Church of Saint Nectan
at Stoke remains a significant landmark for ships in the Bristol Channel
.
, and the wild coastal scenery around the point is some of the most dramatic on the path, with excellent views across to Lundy
Island. It is from Hartland Point that the Lundy Company operate their helicopter service to Lundy, during the five months from November to March. The Service 319, a council-supported infrequent bus service run by Stagecoach Devon
, runs from Barnstaple to Hartland and vice versa.
, finally abolished in 1886. In medieval times there was an important abbey at Hartland where the shrine of St Nectan was venerated. Hartland Abbey and the parish church are located some two miles away at Stoke.
in 1160 (Bartholomew was appointed Bishop of Exeter
the following year). It was converted into an Augustinian abbey in 1189. In 1539 it was the last monastery to be dissolved
by Henry VIII
. The King gave the building to William Abbot, his Sergeant of the Wine Cellar at Hampton Court. William Abbot converted what had been the Abbot's Lodging into a mansion. The present house incorporates a few components from Tudor times but is mainly the wing added to the old house in 1705 (the north-west corner being the work of 'Mr Mathews' (according to the author of the Beauties of England and Wales). Further alterations were done about 1860. The gardens were laid out by Gertrude Jekyll
.
Saint Nectan
, sometimes styled Saint Nectan of Hartland, was a 5th century Celtic holyman
who lived in Stoke, Hartland. The Anglican church is St Nectan's Church, Stoke, Hartland
. The Roman Catholic Church (Our Lady and St Nectan's Church, Hartland
) was opened in 1964: it is also dedicated to St Nectan.
The Parish Church of St Nectan (see main article at: Church of Saint Nectan, Hartland
) has the highest tower in Devon (128 ft), built in the late Perpendicular style. The church is large (137 ft long) and was built in the mid 14th century. Notable features include the fine Norman font, the rood screen (the finest in north Devon) and the old wagon roofs. The monuments include an elaborate medieval tomb-chest, a small brass of 1610 and a metal-inlaid lid of a churchyard tomb of 1618.
word "heort" for a deer
(compare with Swedish
"hjort" and Dutch
"hert") and it is therefore surprising that it is not more common in England
. The many places in other English speaking countries called Hartland probably bear witness to the historic importance of Hartland rather than being independent derivations, since the word "hart" was largely obsolete before the European discovery of the New World
. Before the discovery of America, the word Hart was common in surnames. Family names such as Hartshorne were first mentioned in the Domesday Book
.
, Brittany, France
Natural history The coast at Hartland is part of the North Devon Coast AONB. The British Geological Survey
operate a magnetic observatory (one of three in the UK) just to the north of Hartland.
Television In early 2008, scenery and a cottage on the Hartland Abbey estate were featured in the BBC adaptation of Sense and Sensibility
.
County
A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain modern nations. Historically in mainland Europe, the original French term, comté, and its equivalents in other languages denoted a jurisdiction under the sovereignty of a count A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain...
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...
, England
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...
.
Now a small town which acts as a centre for a rural neighbourhood and has minor tourist traffic, until Tudor
Tudor dynasty
The Tudor dynasty or House of Tudor was a European royal house of Welsh origin that ruled the Kingdom of England and its realms, including the Lordship of Ireland, later the Kingdom of Ireland, from 1485 until 1603. Its first monarch was Henry Tudor, a descendant through his mother of a legitimised...
times Hartland was an important port
Harbor
A harbor or harbour , or haven, is a place where ships, boats, and barges can seek shelter from stormy weather, or else are stored for future use. Harbors can be natural or artificial...
. It lies close to the promontory of Hartland Point
Hartland Point
Hartland Point is a high rocky outcrop of land on the northwestern tip of the Devon coast in England. It is three miles north-west of the village of Hartland. The point marks the western limit of the Bristol Channel with the Atlantic Ocean continuing to the west...
, where the coast of Devon turns from facing north into the Bristol Channel
Bristol Channel
The Bristol Channel is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales from Devon and Somerset in South West England. It extends from the lower estuary of the River Severn to the North Atlantic Ocean...
to face west into the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
. There is an important lighthouse
Lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....
on the point. The town's harbour, Hartland Quay, is to the south of the point: the quay was originally built in the late 16th century but was swept away in 1887. The high tower of the Church of Saint Nectan
Saint Nectan
Saint Nectan, sometimes styled Saint Nectan of Hartland, was a 5th-century holy man who lived in Stoke, Hartland, in the English county of Devon, where the prominent Church of Saint Nectan, Hartland is dedicated to him.-Life:...
at Stoke remains a significant landmark for ships in the Bristol Channel
Bristol Channel
The Bristol Channel is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales from Devon and Somerset in South West England. It extends from the lower estuary of the River Severn to the North Atlantic Ocean...
