131-565: Ottery St Mary , known as "Ottery", is a town and civil parish in the East Devon district of Devon , England, on the River Otter , about 10 miles (16 km) east of Exeter on the B3174. At the 2001 census, the parish, which includes the villages of Metcombe, Fairmile , Alfington , Tipton St John , Wiggaton, and (until 2017) West Hill , had a population of 7,692. The population of
262-522: A London borough . (Since the new county was beforehand a mixture of metropolitan boroughs , municipal boroughs and urban districts, no extant parish councils were abolished.) In 1974, the Local Government Act 1972 retained rural parishes, but abolished most urban parishes, as well as the urban districts and boroughs which had administered them. Provision was made for smaller urban districts and boroughs to become successor parishes , with
393-515: A Special Expense, to residents of the unparished area to fund those activities. If the district council does not opt to make a Special Expenses charge, there is an element of double taxation of residents of parished areas, because services provided to residents of the unparished area are funded by council tax paid by residents of the whole district, rather than only by residents of the unparished area. Parish councils comprise volunteer councillors who are elected to serve for four years. Decisions of
524-576: A boundary coterminous with an existing urban district or borough or, if divided by a new district boundary, as much as was comprised in a single district. There were 300 such successor parishes established. In urban areas that were considered too large to be single parishes, the parishes were simply abolished, and they became unparished areas . The distinction between types of parish was no longer made; whether parishes continued by virtue of being retained rural parishes or were created as successor parishes, they were all simply termed parishes. The 1972 act allowed
655-477: A city council (though most cities are not parishes but principal areas, or in England specifically metropolitan boroughs or non-metropolitan districts ). The chairman of a town council will have the title "town mayor" and that of a parish council which is a city will usually have the title of mayor . When a city or town has been abolished as a borough, and it is considered desirable to maintain continuity of
786-462: A city council. According to the Department for Communities and Local Government , in England in 2011 there were 9,946 parishes. Since 1997 around 100 new civil parishes have been created, in some cases by splitting existing civil parishes, but mostly by creating new ones from unparished areas. Parish or town councils have very few statutory duties (things they are required to do by law) but have
917-559: A city was Hereford , whose city council was merged in 1998 to form a unitary Herefordshire . The area of the city of Hereford remained unparished until 2000 when a parish council was created for the city. As another example, the charter trustees for the City of Bath make up the majority of the councillors on Bath and North East Somerset Council. Civil parishes cover 35% of England's population, with one in Greater London and few in
1048-440: A civil parish is usually an elected parish council (which can decide to call itself a town, village, community or neighbourhood council, or a city council if the parish has city status). Alternatively, in parishes with small populations (typically fewer than 150 electors) governance may be by a parish meeting which all electors may attend; alternatively, parishes with small populations may be grouped with one or more neighbours under
1179-481: A civil parish which has no parish council, the parish meeting may levy a council tax precept for expenditure relating to specific functions, powers and rights which have been conferred on it by legislation. In places where there is no civil parish ( unparished areas ), the administration of the activities normally undertaken by the parish becomes the responsibility of the district or borough council. The district council may make an additional council tax charge, known as
1310-586: A common parish council. Wales was also divided into civil parishes until 1974, when they were replaced by communities , which are similar to English parishes in the way they operate. Civil parishes in Scotland were abolished for local government purposes by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929 ; the Scottish equivalent of English civil parishes are the community council areas established by
1441-529: A convention in the house's dining room, and Thomas Fairfax stayed at the house from October to December in that year. The building served as the headmaster's lodging for the King's School. Samuel Taylor Coleridge grew up here after his father, Rev. John Coleridge, moved there after being appointed headmaster and vicar of St Mary's Church in 1769. The property remained in the Coleridge family until 2006, when it
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#17327752866701572-495: A housing development at Island Farm, uncovered a medieval longhouse dating to AD.1250–1350. Ottery's notable buildings include the Tumbling Weir and St Mary's church. The town is the site of The King's School , formerly a grammar school but now a comprehensive school, founded in 1545 by Henry VIII , and of Ottery St Mary Primary School. The Old Town Hall now accommodates the local heritage museum. The Chanter's House
