| Village of Sheepstor | |
|---|---|
 View of Sheepstor village | |
  Village of Sheepstor Location withinDevon | |
| Population | 53 (Census 2001) |
| OS grid reference | SX560676 |
| • London | 184 miles (296 km) |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | YELVERTON |
| Postcode district | PL20 |
| Dialling code | 01822 |
| Police | Devon and Cornwall |
| Fire | Devon and Somerset |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| UK Parliament | |
| Website | Sheepstor community page |
| 50°29′27″N4°01′55″W / 50.490847°N 4.032040°W /50.490847; -4.032040 | |
Sheepstor is a village,civil parish and formermanor on the western side ofDartmoor in the county ofDevon, England. In 2001, its population was 53, down from 95 in 1901.[1] For administrative purposes the parish is grouped with the parishes ofMeavy andWalkhampton to formBurrator Parish Council,[2] and for electoral purposes it is grouped with the same two parishes to form BurratorWard.[3]Burrator Reservoir, constructed in 1898, is to the north of the village and forms part of the northern boundary of the parish.[1]
The nameSheepstor has evolved considerably since the first reference to a settlement here which was recorded in apipe roll of 1168 asSitelestorra. In a document of 1262, it wasSkytelestor,Shittestorre in 1474,Shistor in 1547 and in c. 1620Tristram Risdon called itShetelstor now Shepstor.[4] The name probably derives from theOld Englishscyttel(s) meaning a bar or bolt, reflecting the shape of the nearby SheepsTor.[4]
Themanor of Sheepstor was held by theScudamore family, whose heirs were the Elford family.[5][6][7]
The village church, dedicated toSt Leonard, is built of granite and dates from the 15th century,[1] though achapelry was first documented here in 1240.[8] The church contains a finerood screen which was reconstructed in 1914 by the then vicar Hugh Breton from drawings made of the original that had been removed in a19th-century restoration.[1] Buried in the churchyard areJames Brooke,Charles Brooke andCharles Vyner Brooke, the threeWhite Rajahs of theSarawak kingdom, in modern-daySarawak (now part ofMalaysia), as well asBertram Willes Dayrell Brooke, another member of the Brooke family. The graves of the Rajahs have been designated Grade IIlisted monuments by English Heritage.[9]
There are currently six bells in the church tower, five of which were cast in 1769, with a sixth hung in 1904; one of the older bells has inscribed on it the words 'I call the quick to church and the dead to grave'.[8] A local legend tells that the bell ropes of the church were once tied together and lowered intoCrazywell Pool, 3.6 km to the north east of Sheepstor, in order to determine the depth. According to the legend the ropes descended as much as 90 fathoms without reaching the bottom,[10] causing people to believe the pool is bottomless.
The church has been renovated several times, the most thorough of which was in 1861 at a cost of £590.[8]
Sheeps Tor, from which the village is named, is a prominent outcrop about half a mile north east of the village. The summit is 369m above sea level and it is one of the area's most prominent tors.
In 2010 Sheepstor was one of the filming locations for theSteven Spielberg filmWar Horse, and the village with its prominent church tower features in an aerial shot in the trailer for the film which was released on 29 June 2011.[11][12]
Nearby archaeological sites:
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Media related toSheepstor at Wikimedia Commons