Bampton, Devon

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Coordinates: 50°59′23″N 3°29′10″W / 50.98974°N 3.48601°W / 50.98974; -3.48601

Bampton
Castle Street, Bampton
Bampton  Bampton shown within Devon
Population	1,598 (2001 UK Census)
OS grid reference	SS957222
District	Mid Devon
Shire county	Devon
Region	South West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	TIVERTON
Postcode district	EX16
Dialling code	01398
Police	Devon and Cornwall
Fire	Devon and Somerset
Ambulance	South Western
EU Parliament	South West England
UK Parliament	Tiverton & Honiton
List of places: UK • England • Devon

For the village in Oxfordshire see Bampton, Oxfordshire

Bampton is a small town in Devon, England close to the south-eastern corner of Exmoor and on the River Batherm, a tributary of the River Exe. It is about 10 km north of Tiverton.

History

Its history is thought to have started with a Roman fort, but it is later Saxon remains that are most easily seen. Some hedges conform to the Saxon furrow measure of 625 feet (later it became a furlong) and traces of their strip farming can be seen to the north-east of the castle mound, the remnant of an 11th century Norman Bampton Castle built on earlier Saxon fortifications. The circular churchyard is also Saxon in origin.

Bampton now has nearly 100 listed buildings including the Grade 1 listed church, dedicated to Saint Michael & All Angels, whose tower dates from the 13th century. Parts of the former vicarage are said to date from the middle of the 15th century; and the Exeter Inn on the edge of the town was originally a farmhouse built in 1495. The town was caught up in the civil war between King Stephen and the Empress Matilda, when Stephen's troops took the town in 1136. The later English Civil War reached Bampton in 1645, when Royalists from Tiverton Castle burnt the town, so that few buildings earlier than the 17th century survive.

Bampton Fair was granted a Royal Charter in 1258, in addition to an earlier Charter of 1212, and is held every year on the last Thursday in October.^{[citation needed]}

This is a popular event, not least for its timing during the school half-term break. As well as a traditional fun-fair, there is a street market, often very crowded, selling novelties, and West Country produce. There was a monthly livestock market until the closure of the railway-line in 1966, and Exmoor Ponies were auctioned at Bampton Fair until 1985, when animal welfare concerns, and the sale of the site of the auction-ring, brought an end to what had been a major attraction at the Fair since the 1840s.

Since 2004, farm-tackle, Exmoor ponies and other livestock have been auctioned as part of the Fair again, a little way out of town, at Luttrell Quarry.

Twin towns

Villers-Bocage, Calvados, France since 1974

External links

• Bampton, Devon at the Open Directory Project

v t e Towns, villages and hamlets in the Mid Devon District of Devon, England Ashill · Bampton · Bickleigh · Blackborough · Butterleigh · Cadbury · Clayhanger · Colebrooke · Cove · Crediton · Cullompton · Exebridge · Huntsham · Kentisbeare · Morebath · Oakford · Shillingford · Stoodleigh · Tiverton · Willand