1703-456: A local bishop decided to build a church in Otteri (Ottery St. Mary), and commissioned a set of bells to come from Wales , and to be escorted by monks on their journey. On hearing of this, the pixies were worried, as they knew that once the bells were installed it would be the death knell of their rule over the land. So they cast a spell over the monks to redirect them from the road to Otteri to
1834-500: A lodge and a coach house." A news item states that the library includes "diaries, notes and collections of poems, including The Rime of the Ancient Mariner " by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. The parish church of St Mary's has been referred to as "a miniature Exeter Cathedral ". Like the cathedral it is cruciform in plan, with transepts formed by towers. Nikolaus Pevsner described the building as "lying large and low like
1965-529: A new code. In either case the code must comply with the Nolan Principles of Public Life . A parish can be granted city status by the Crown . As of 2020 , eight parishes in England have city status, each having a long-established Anglican cathedral: Chichester , Ely , Hereford , Lichfield , Ripon , Salisbury , Truro and Wells . The council of an ungrouped parish may pass a resolution giving
2096-431: A new smaller manor, there was a means of making a chapel which, if generating or endowed with enough funds, would generally justify foundation of a parish, with its own parish priest (and in latter centuries vestry ). This consistency was a result of canon law which prized the status quo in issues between local churches and so made boundary changes and sub-division difficult. The consistency of these boundaries until
2227-412: A number of changes, including the decision to adopt a three-storey facade with a triforium more typical of cathedrals than the previous two-storey design. 3-D scanning of the vaults has also revealed numerous changes to the curvatures of the ribs. Notable features of the interior include the misericords, the minstrels' gallery, the astronomical clock and the organ. Notable architectural features of
2358-713: A parish (a "detached part") was in a different county . In other cases, counties surrounded a whole parish meaning it was in an unconnected, "alien" county. These anomalies resulted in a highly localised difference in applicable representatives on the national level , justices of the peace , sheriffs, bailiffs with inconvenience to the inhabitants. If a parish was split then churchwardens, highway wardens and constables would also spend more time or money travelling large distances. Some parishes straddled two or more counties, such as Todmorden in Lancashire and Yorkshire. Exeter Cathedral Exeter Cathedral , properly known as
2489-416: A parish council, and instead will only have a parish meeting : an example of direct democracy . Alternatively several small parishes can be grouped together and share a common parish council, or even a common parish meeting. A parish council may decide to call itself a town council, village council, community council, neighbourhood council, or if the parish has city status, the parish council may call itself
2620-503: A population of between 100 and 300 could request their county council to establish a parish council. Provision was also made for a grouped parish council to be established covering two or more rural parishes. In such groups, each parish retained its own parish meeting which could vote to leave the group, but otherwise the grouped parish council acted across the combined area of the parishes included. Urban civil parishes were not given their own parish councils, but were directly administered by
2751-1079: A range of discretionary powers which they may exercise voluntarily. These powers have been defined by various pieces of legislation. The role they play can vary significantly depending on the size, resources and ability of the council, but their activities can include any of the following: Parish councils have powers to provide and manage various local facilities; these can include allotments , cemeteries, parks, playgrounds, playing fields and village greens , village halls or community centres , bus shelters, street lighting, roadside verges, car parks, footpaths, litter bins and war memorials. Larger parish councils may also be involved in running markets , public toilets and public clocks, museums and leisure centres . Parish councils may spend money on various things they deem to be beneficial to their communities, such as providing grants to local community groups or local projects, or fund things such as public events, crime prevention measures, community transport schemes, traffic calming or tourism promotion. Parish councils have
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#17327752866702882-537: A relatively minor role in local government. As of September 2023 , there are 10,464 parishes in England, and in 2020 they covered approximately 40% of the English population. For historical reasons, civil parishes predominantly cover rural areas and smaller urban areas, with most larger urban areas being wholly or partly unparished ; but since 1997 it has been possible for civil parishes to be created within unparished areas if demanded by local residents . In 2007
3013-409: A role in the planning system; they have a statutory right to be consulted on any planning applications in their areas. They may also produce a neighbourhood plan to influence local development. The Localism Act 2011 allowed eligible parish councils to be granted a " general power of competence " which allows them within certain limits the freedom to do anything an individual can do provided it
