Okehampton is a town and civil parish in West Devon in the English county of Devon. It is situated at the northern edge of Dartmoor, and had a population of 5,922 at the 2011 census. Two electoral wards are based in the town. Their joint population at the same census is 7,500. Okehampton is 21 miles west of Exeter, 26 miles north of Plymouth and 24 miles south of Barnstaple.
History
Okehampton was founded by the Saxons. The earliest written record of the settlement is from 980 AD as Ocmundtune, meaning settlement by the Ockment, a river which runs through the town. It was recorded as a place for slaves to be freed at cross roads. Like many towns in the West Country, Okehampton grew on the medievalwool trade. Notable buildings in the town include the 15th century chapel of St. James and Okehampton Castle, which was established by the NormanSheriff of Devon, Baldwin FitzGilbert.
Feudal barony
Okehampton was the caput of a large feudal barony, which at the time of the Domesday Book was held by Baldwin FitzGilbert. After his death in 1090 the tenure of the barony is obscure for the next twenty years after which it was held by the heiress Maud d'Avranches until her death in 1173, which passed to her daughter, Hawise de Curci, who married Reginald de Courtenay. His French possessions were confiscated by the French King Louis VII, but were given, together with the marriage of his daughter Elizabeth de Courtenay, to his youngest brother Peter I of Courtenay. The Courtenay family rebuilt Okehampton Castle, until King Henry VIII seized the lands and had Henry Courtenay, 1st Marquess of Exeter executed for treason in 1539. Presently, the castle is owned by English Heritage and is open to the public during the summer season. The town is also home to the Museum of Dartmoor Life, which has received notable visitors such as Prince Charles.
There is a substantial army training camp on Dartmoor which can be reached via Okehampton, and is commonly referred to as "Okehampton Camp". It is managed by the Defence Training Estate, and used by a variety of military units, including the Commando Training Centre Royal Marines, Lympstone, Devon, and many cadet training units. The Ten Tors event is run by the Army each year in early May from Okehampton Camp.
The town's football team, Okehampton Argyle F.C., is a non-league club which was established in 1926 after the original side, Okehampton Town, disbanded. The club competes in the South West Peninsula League which sits at Steps 6 and 7 of the National League System; four leagues below the top division of non-league football, the Football Conference. The town also has a rugby club, Okehampton RFC, which is believed to have been founded in 1884. There is also a table tennis club in the town that was purpose-built for the sport beside the local post office off the town.
Transport
Okehampton's location at the edge of the moor means that it has always been a route centre. After years of uncertainty, the A30 trunk road was finally re-routed in 1988 to bypass the town, which had previously acted as a holiday traffic bottleneck at summer weekends. Okehampton railway station is on the former northerly rail route from Exeter to Plymouth via Tavistock. The line from Exeter remains open for freight traffic to and from Meldon Quarry, two miles west of Okehampton. In summer, and at weekends throughout the year, the Dartmoor Railway operates a heritage railway service between Okehampton and Meldon Quarry. In 1997, Devon County Council revived a passenger rail service from Exeter, on summer weekends only, in an attempt to reduce motor traffic to the national park. In March 2010, the freight operator Devon & Cornwall Railways announced plans to reinstate a daily passenger service terminating in Exeter. In the wake of widespread disruption caused by damage to the mainline track at Dawlish by coastal storms in February 2014, leaving Plymouth and Cornwall with no rail connection to the rest of the country, Network Rail considered reopening the Exeter-to-Plymouth route via Okehampton and Tavistock. Okehampton is served by various bus services from Exeter, Bude, Newquay and Tavistock. Stagecoach South West service 6 links from Exeter bus station via Exeter St Davids to Okehampton and then to Bude. Other services from Exeter bus station include the 6A service via Exeter St Davids, which continues to Launceston.
Nearby settlements
Okehampton is surrounded by many smaller villages and towns including the hamlet of Stockley. Notable examples are the villages of South Zeal with its ancient burgage plots, granite thatched cottages and Dartmoor Folk Festival; Belstone, noted for its location on the very outskirts of Dartmoor and links to Agatha Christie's The Sittaford Mystery; and Sticklepath which has an annual fire show on Bonfire Night, 5 November. Other nearby villages and settlements include Hatherleigh, North Tawton, Whiddon Down, Chagford, Bratton Clovelly, Lydford, Folly Gate, Southcott, Northlew, Jacobstowe, Bridestowe and Sourton.
