Highweek
Encyclopedia
Highweek, less commonly called Highweek Village, is a former village, now administratively part of the market town of Newton Abbot
in South Devon
, England. It is prominent and recognisable due to its high location on a ridge on the north edge of the town. Highweek is also a church parish.
The Normans built a motte-and-bailey
castle here and it probably remained occupied until the mid 13th century. The church, now a Grade I listed building, was consecrated in 1428 after the villagers petitioned the pope for their own graveyard. Today, the village has been absorbed into Newton Abbot, but it retains its village identity.
wic) near the River Teign
. By 1301 it was being called Heghwyk, the reference to the prominent (high) hill on which it stands having taken over though the name Teignweek was still in use as late as 1850.
Highweek stands in an area which experienced invasion and settlement in around 700 AD by the Saxons and then by the Danes in 1001 AD, when they sacked and pillaged the nearby village of Kingsteignton
. In the village is a Norman motte-and-bailey
earthwork known as Castle Dyke, that was built to protect the manor of Teignwick. It is a scheduled monument that is included in the "At Risk" register, but still stands tall "...crowned by two surviving pines."
The parts of the Hundred of Teignbridge—including Teignwick—that lay to the west of the River Teign were owned by the king, but in 1237 Henry III
granted them to Sir Theobald de Englishville. De Englishville apparently never married and had no children, and shortly before his death in 1262 he conveyed his lands to his nephew Robert Bushel, who held them until his death in 1269. This was apparently an early death, for he left as his heir a son, named Theobald, aged only four years. Theobald's guardians were Henry and Matilda de Bickleigh and it is likely that they abandoned Castle Dyke in favour of a new manor house built in the nearby valley of the River Lemon
around this time.
During the 13th century the settlement north of the River Lemon became known as Newton Bushel after the Bushel family. In 1402 they were succeeded as lords of the manor by the Yardes. Richard Yarde built most of the present Bradley Manor, though a few remnants of the late 13th century Bushel building still survive.
Newton Bushel combined with New Town of the Abbots (of Torre Abbey) from the south side of the River Lemon to form what became known as Newton Abbot. Highweek is now joined to Newton Abbot and is administratively part of Newton Abbot under Newton Abbot Town Council and Teignbridge District Council
.
, the Teign Estuary and the Bovey Basin. To the north west, Haytor and surrounding parts of Dartmoor
dominate the skyline, and to the north east the Haldon Hills
some 9 miles away towards Exeter
can be seen. Immediately north of the village there is the unusual cone shaped hill of Daracombe Beacon that overlooks the ball clay
opencast pit of Ringslade Quarry, Howton Road and the 1st Highweek Village Scout Group building. The Beacon has a cluster of trees on its peak and is one of the highest points in Newton Abbot at 82 m. Another high point immediately north of the road of Gaze Hill contains a hidden covered municipal water tank.
The village gives its name to a geological unit (the Highweek Unit) that extends for at least 8 km westwards from the village. The geology underlying Highweek itself is Gurrington slate of Famennian
age (a late subdivision of the Devonian
period), with small outliers of resistant spilite
s forming both the ridge on which the church stands and the hills north of the village, such as the aforementioned Daracombe Beacon.
called the Highweek Village Inn, a garage, village hall, and a late medieval church. Within the parish boundary there are two secondary schools with sixth forms, Coombeshead College and Newton Abbot College, and another church: St Mary the Virgin, Abbotsbury. At the meeting point of the road of Highweek Village and Coombeshead Road there are rustic cottages and terraced houses. There was a village post office into the 1990s, opposite the Highweek Inn at the top of Pitt Hill Road, but it is now residential.
at Highweek, but they had to carry their dead about three miles to the parish church
in Kingsteignton
. They petitioned Pope Martin V
for their own graveyard
because "the tides and rivers, and the mud of winter and the intense heat of summer" made the journey "both troublesome and dangerous to accomplish". The pope granted permission in a bull
dated 14 May 1427, and the church and its churchyard were consecrated by Edmund Lacy, Bishop of Exeter on 19 April 1428. Until 1864 it remained a chapel of ease
to Kingsteignton. All Saints has the Bradley aisle
which was built by Richard Yarde of Bradley Manor in the 15th century, and it also had a rood screen
that was said to be "beautiful" until it was mutilated in 1786 and later removed completely.
Today, the church is a Church of England place of worship in the Diocese of Exeter
, known as Highweek Parish. All Saints shares parishioners in rotating services with the other church in the parish, St Mary the Virgin Abbotsbury Church. It is a Grade I listed building. The church sits on a steep sided hill at the end of ridge which runs the length of the village, and is clearly visible for miles around facing St Mary's Wolborough Church on the opposite side of Newton Abbot. The battlemented tower on the west end of the nave carries a flag pole and a lit star at Christmas, which can be seen from Newton Abbot town centre.