3144-598: A set number of guardians for each parish, hence a final purpose of urban civil parishes. With the abolition of the Poor Law system in 1930, urban parishes became a geographical division only with no administrative power; that was exercised at the urban district or borough council level. In 1965 civil parishes in London were formally abolished when Greater London was created, as the legislative framework for Greater London did not make provision for any local government body below
3275-943: A small village or town ward to a large tract of mostly uninhabited moorland in the Cheviots, Pennines or Dartmoor. The two largest as at December 2023 are Stanhope (County Durham) at 98.6 square miles (255 km ), and Dartmoor Forest (Devon) at 79.07 square miles (204.8 km ). The two smallest are parcels of shared rural land: Lands Common to Axminster and Kilmington (Devon) at 0.012 square miles (0.031 km ; 3.1 ha; 7.7 acres), and Lands Common to Brancepeth and Brandon and Byshottles (County Durham) at 0.0165 square miles (0.043 km ; 4.3 ha; 10.6 acres). The next two smallest are parishes in built up areas: Chester Castle (Cheshire) at 0.0168 square miles (0.044 km ; 4.4 ha; 10.8 acres) (no recorded population) and Hamilton Lea (Leicestershire) at 0.07 square miles (0.18 km ; 18 ha; 45 acres) (1,021 residents at
3406-521: A spur to the creation of new parishes in some larger towns which were previously unparished, in order to retain a local tier of government; examples include Shrewsbury (2009), Salisbury (2009), Crewe (2013) and Weymouth (2019). In 2003 seven new parish councils were set up for Burton upon Trent , and in 2001 the Milton Keynes urban area became entirely parished, with ten new parishes being created. Parishes can also be abolished where there
3537-533: A stonemason repairing the statues at the cathedral. She stated that there was no use repairing their noses, since "within a few days shall all lose their heads". There is a memorial to her and another Protestant martyr, Thomas Benet , in the Livery Dole area of Exeter. The memorial was designed by Harry Hems and raised by public subscription in 1909. The tube web spider Segestria florentina , notable for its iridescent shiny green fangs, can be found within
3668-493: A suitable muniment room. In 1820 the library was moved from the Lady Chapel to the chapter house. In the later 19th century two large collections were received by the cathedral, and it was necessary to construct a new building to accommodate the whole library. The collections of Edward Charles Harington and Frederic Charles Cook were together more than twice the size of the existing library, and John Loughborough Pearson
3799-527: A tired beast". It is 163 feet (50 m) long, and the towers are 71 feet (22 m) high. It was consecrated in 1260, at which time the manor and patronage of the church belonged to Rouen Cathedral , as it had from before the Norman invasion . Pevsner assumed that the tower-transepts and the outer walls of the chancel date back to 1260, and that the towers were built in imitation of those at Exeter. In 1335 John Grandisson , (1327–69), Bishop of Exeter, bought
3930-473: A tradition dating from the 17th century, barrels soaked in tar are set alight, and carried aloft through parts of the town by residents. The festivities begin in the early evening with children's, youths' and women's events, culminating in the men's event when a total of 17 barrels are lit outside each of the four public houses in the town. (Originally there were 12 public houses in the town). The barrels, increasing in size up to 30 kg, are carried through
4061-544: A wide range of shopping for local residents and visitors from nearby villages and towns. The name Ottery is first attested in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as 'Otri' and 'Otrei'. 'Oteri Sancte Marie' is first mentioned in 1242. The town takes its name from the River Otter (named after the animal ) on which it stands. The town belonged to the church of St Mary in Rouen in 1086, hence 'St Mary'. Within
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4192-547: Is a Grade II listed building . The Listing summary states: "Dates from the days of the College but little trace of antiquity remains, mainly enclosed by large brick outer additions by Butterfield including a 3rd storey, extending also above the C18 ... The C17 centre is the former Heath's Court ..." It dates from the 17th century, incorporating parts of the former Precentor's house, known as Heath's Court. In 1645, Oliver Cromwell held
4323-507: Is at present the only part of England where civil parishes cannot be created. If enough electors in the area of a proposed new parish (ranging from 50% in an area with less than 500 electors to 10% in one with more than 2,500) sign a petition demanding its creation, then the local district council or unitary authority must consider the proposal. Since the beginning of the 21st century, numerous parish councils have been created, including some relatively large urban ones. The main driver has been
4454-539: Is evidence that this is in response to "justified, clear and sustained local support" from the area's inhabitants. Examples are Birtley , which was abolished in 2006, and Southsea , abolished in 2010. Every civil parish has a parish meeting, which all the electors of the parish are entitled to attend. Generally a meeting is held once a year. A civil parish may have a parish council which exercises various local responsibilities prescribed by statute. Parishes with fewer than 200 electors are usually deemed too small to have
