Stoke Gabriel

Stoke Gabriel
Stoke Gabriel Stoke Gabriel shown within Devon
Population	1,107
OS grid reference	SX850572
District	South Hams
Shire county	Devon
Region	South West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	TOTNES
Postcode district	TQ9
Dialling code	01803 782 ---
Police	Devon and Cornwall
Fire	Devon and Somerset
Ambulance	South Western
EU Parliament	South West England
UK Parliament	Totnes
List of places UK England Devon

Coordinates: 50°24′12″N 3°38′42″W / 50.40339°N 3.64500°W / 50.40339; -3.64500

Stoke Gabriel - the bay beyond the mill pond

Stoke Gabriel is a village and parish in Devon, England, situated on a creek of the River Dart. The village is a popular tourist destination in the South Hams and is famous for its mill pond and crab fishing (known colloquially as crabbing). It is equidistant from Paignton, Dartmouth and Totnes, and has a population of approximately 1,200, reducing slightly to 1,107 at the 2011 census.^[1] The village is the major part of the electoral ward of East Dart. The ward population at the abovementioned census was 1,877.^[2]

Fisherman probably first came to Stoke Gabriel to fish salmon and gain access to the River Dart. The village has an approximately 1,000-year-old yew tree in the churchyard of The Church of St Mary and St Gabriel, a church which has stood since Norman times. Legend has it that if you walk backwards ten times round the yew's main stem you will be granted a wish.

Stoke Gabriel was the birthplace of the Great Western Railway's Chief Mechanical Engineer George Jackson Churchward, who lends his name to the local football club Stoke Gabriel A.F.C.'s ground.

The village has two public houses; The Church House Inn and The Castle Inn. Until relatively recently there were three pubs. The other being The Victoria and Albert Inn. The Church House Inn was built to accommodate the masons who constructed the church and also served as the courthouse. The old stocks can be seen outside the inn today.

Stoke Gabriel is the template for the fictional village of Thornford Regis in C. C. Benison's crime novels Twelve Drummers Drumming and Eleven Pipers Piping.

References

↑ "Parish population 2011". Retrieved 19 February 2015.
↑ "East Dart ward 2011". Retrieved 19 February 2015.

External links

Non-metropolitan district of South Hams

List of civil parishes in Devon#South Hams

Civil parishes	Ashprington Aveton Gifford Berry Pomeroy Bickleigh Bigbury Blackawton Brixton Buckland Tout Saints Charleton Chivelstone Churchstow Cornwood Cornworthy Dartington Dartmouth Dean Prior Diptford Dittisham East Allington East Portlemouth Ermington Frogmore and Sherford Halwell and Moreleigh Harberton Harford Holbeton Holne Ivybridge Kingsbridge Kingston Kingswear Littlehempston Loddiswell Malborough Marldon Modbury Newton and Noss North Huish Rattery Ringmore Salcombe Shaugh Prior Slapton South Brent South Huish South Milton South Pool Sparkwell Staverton Stoke Fleming Stoke Gabriel Stokenham Strete Thurlestone Totnes Ugborough Wembury West Alvington West Buckfastleigh Woodleigh Yealmpton

Bold text denotes a parish council referred to as a "town council" i.e. towns.

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, January 23, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.