Newton Abbot
Newton Abbot is a market town and civil parish in the Teignbridge District of Devon, England on the River Teign, with a population of 23,580....
in South 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. It is prominent and recognisable due to its high location on a ridge on the north edge of the town. Highweek is also a church parish.
The Normans built a motte-and-bailey
Motte-and-bailey
A motte-and-bailey is a form of castle, with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised earthwork called a motte, accompanied by an enclosed courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade...
castle here and it probably remained occupied until the mid 13th century. The church, now a Grade I listed building, was consecrated in 1428 after the villagers petitioned the pope for their own graveyard. Today, the village has been absorbed into Newton Abbot, but it retains its village identity.
History
The first documentary reference to the place now known as Highweek is as Teyngewike in c. 1200. This referred to its position as a settlement (wick from Anglo-SaxonOld 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...
wic) near the River Teign
River Teign
The River Teign is a river in the county of Devon, England.Like many Devon rivers, the Teign rises on Dartmoor, near Cranmere Pool. Its course on the moor is crossed by a clapper bridge near Teigncombe, just below the prehistoric Kestor Settlement. It leaves the moor at its eastern side, flowing...
. By 1301 it was being called Heghwyk, the reference to the prominent (high) hill on which it stands having taken over though the name Teignweek was still in use as late as 1850.
Highweek stands in an area which experienced invasion and settlement in around 700 AD by the Saxons and then by the Danes in 1001 AD, when they sacked and pillaged the nearby village of Kingsteignton
Kingsteignton
Kingsteignton is a town and civil parish in South Devon, England. It lies at the head of the Teign Estuary to the west of Teignmouth in the Teignbridge district. It is bypassed by the A380 and is also on the A383, B3193 and B3195....
. In the village is a Norman motte-and-bailey
Motte-and-bailey
A motte-and-bailey is a form of castle, with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised earthwork called a motte, accompanied by an enclosed courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade...
earthwork known as Castle Dyke, that was built to protect the manor of Teignwick. It is a scheduled monument that is included in the "At Risk" register, but still stands tall "...crowned by two surviving pines."
The parts of the Hundred of Teignbridge—including Teignwick—that lay to the west of the River Teign were owned by the king, but in 1237 Henry III
Henry III of England
Henry III was the son and successor of John as King of England, reigning for 56 years from 1216 until his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester. He was the first child king in England since the reign of Æthelred the Unready...
granted them to Sir Theobald de Englishville. De Englishville apparently never married and had no children, and shortly before his death in 1262 he conveyed his lands to his nephew Robert Bushel, who held them until his death in 1269. This was apparently an early death, for he left as his heir a son, named Theobald, aged only four years. Theobald's guardians were Henry and Matilda de Bickleigh and it is likely that they abandoned Castle Dyke in favour of a new manor house built in the nearby valley of the River Lemon
River Lemon
The River Lemon is a 16-km-long river in the county of Devon in south-west England. It rises on the south-east side of Dartmoor near Haytor, joins with the River Sig and the Langworthy Brook at Sigford, then passes the village of Bickington...
around this time.
During the 13th century the settlement north of the River Lemon became known as Newton Bushel after the Bushel family. In 1402 they were succeeded as lords of the manor by the Yardes. Richard Yarde built most of the present Bradley Manor, though a few remnants of the late 13th century Bushel building still survive.
Newton Bushel combined with New Town of the Abbots (of Torre Abbey) from the south side of the River Lemon to form what became known as Newton Abbot. Highweek is now joined to Newton Abbot and is administratively part of Newton Abbot under Newton Abbot Town Council and Teignbridge District Council
Teignbridge
Teignbridge is a local government district in Devon, England. Its council is based in Newton Abbot.Other towns in the district include Ashburton, Dawlish and Teignmouth...
.
Geography
Highweek is on a ridge that overlooks the South Devon market town of Newton AbbotNewton Abbot
Newton Abbot is a market town and civil parish in the Teignbridge District of Devon, England on the River Teign, with a population of 23,580....
, the Teign Estuary and the Bovey Basin. To the north west, Haytor and surrounding parts of Dartmoor
Dartmoor
Dartmoor is an area of moorland in south Devon, England. Protected by National Park status, it covers .The granite upland dates from the Carboniferous period of geological history. The moorland is capped with many exposed granite hilltops known as tors, providing habitats for Dartmoor wildlife. The...
dominate the skyline, and to the north east the Haldon Hills
Haldon Forest
Haldon Forest is a forest located in Devon, England. The forest consists of several different woods.-Management:It is managed by the Forestry Commission, who also manage other forests throughout the country.-Activities:...
some 9 miles away towards Exeter
Exeter
Exeter is a historic city in Devon, England. It lies within the ceremonial county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council. Currently the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district, and is therefore under the administration of the...