4585-405: Is not prohibited by other legislation, as opposed to being limited to the powers explicitly granted to them by law. To be eligible for this, a parish council must meet certain conditions such as having a clerk with suitable qualifications. Parish councils receive funding by levying a " precept " on the council tax paid by the residents of the parish (or parishes) served by the parish council. In
4716-449: Is now only chimed. The South Tower contains the second heaviest peal of 12 bells hung for change ringing in the world, with a tenor weighing 72 long cwt 2 qr 2 lb (8,122 lb or 3,684 kg). They are second only to Liverpool Cathedral in weight. There are also two semitone bells in addition to the peal of 12. As of 5 December 2020: A full listing of monuments and transcription of inscriptions in
4847-504: The 'Standards Board regime' with local monitoring by district, unitary or equivalent authorities. Under new regulations which came into effect in 2012 all parish councils in England are required to adopt a code of conduct with which parish councillors must comply, and to promote and maintain high standards. A new criminal offence of failing to comply with statutory requirements was introduced. More than one 'model code' has been published, and councils are free to modify an existing code or adopt
4978-576: The Bodleian Library at Oxford. In 1657 under the Commonwealth the cathedral was deprived of several of its ancillary buildings, including the reading room of 1412–13. Some books were lost but a large part of them were saved due to the efforts of Dr Robert Vilvaine, who had them transferred to St John's Hospital. At a later date he provided funds to convert the Lady chapel into a library, and
5109-676: The Cathedral Church of Saint Peter in Exeter , is an Anglican cathedral , and the seat of the Bishop of Exeter , in the city of Exeter , Devon , in South West England . The present building was complete by about 1400 and has several notable features, including an early set of misericords , an astronomical clock and the longest uninterrupted medieval stone vaulted ceiling in the world. The site where Exeter Cathedral
5240-484: The Devon Record Office . This is a Grade I listed building , one of 107 Listed sites in the area. The summary provides this information: "Consecrated by Bishop Bronescombe in 1260. Altered and added to by Bishop Grandison circa 1330. Mainly Early English ... 2 towers above transepts .... The interior was restored drastically mid C19 by Butterfield and others". The work in the 1300s included "rebuilding of
5371-585: The Dissolution of the Monasteries , but not as much as it would have done had it been a monastic foundation. Further damage was done during the Civil War , when the cloisters were destroyed. Following the restoration of Charles II , a new pipe organ was built in the cathedral by John Loosemore . Charles II's sister Henrietta Anne of England was baptised here in 1644. In 1650 an independent church
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5502-724: The Fire Service describing the situation in the Ottery St Mary area as "absolute chaos". The storm led to serious flooding in the town, caused mainly by storm drains becoming clogged with hailstones. Roads became blocked and the Coastguard service was required to airlift some people to safety. The flooding also caused problems on the Millennium Green , where the annual bonfire and fairground were being constructed in preparation for 5 November celebrations. One of
5633-761: The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 , which have fewer powers than their English and Welsh counterparts. There are no equivalent units in Northern Ireland . The parish system in Europe was established between the 8th and 12th centuries, and an early form was long established in England by the time of the Norman Conquest . These areas were originally based on the territory of manors , which, in some cases, derived their bounds from Roman or Iron Age estates; some large manors were sub-divided into several parishes. Initially, churches and their priests were
5764-1010: The Local Government Act 1894 ( 56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) to become the smallest geographical area for local government in rural areas. The act abolished the civil (non-ecclesiastical) duties of vestries . Parishes which straddled county boundaries or sanitary districts had to be split so that the part in each urban or rural sanitary district became a separate parish (see List of county exclaves in England and Wales 1844–1974 ). The sanitary districts were then reconstituted as urban districts and rural districts , with parishes that fell within urban districts classed as urban parishes, and parishes that fell within rural districts were classed as rural parishes. The 1894 act established elected civil parish councils as to all rural parishes with more than 300 electors, and established annual parish meetings in all rural parishes. Civil parishes were grouped to form either rural or urban districts which are thereafter classified as either type. The parish meetings for parishes with