.
Communications
Hartland is a convenient centre for walking parts of the South West Coast PathSouth West Coast Path
The South West Coast Path is Britain's longest waymarked long-distance footpath and a National Trail. It stretches for , running from Minehead in Somerset, along the coasts of Devon and Cornwall, to Poole Harbour in Dorset. Since it rises and falls with every river mouth, it is also one of the more...
, and the wild coastal scenery around the point is some of the most dramatic on the path, with excellent views across to Lundy
Lundy
Lundy is the largest island in the Bristol Channel, lying off the coast of Devon, England, approximately one third of the distance across the channel between England and Wales. It measures about at its widest. Lundy gives its name to a British sea area and is one of the islands of England.As of...
Island. It is from Hartland Point that the Lundy Company operate their helicopter service to Lundy, during the five months from November to March. The Service 319, a council-supported infrequent bus service run by Stagecoach Devon
Stagecoach Devon
Stagecoach Devon Ltd, part of the Stagecoach Group, is a bus operator serving the East Devon, Exeter and Torbay, and more recently Tiverton and Barnstaple, areas of South West England. It was formed in 1995 with the purchase of Devon General and Bayline. Its headquarters is in Exeter...
, runs from Barnstaple to Hartland and vice versa.
History and notable buildings
The town was in the past known as Harton and was an unreformed boroughBorough
A borough is an administrative division in various countries. In principle, the term borough designates a self-governing township although, in practice, official use of the term varies widely....
, finally abolished in 1886. In medieval times there was an important abbey at Hartland where the shrine of St Nectan was venerated. Hartland Abbey and the parish church are located some two miles away at Stoke.
Hartland Abbey
Hartland Abbey was built in 1157 and consecrated by Bartholomew IscanusBartholomew Iscanus
Bartholomew Iscanus was a medieval Bishop of Exeter.-Early life:Bartholomew was a native of Normandy, and was probably born in Millières, a village in the Cotentin near Lessay and Périers. He was a clerk of Theobald of Bec, Archbishop of Canterbury before becoming Archdeacon of Exeter in 1155...
in 1160 (Bartholomew was appointed Bishop of Exeter
Bishop of Exeter
The Bishop of Exeter is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Exeter in the Province of Canterbury. The incumbent usually signs his name as Exon or incorporates this in his signature....
the following year). It was converted into an Augustinian abbey in 1189. In 1539 it was the last monastery to be dissolved
Dissolution of the Monasteries
The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...
by Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
. The King gave the building to William Abbot, his Sergeant of the Wine Cellar at Hampton Court. William Abbot converted what had been the Abbot's Lodging into a mansion. The present house incorporates a few components from Tudor times but is mainly the wing added to the old house in 1705 (the north-west corner being the work of 'Mr Mathews' (according to the author of the Beauties of England and Wales). Further alterations were done about 1860. The gardens were laid out by Gertrude Jekyll
Gertrude Jekyll
Gertrude Jekyll was an influential British garden designer, writer, and artist. She created over 400 gardens in the UK, Europe and the USA and contributed over 1,000 articles to Country Life, The Garden and other magazines.-Early life:...
.
Churches
Saint Nectan
Saint Nectan, sometimes styled Saint Nectan of Hartland, was a 5th-century holy man who lived in Stoke, Hartland, in the English county of Devon, where the prominent Church of Saint Nectan, Hartland is dedicated to him.-Life:...
, sometimes styled Saint Nectan of Hartland, was a 5th century Celtic holyman
Celtic Christianity
Celtic Christianity or Insular Christianity refers broadly to certain features of Christianity that were common, or held to be common, across the Celtic-speaking world during the Early Middle Ages...
who lived in Stoke, Hartland. The Anglican church is St Nectan's Church, Stoke, Hartland
Church of Saint Nectan, Hartland
The Church of Saint Nectan is the parish church of Hartland, Devon, England. Sometimes referred to as the "Cathedral of North Devon", it is located in the hamlet of Stoke, about 1.5 miles west of the town of Hartland...
