Chudleigh is very close to the edge of Dartmoor and in the Teign Valley. Nearby Castle Dyke is an Iron AgeHill Fort which demonstrates far earlier settlement in the area. It is also near Haldon Forest, a Forestry Commission property.[3] The town has been bypassed by the A38 road since 1972.[4]
The weather conditions in Devon in the year 1807 have been described as a drought. Weeks without rain left many people short of water and had farmers worrying about their crops. At around noon on 22 May, a small fire broke out in a pile of furze stacked near the ovens at a bakery in Culver Street (now New Exeter Street). According to later reports, the staff in the bakery seemed unaware of the danger this posed, but the fire, fed by the exceptionally dry fuel, exploded. In the shortest time imaginable, the fire had spread to the roof of the bakery (thatched, as were 90% of the houses in Chudleigh at the time[citation needed]) and huge hunks of burning reed and straw were swept aloft by a rapidly growing north-easterly[citation needed] wind. The fire destroyed around 180 of the 300 houses in the town.[5]
The church of St Martin and St Mary was consecrated in 1259. The structure is medieval but was heavily restored in 1868. The rood screen has paintings of saints and prophets and the Courtenay family coat of arms.[6]
Property of the Clifford family since 1604, Ugbrooke is an important stately house and family seat of the Barons Clifford of Chudleigh (a title created in 1672).
Hams Barton is a grade II* listed building,[10] formerly the seat of the Hunt family, situated one-mile north-east of the town, near Kate Brook. The Hunt family was settled there before the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558-1603).[11] Thomas Hunt (d.1548) was thrice Mayor of Exeter,[12] including in 1517 and 1537. A fine banqueting room survives, called by Pevsner "the sumptuous first-floor great chamber, one of the best of its date in the county".[13] Several monuments to the Hunt family survive in the Hunt Aisle in Chudleigh church.[14]
^Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p.494, pedigree of "Hunt of Chudleigh"
^Pevsner, Nikolaus & Cherry, Bridget, The Buildings of England: Devon, London, 2004, p.264