5895-660: The Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital (1,300 volumes, 1965). The most decorated manuscript in the library is a psalter (MS 3508) probably written for the Church of St Helen at Worcester in the early 13th century. The earliest printed book now in the library is represented by only a single leaf: this is Cicero 's De officiis ( Mainz : Fust and Schoeffer , 1465–66). Both of the cathedral's towers contain bells. The North Tower contains an 80- hundredweight (4.1-tonne) bourdon bell, called Peter. Peter used to swing but it
6026-480: The Second World War , Exeter was one of the targets of a German air offensive against British cities of cultural and historical importance, which became known as the " Baedeker Blitz ". On 4 May 1942 an early-morning air raid took place over Exeter . The cathedral sustained a direct hit by a large high-explosive bomb on the chapel of St James, completely demolishing it. The muniment room above, three bays of
6157-438: The ancient system of parishes , which for centuries were the principal unit of secular and religious administration in most of England and Wales. Civil and religious parishes were formally split into two types in the 19th century and are now entirely separate. Civil parishes in their modern form came into being through the Local Government Act 1894 ( 56 & 57 Vict. c. 73), which established elected parish councils to take on
6288-483: The arms of Bishop John de Grandisson. The church interior also has two medieval carved stone green men . There is a small stone plaque commemorating the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who was born here on 21 October 1772, in the south churchyard wall. Other interesting features include the tombs of Otho de Grandisson and his wife, the altar screen , sedilia , and a wooden eagle given by Bishop Grandisson. Ottery St Mary parish registers, which begin in 1601, are held in
6419-472: The break with Rome , parishes managed ecclesiastical matters, while the manor was the principal unit of local administration and justice. Later, the church replaced the manor court as the rural administrative centre, and levied a local tax on produce known as a tithe . In the medieval period, responsibilities such as relief of the poor passed increasingly from the lord of the manor to the parish's rector , who in practice would delegate tasks among his vestry or
6550-470: The (often well-endowed) monasteries. After the dissolution of the monasteries , the power to levy a rate to fund relief of the poor was conferred on the parish authorities by the Poor Relief Act 1601 . Both before and after this optional social change, local (vestry-administered) charities are well-documented. The parish authorities were known as vestries and consisted of all the ratepayers of
6681-564: The 19th century is useful to historians, and is also of cultural significance in terms of shaping local identities; reinforced by the use of grouped parish boundaries, often, by successive local authority areas; and in a very rough, operations-geared way by most postcode districts. There was (and is) wide disparity in parish size. Writtle , Essex traditionally measures 13,568 acres (21 sq mi) – two parishes neighbouring are Shellow Bowells at 469 acres (0.7 sq mi), and Chignall Smealy at 476 acres (0.7 sq mi) Until
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#17327752866706812-591: The 2011 census, Newland with Woodhouse Moor and Beaumont Chase reported inhabitants, and there were no new deserted parishes recorded. Nearly all instances of detached parts of civil parishes (areas not contiguous with the main part of the parish) and of those straddling counties have been ended. 14 examples remain in England as at 2022, including Barnby Moor and Wallingwells , both in Nottinghamshire. Direct predecessors of civil parishes are most often known as "ancient parishes", although many date only from
6943-511: The 2021 census). The 2001 census recorded several parishes with no inhabitants. These were Chester Castle (in the middle of Chester city centre), Newland with Woodhouse Moor , Beaumont Chase , Martinsthorpe , Meering , Stanground North (subsequently abolished), Sturston , Tottington , and Tyneham (subsequently merged). The lands of the last three were taken over by the Armed Forces during World War II and remain deserted. In
7074-491: The Confessor ) and other precious documents from the library had been removed in anticipation of such an attack. The precious effigy of Walter Branscombe had been protected by sand bags. In July 2023, The Methodist Recorder reported that the cathedral chapter signed a sharing agreement between it and Mint Methodist Exeter for shared use of the Lady Chapel. The Norman cathedral construction began in 1112, presumably at
7205-466: The Dorset Aisle, designed and commissioned by Cecily Bonville, 7th Baroness Harington , whose first husband was Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset . The building was restored in 1850 by architect William Butterfield . His alterations included lowering the floor level of the transepts, crossing and western part of the chancel to that of the nave, and making the east end, designed for the needs of
7336-624: The King's School and the Move Forward Gym is located in Finnimore Trading Estate. From 1968 to 1974, Ottery had a folk club that met regularly every week in the town's London Inn with singers such as Cyril Tawney and other local artists appearing, as well a number of local singers. The club was listed in the EFDSS list of local rural folk clubs. Until 1967 the town was served by Ottery St Mary railway station , which
