| Crediton | |
|---|---|
 Church of the Holy Cross, Crediton | |
  Crediton Location withinDevon | |
| Population | 8,304 (2021) |
| OS grid reference | SS837005 |
| Civil parish |
|
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | CREDITON |
| Postcode district | EX17 |
| Dialling code | 01363 |
| Police | Devon and Cornwall |
| Fire | Devon and Somerset |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| UK Parliament | |
| 50°47′28″N3°39′22″W / 50.79111°N 3.65611°W /50.79111; -3.65611 | |
Crediton/ˈkrɛdɪtən/ ⓘ is a town andcivil parish in theMid Devon district ofDevon, England. It stands on theA377Exeter toBarnstaple road at the junction with theA3072 road toTiverton, 7 miles (11 km) north west of Exeter and 14 miles (23 km) from theM5 motorway. It has a population of 21,990.[1]
The town is in the narrow vale of theRiver Creedy, between two steep hills and is divided into two parts, the north or old town and the south and east or new town.[2]
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The first indication of settlement at Crediton is the claim that Winfrith orSaint Boniface was born here in c. 672.[2][3] He propagatedChristianity in theFrankish Empire during the 8th century and is thepatron saint of both Germany and theNetherlands. In 909 asee was established here withEdwulf as the first bishop.[3]Nine more bishops ruled here until 1050, whenLeofric obtained papal permission fromPope Leo IX to transfer the seat toExeter,[3] a more culturally aware, larger and walled town. Since 1897 Crediton has been the seat of asuffragan bishopric in theDiocese of Exeter; from 2004 until 2012 this wasRobert Evens,[4] between 2012 and 2015 it wasNick McKinnel (who was translated to the Anglican See of Plymouth).[5] The current bishop of Crediton isJackie Searle, who has been the bishop since 2018.[6]
At theDomesday survey (1086) much of the land was still uncultivated, but its prosperity increased, and in 1269 each of the twelveprebends of thecollegiate church had a house and farmland within the parish. The bishops to whom the manor belonged until theReformation had difficulty in enforcing their warren and other rights; in 1351Bishop Grandisson obtained anexemplification of judgments of 1282, declaring that he had pleas ofwithername, a view offrankpledge, thegallows andassize of bread and ale. Two years later there was a serious riot against the increase ofcopyhold.[2]
The jury of the borough are mentioned in 1275, and Crediton returned two members to parliament during the reign ofEdward I,[7] in 1306–07, though it was never afterwards represented again. A borough seal dated 1469 is extant, but the corporation is not mentioned in the grant made byEdward VI of the church to twelve principal inhabitants. The borough and manor were granted byElizabeth I toWilliam Killigrew in 1595, but there is no indication of town organization then or in 1630, and in the 18th century Crediton was governed bycommissioners.[2]
The wool trade was established by 1249, and the manufacture and trading of woollen cloth, especiallyserge, peaked in the 16th century when the town reached the height of its prosperity.[8] In 1630 the market forkerseys was mentioned in conjunction with a sayingas fine as Kirton spinning.[2][9] The woollen textile trade declined after the mid 18th century.[8]
… a big lousy town … the houses be mostly of clay, without any timber in the walls except the roof, doors and windows.
— Richard Symons, a Captain in the Royalist Army, writing about Crediton in 1644.[10]
During theEnglish Civil War theEarl of Essex passed through the town on 20 July 1644 on his way toCornwall,[11] and evidently left the town and surrounding countryside in some disarray.[12] He was closely followed byCharles I who arrived on 27 July to review the army gathered there by his nephew,Prince Maurice, before returning to Exeter for a council of war.[13] The following Sunday, the King spent the night at Crediton and then began his expedition of "Essex-catching".[13]
In late 1645 and early 1646 the town was used as a base byThomas Fairfax and theNew Model Army from where they marched on theRoyalist forces gathering in North Devon, and to where they returned on 29 March 1646 after success both at theBattle of Torrington and in overturning the siege of Plymouth.[14]
On Sunday 14 August 1743, a great fire started, completely destroying High Street and buildings in the "West Town".[3] At that period of time it was the second largest fire in the country, second only to theGreat Fire of London. Sixteen people lost their lives, with over 2,000 made homeless and 450 houses destroyed. Other large fires occurred in 1766, 1769 and 1772.[3] TheOld Town Hall was completed in 1852.[15]
The town is twinned withAvranches, France.