. The Roman Catholic Church (Our Lady and St Nectan's Church, Hartland
Our Lady and St Nectan's Church, Hartland
The Church of Our Lady and St Nectan was a Roman Catholic place of worship in the town of Hartland, Devon. It was built by local people and consecrated by Cyril Restieaux, Bishop of Plymouth, on 8 December 1964, the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception....
) was opened in 1964: it is also dedicated to St Nectan.
The Parish Church of St Nectan (see main article at: Church of Saint Nectan, Hartland
Church of Saint Nectan, Hartland
The Church of Saint Nectan is the parish church of Hartland, Devon, England. Sometimes referred to as the "Cathedral of North Devon", it is located in the hamlet of Stoke, about 1.5 miles west of the town of Hartland...
) has the highest tower in Devon (128 ft), built in the late Perpendicular style. The church is large (137 ft long) and was built in the mid 14th century. Notable features include the fine Norman font, the rood screen (the finest in north Devon) and the old wagon roofs. The monuments include an elaborate medieval tomb-chest, a small brass of 1610 and a metal-inlaid lid of a churchyard tomb of 1618.
Toponymy
The name "Hartland" presumably derives from the Old EnglishOld English language
Old English or Anglo-Saxon is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons and their descendants in parts of what are now England and southeastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century...
word "heort" for a deer
Deer
Deer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. Species in the Cervidae family include white-tailed deer, elk, moose, red deer, reindeer, fallow deer, roe deer and chital. Male deer of all species and female reindeer grow and shed new antlers each year...
(compare with Swedish
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
"hjort" and Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
"hert") and it is therefore surprising that it is not more common in England
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...
. The many places in other English speaking countries called Hartland probably bear witness to the historic importance of Hartland rather than being independent derivations, since the word "hart" was largely obsolete before the European discovery of the New World
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
. Before the discovery of America, the word Hart was common in surnames. Family names such as Hartshorne were first mentioned in the Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
.
Miscellany
Twin town PlozévetPlozévet
Plozévet is a commune in the Finistère department in Bretagne in northwestern France.-Breton language:The municipality launched a linguistic plan through Ya d'ar brezhoneg on November 23, 2007....
, Brittany, France
Natural history The coast at Hartland is part of the North Devon Coast AONB. The British Geological Survey
British Geological Survey
The British Geological Survey is a partly publicly funded body which aims to advance geoscientific knowledge of the United Kingdom landmass and its continental shelf by means of systematic surveying, monitoring and research. The BGS headquarters are in Keyworth, Nottinghamshire, but other centres...
operate a magnetic observatory (one of three in the UK) just to the north of Hartland.
Television In early 2008, scenery and a cottage on the Hartland Abbey estate were featured in the BBC adaptation of Sense and Sensibility
Sense and Sensibility
Sense and Sensibility, published in 1811, is a British romance novel by Jane Austen, her first published work under the pseudonym, "A Lady." Jane Austen is considered a pioneer of the romance genre of novels, and for the realism portrayed in her novels, is one the most widely read writers in...
.
Notable residents
- Mary NortonMary Norton (author)Mary Norton, née Pearson, was an English children's author. Her books include The Borrowers series.-Background:...
, author of the BorrowersThe BorrowersThe Borrowers, published in 1952, is the first in a series of children's fantasy novels by English author Mary Norton. The novel and its sequels are about tiny people who live in people's homes and "borrow" things to survive while keeping their existence unknown...
novels, lived in Hartland towards the end of her life, and died here in 1992. She is buried at the local parish church in Stoke. - Satish KumarSatish KumarSatish Kumar is an Indian, currently living in England, who has been a Jain monk and a nuclear disarmament advocate, and is the current editor of Resurgence, founder and Director of Programmes of the Schumacher College international centre for ecological studies and of The Small School...
, editor of ResurgenceResurgenceResurgence is a British bi-monthly magazine which has been described as the artistic and spiritual voice of the green movement in Great Britain. Resurgence was founded in the 1960s by John Papworth....
magazine and founder of the Small SchoolThe Small SchoolThe Small School is a secondary school founded in September 1982 by Satish Kumar in Hartland, Devon. It belongs to Movement for Education on a Human Scale.-History:...