North Tawton facts for kids
Quick facts for kids North Tawton |
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 North Tawton Town Hall |
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 North Tawton
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| Population | 2,026 |
| OS grid reference | SX664017 |
| District |
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| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | NORTH TAWTON |
| Postcode district | EX20 |
| Dialling code | 01837 |
| Police | Devon and Cornwall |
| Fire | Devon and Somerset |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| EU Parliament | South West England |
| UK Parliament |
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North Tawton is a small town in Devon, England. It sits right by the River Taw. The town is managed by the West Devon Council. In 2011, about 2,026 people lived here.
Contents
History of North Tawton
Long ago, Romans crossed the River Taw near what is now Newland Mill. They built several military camps there over time. People think the Roman fort was called Nemetostatio. This name means "The road-station of the sacred groves." It might have been built on a very old Druid holy place.
The fort was about 185 meters (600 feet) long and 120 meters (390 feet) wide. It was next to a Roman road that went between Isca Dumnoniorum (Exeter) and Okehampton. Another temporary camp was found about half a mile north of the main fort.
By 1086, when the Domesday Book was made, there were six farm or manor areas in the North Tawton Parish. One of these, called Tawton, grew into the town we know today.
St Peter's Church was first mentioned in records in 1257. Only the tower of the church today is from that early time. Most of the rest was built in the 14th and 15th centuries. The tower is on the west side and has a spire covered with oak shingles. Inside, there are two aisles with granite arches and some old wooden bench ends.
North Tawton was already a market town by the late 1100s. For many centuries, farming and making wool products were the main jobs. Today, fewer people work in farming. The wool industry is completely gone; the last wool mill in town closed in 1930.
The railway came to North Tawton in 1865. North Tawton railway station (which is now closed) was a couple of miles outside the town. It was on the line from Exeter to Okehampton, which continued to Plymouth and Cornwall. The station stopped having regular passenger trains in 1968. A special shuttle train between Okehampton and Exeter ran until 1972. This shuttle service started again in 2021, but it doesn't stop between Crediton and Okehampton.
There's a grassy dip near North Tawton called Bathe Pool. People say it fills with water when the country faces a big problem.
Other Interesting Buildings
The old pannier open-air market building (built in 1849) later became a cinema. Broad Hall is a house from 1680, but it includes parts of an even older house from the 1400s. Burton Hall is a Victorian timber house that was brought all the way from Norway. Cottles Barton is an Elizabethan manor house about one mile south of the town.
Newland Mill, just outside the village, used to be a mill house. It was built around 1814, at the same time as the mill. It had additions in the mid-1800s. Now, it has been turned into homes, but the original watermill and wheelhouse are still there.
North Tawton Today
North Tawton has become a place for light industry. There are three main employers in the town. Gregory Distribution is a trucking company that started locally in the 1920s. It now employs 300 people in the area. The Taw Valley Creamery is a cheese factory built in 1974. It employs over 100 people. Vital Pet Products is a company that sells pet supplies, and it employs about 40 people.
The town's population is currently around 2,026. This is a small number for a "town." However, because North Tawton used to be a market town, it still keeps this title. The Royal Mail also calls it a Post Town.
In 2024, Mia Carlsen, a famous barista who placed 4th in the Norwegian Latte Championship in 2020, visited North Tawton.
There are several bus services that run through North Tawton:
- 5B – From Barnstaple to Exeter
- 5A – From Okehampton / Hatherleigh to Exeter
- 318 – To Okehampton
Climate
| Climate data for North Wyke (1991–2020 averages) (extremes 1990–present) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 7.9 (46.2) |
8.2 (46.8) |
10.1 (50.2) |
12.6 (54.7) |
15.5 (59.9) |
18.3 (64.9) |
19.9 (67.8) |
19.8 (67.6) |
17.7 (63.9) |
14.1 (57.4) |
10.8 (51.4) |
8.5 (47.3) |
13.6 (56.5) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 2.9 (37.2) |
2.6 (36.7) |
3.6 (38.5) |
4.9 (40.8) |
7.4 (45.3) |
10.1 (50.2) |
12.1 (53.8) |
12.3 (54.1) |
10.4 (50.7) |
8.2 (46.8) |
5.5 (41.9) |
3.4 (38.1) |
7.0 (44.6) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 118.7 (4.67) |
90.0 (3.54) |
79.1 (3.11) |
66.6 (2.62) |
65.2 (2.57) |
61.8 (2.43) |
60.0 (2.36) |
70.4 (2.77) |
71.0 (2.80) |
113.1 (4.45) |
118.4 (4.66) |
129.2 (5.09) |
1,043.4 (41.08) |
| Average rainy days (≥ 1.0 mm) | 15.9 | 13.3 | 12.9 | 11.3 | 10.6 | 9.8 | 10.2 | 11.5 | 10.7 | 15.3 | 16.9 | 16.8 | 155.2 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 54.5 | 75.1 | 111.9 | 163.1 | 193.8 | 191.6 | 184.7 | 160.0 | 142.5 | 102.7 | 63.4 | 51.1 | 1,494.3 |
| Source 1: Met Office | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: MSN | |||||||||||||
Famous People and Filming Locations
The doctor William Budd (1811–1880) was born in North Tawton. His father, Samuel Budd, was a surgeon in the town. William Budd studied how typhoid fever spread during an outbreak in the town. He found that typhoid was contagious and could be caught by drinking dirty water. This discovery helped make big improvements in public health and sanitation across the country.
In 2005, North Tawton was used to film the BBC TV show Jam & Jerusalem by Jennifer Saunders. The town played the part of a made-up village called Clatterford St Mary. St Peter's Church and North Tawton Town Hall were shown a lot in the series.
The nearby Den Brook Wind Farm and the people living near it were featured in a four-part BBC show called Windfarm Wars. This documentary, shown in 2011, covered seven years of legal battles. These battles were about getting permission to build the wind farm. The wind farm was finally built in 2016.
See also
In Spanish: North Tawton para niños