Crediton has anoceanic climate (Köppen climate classificationCfb).
| Climate data for Crediton, 1981-2010 averages | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 8 (46) | 8 (46) | 10 (50) | 12 (54) | 16 (61) | 19 (66) | 21 (70) | 21 (70) | 18 (64) | 14 (57) | 11 (52) | 9 (48) | 14 (57) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 3 (37) | 3 (37) | 3 (37) | 4 (39) | 7 (45) | 11 (52) | 12 (54) | 12 (54) | 10 (50) | 8 (46) | 5 (41) | 4 (39) | 7 (45) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 120.1 (4.73) | 91.5 (3.60) | 89.7 (3.53) | 71.2 (2.80) | 76.1 (3.00) | 63.6 (2.50) | 68.4 (2.69) | 73.4 (2.89) | 81.1 (3.19) | 121.9 (4.80) | 119.2 (4.69) | 132.4 (5.21) | 1,108.6 (43.65) |
| Source 1: Weather Channel[16] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2:Chelsa Climate[17] | |||||||||||||
In the early 20th century shoe-making, tanning, agricultural trade, tin-plating and the manufacture of confectionery andcider had superseded the former large woollen and serge industries.
Thecreamery and dairy in Crediton has always been located next to the church, but to enable its product to be distributed further, the company ran a transport depot that was located in the goods yard of therailway station.[18] Every day, a train of three or moreMilk Tank Wagons would be filled from lorries, and then taken to London by either theGreat Western Railway or theSouthern Railway.Express Dairies sold the creamery and a similar unit inKirkcudbright,Scotland in July 2002 toMilk Link, which both by that time producedUHT milk. Milk Link merged withArla Foods in 2012 but in 2013 the newly merged company sold its Crediton operations in a management buyout. The new company,Crediton Dairy Limited, began trading in April 2013.
Today, the town has two industrial parks at Lords Meadow and Fordton, a dairy and a small collection of units at Westward Business Park.[19] It is the centre for shopping and business for the surrounding area, and has industries such as graphics and pharmaceuticals.[20]
Bristow's of Devon, founded in 1932 was one of the town's main employers but was closed in 2011 after ownerNew McCowan's went into administration. The factory, on Lords Meadow Industrial Estate, was reopened by Crediton Confectionery which has taken over the Bristow's brand.[21][22]
In 2001 the Crediton area was given priority status with regard to the government's Market and Coastal Towns Initiative, following the outbreak offoot-and-mouth disease. By 2006, of 45 projects in the plan, 18 had been completed, resolved, or begun.[23]
Crediton has a Football Club, (aCrediton United A.F.C.), (affiliated to the FA) which fields both Men's and Women's teams in Senior and Junior competition in local leagues.
Crediton has a Rugby Club (affiliated to the RFU) which has three senior teams, one colts team and a strong girls and Junior section.
Crediton has a running club Crediton Running Network which meets at the Lords Meadow Leisure Centre
Local TV coverage is provided byBBC South West andITV West Country. Television signals are received from theStockland Hill and the local relay transmitters.[24][25]
Local radio stations areBBC Radio Devon,Heart West,Greatest Hits Radio South West,East Devon Radio andRadio Exe.
The town is served by the local newspaper, Crediton Courier which publishes on Fridays.[26]
Crediton railway station was designed byIsambard Kingdom Brunel, was opened by theExeter and Crediton Railway on 12 May 1851 and lies on Station Approach and Exeter Road. The line toBarnstaple was then opened by theNorth Devon Railway on 1 August 1854. After 1 November 1865 additionalLondon and South Western Railway trains ran through the station going towards Okehampton.[27] It is currently the junction of theTarka andDartmoor lines, though the two lines run parallel until Coleford Junction. Crediton is served by all trains on the Barnstaple to Exeter and Okehampton to Exeter services. They connect with main line services atExeter St Davids.[28]
TheExeter to Plymouth railway of the LSWR has been reopened to connectOkehampton via Crediton andExeter with the rest of the UK railway system. There are proposals to reopen the line from Tavistock to Bere Alston for a through service to Plymouth.[29]
On the night of 4 February 2014, amid high winds and extremely rough seas, part of thesea wall at Dawlish was breached washing away around 40 metres (130 ft) of the wall and the ballast under the railway immediately behind. The line was closed.Network Rail began repair work[30] and the line reopened on 4 April 2014.[31] In the wake of widespread disruption caused by damage to the mainline track atDawlish by coastal storms in February 2014,Network Rail are considering reopening the Tavistock to Okehampton and Exeter section of the line as an alternative to the coastal route.[32]
The nearest airport is atExeter International.
Crediton lies around 14 miles (23 km) from theM5 motorway,Exeter toBristol and 12 miles (19 km) from theA30 andA38.
Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, founded byEdward VI and refounded byElizabeth I, is today a state-run academy, named forQueen Elizabeth I[33] which gets good GCSE and A level results.[34] There are twoprimary schools: Hayward's Primary School and Landscore Primary School. Nearby in the village of the same name is Sandford School and ten other partner primaries.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Crediton".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 7 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 391–392.
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