Chudleigh Road, Alphington showing St Edmund's and Alden's Farm houses
Photo by Rowena Jay. Copyright © Rowena Jay
St Michael's and All Angels Church, Alphington, among the Spring blossoms and other mature Churchyard trees
Photo by Rowena Jay. Copyright © Rowena Jay.
Historically important structures and trees in Alphington
By Rowena Jay
Alphington is so rich in history with many listed buildings that are of particular architectural and historical interest.
Some of the old village cottages
Gidley's Cottage in Ide Lane is presumed to be the oldest building in the village. Just a few of the other beautiful cottages are Pixie Cottage and Tozers Cottage, which stand by the Green. Tozers Cottage is another of the village's oldest thatched buildings. A terrace of small thatched and slate-roofed cottages gently curves its way just off Chapel Road. Caroline Place on the corner of Chudleigh Road and Ide Lane is a fine example of a terrace of three Georgian residences
The Church
St. Michael's and All Angles Church stands on a small hill and dominates the village. It dates back to the late 1400s and is situated on the site of a former Norman place of worship.
Some walls and trees
There is a fine example of a garden cobb wall in Clapperbrook Lane. As the clay in Devon is particularly suitable for building cobb walls many of the old cottage walls are also cobb built. Many mature trees still stand in the village and particularly important specimens can be found in the Churchyard and the grounds of The Lodge.
Farms
Alphington village was once home to many farms, nurseries that grew fruit bushes and trees and we must not forget the extensive cider apple orchards. Much of the productive land and farm houses did not survive the development that has taken place in the village since the 1960s. Fortunately, some old buildings do remain including St. Edmund's and Alden's Farm houses in Chudleigh Road.
Back in time
Going further back in time there is evidence of a Saxon Settlement and also a Roman road that is now part of the Chudleigh Road. This Roman Road ran between Exeter and Kingsteignton.
To read much more about the delightful Conservation Area of Alphington with lots of photographs and maps refer to the Alphington Area Appraisal and Management Plan scroll down the page and click on "Alphington Area Appraisal and Management Plan September 2005", which Exeter City Council have kindly granted us permission to link to. If you enjoy this document there is also a separate one for the Ide Lane and Midway Terrace area, located in the list just above the main Alphington one.
To read these documents you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader, if you do not have this program installed on your computer it can be downloaded free from Adobe. If you need any help with downloading/installing Acrobat Reader just drop me a comment with your questions and I will be pleased to help.