can be seen. Immediately north of the village there is the unusual cone shaped hill of Daracombe Beacon that overlooks the ball clay
Ball clay
Ball clays are kaolinitic sedimentary clays, that commonly consist of 20-80% kaolinite, 10-25% mica, 6-65% quartz. Localized seams in the same deposit have variations in composition, including the quantity of the major minerals, accessory minerals and carbonaceous materials such as lignite...
opencast pit of Ringslade Quarry, Howton Road and the 1st Highweek Village Scout Group building. The Beacon has a cluster of trees on its peak and is one of the highest points in Newton Abbot at 82 m. Another high point immediately north of the road of Gaze Hill contains a hidden covered municipal water tank.
The village gives its name to a geological unit (the Highweek Unit) that extends for at least 8 km westwards from the village. The geology underlying Highweek itself is Gurrington slate of Famennian
Famennian
The Famennian is one of two faunal stages in the Late Devonian epoch. It lasted from 374.5 ± 2.6 million years ago to 359.2 ± 2.5 million years ago. It was preceded by the Frasnian stage and followed by the Tournaisian stage and is named after Famenne, a natural region in southern Belgium.It was...
age (a late subdivision of the Devonian
Devonian
The Devonian is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic Era spanning from the end of the Silurian Period, about 416.0 ± 2.8 Mya , to the beginning of the Carboniferous Period, about 359.2 ± 2.5 Mya...
period), with small outliers of resistant spilite
Spilite
Spilite is a fine-grained igneous rock, resulting particularly from alteration of oceanic basalt.The term was introduced into the geological literature by Alexandre Brongniart in 1827...
s forming both the ridge on which the church stands and the hills north of the village, such as the aforementioned Daracombe Beacon.
Modern Highweek
Today Highweek has a public housePublic house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
called the Highweek Village Inn, a garage, village hall, and a late medieval church. Within the parish boundary there are two secondary schools with sixth forms, Coombeshead College and Newton Abbot College, and another church: St Mary the Virgin, Abbotsbury. At the meeting point of the road of Highweek Village and Coombeshead Road there are rustic cottages and terraced houses. There was a village post office into the 1990s, opposite the Highweek Inn at the top of Pitt Hill Road, but it is now residential.
All Saints Church
By 1427 the parishioners had built a chapelChapel
A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
at Highweek, but they had to carry their dead about three miles to the parish church
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
in Kingsteignton
Kingsteignton
Kingsteignton is a town and civil parish in South Devon, England. It lies at the head of the Teign Estuary to the west of Teignmouth in the Teignbridge district. It is bypassed by the A380 and is also on the A383, B3193 and B3195....
. They petitioned Pope Martin V
Pope Martin V
Pope Martin V , born Odo Colonna, was Pope from 1417 to 1431. His election effectively ended the Western Schism .-Biography:...
for their own graveyard
Graveyard
A graveyard is any place set aside for long-term burial of the dead, with or without monuments such as headstones...
because "the tides and rivers, and the mud of winter and the intense heat of summer" made the journey "both troublesome and dangerous to accomplish". The pope granted permission in a bull
Papal bull
A Papal bull is a particular type of letters patent or charter issued by a Pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the bulla that was appended to the end in order to authenticate it....
dated 14 May 1427, and the church and its churchyard were consecrated by Edmund Lacy, Bishop of Exeter on 19 April 1428. Until 1864 it remained a chapel of ease
Chapel of ease
A chapel of ease is a church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently....
to Kingsteignton. All Saints has the Bradley aisle
Aisle
An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of seats on both sides or with rows of seats on one side and a wall on the other...
which was built by Richard Yarde of Bradley Manor in the 15th century, and it also had a rood screen
Rood screen
The rood screen is a common feature in late medieval church architecture. It is typically an ornate partition between the chancel and nave, of more or less open tracery constructed of wood, stone, or wrought iron...
that was said to be "beautiful" until it was mutilated in 1786 and later removed completely.
Today, the church is a Church of England place of worship in the Diocese of Exeter
Diocese of Exeter
The Diocese of Exeter is a Church of England diocese covering the county of Devon. It is one of the largest dioceses in England. The Cathedral Church of Saint Peter in Exeter is the seat of the diocesan bishop, the Right Reverend Michael Langrish, Bishop of Exeter. It is part of the Province of...
, known as Highweek Parish. All Saints shares parishioners in rotating services with the other church in the parish, St Mary the Virgin Abbotsbury Church. It is a Grade I listed building. The church sits on a steep sided hill at the end of ridge which runs the length of the village, and is clearly visible for miles around facing St Mary's Wolborough Church on the opposite side of Newton Abbot. The battlemented tower on the west end of the nave carries a flag pole and a lit star at Christmas, which can be seen from Newton Abbot town centre.