7467-450: The UK. They have supporters. The minstrels' gallery in the nave dates to around 1360 and is unique in English cathedrals. Its front is decorated with 12 carved and painted angels playing medieval musical instruments, including the cittern , bagpipe , hautboy , crwth , harp , trumpet , organ , guitar , tambourine and cymbals , with two others which are uncertain. Since the above list
7598-638: The Vicar of Ottery St Mary. This legend is re-enacted each year by the Cub and Brownie groups of Ottery St Mary, with a specially constructed Pixie's Parlour in the Town Square (the original Pixie's Parlour can be found along the banks of the River Otter). An inhabitant of Ottery St Mary is known as an "Ottregian". One Sunday afternoon in 1898 six young men from Ottery, who were then living in London, met on
7729-536: The Western Sky, / The warm red earth below. // O! Ottery dear! O! Ottery fair! My heart goes out to thee, Thou art my home, wher'er I roam, The West! The West for me! Within St Mary's Church, a colourful effigy of a soldier named John Coke can be found in a niche. He is said to have been murdered by a younger brother in 1632, and therefore tradition avers that his spirit steps down from the alcove and wanders about
7860-685: The administration of the poor laws was the main civil function of parishes, the Poor Law Amendment Act 1866 , which received royal assent on 10 August 1866, declared all areas that levied a separate rate or had their own overseer of the poor to be parishes. This included the Church of England parishes (until then simply known as "parishes"), extra-parochial areas , townships and chapelries . To have collected rates this means these beforehand had their own vestries, boards or equivalent bodies. Parishes using this definition subsequently became known as "civil parishes" to distinguish them from
7991-484: The aisle and two flying buttresses were also destroyed in the blast. The medieval wooden screen opposite the chapel was smashed into many pieces by the blast, but it has been reconstructed and restored. Many of the cathedral's most important artefacts, such as the ancient glass (including the great east window), the misericords, the bishop's throne, the Exeter Book, the ancient charters (of King Athelstan and Edward
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#17327752866708122-437: The area, was able to bank left and glide over the town's southern edge and make a wheels-up crash-landing in a field. The aircraft was put down at 19.53 hours, in daylight, near St Saviours' Bridge, in a small grassy valley studded with trees. The 27-year-old aircraft was written off in the crash. The only casualties were two sheep. The Air Accidents Investigation Branch concluded that the accident had been primarily caused by
8253-711: The books in his library The library began during the episcopate of Leofric (1050–1072) who presented the cathedral with 66 books, only one of which remains in the library: this is the Exeter Book (Exeter Cathedral Library MS 3501) of Anglo-Saxon poetry. 16 others have survived and are in the British Library , the Bodleian Library or Cambridge University Library . A 10th-century manuscript of Hrabanus Maurus 's De Computo and Isidore of Seville 's De Natura Rerum may have belonged to Leofric also but
8384-427: The books were brought back. By 1752 it is thought the collection had grown considerably to some 5,000 volumes, to a large extent by benefactions. In 1761 Charles Lyttelton , Dean of Exeter, describes it as having over 6,000 books and some good manuscripts. He describes the work which has been done to repair and list the contents of the manuscripts. At the same time the muniments and records had been cleaned and moved to
8515-855: The cathedral is contained in: Hewett, John William , Remarks on the Monumental Brasses and Certain Decorative Remains in the Cathedral Church of St Peter, Exeter, to which is Appended a Complete Monumentarium , published in Transactions of the Exeter Diocesan Architectural Society , Volume 3, Exeter, 1846–1849, pp. 90–138 [1] Persons buried within the cathedral include the following: One 19th-century author claimed that an 11th-century missal asserted that King Æthelstan ,
8646-557: The cathedral's books made in 1506 shows that the library furnished some 90 years earlier had 11 desks for books and records over 530 titles, of which more than a third are service books. In 1566 the Dean and Chapter presented to Matthew Parker , Archbishop of Canterbury , a manuscript of the Anglo-Saxon Gospels which had been given by Leofric; in 1602, 81 manuscripts from the library were presented to Sir Thomas Bodley for
8777-425: The charity schools formerly stood. At first some people believed that the fire had been started by children playing with matches, but subsequent investigation has now proved this to be incorrect. It appears that the fire was started by a woman burning rubbish and papers in her cottage fireplace on Thursday. The fire smouldered and eventually burned through the wall to the school next door. It was eventually discovered at
8908-399: The charter, the charter may be transferred to a parish council for its area. Where there is no such parish council, the district council may appoint charter trustees to whom the charter and the arms of the former borough will belong. The charter trustees (who consist of the councillor or councillors for the area of the former borough) maintain traditions such as mayoralty . An example of such
9039-682: The church interior. A season 3 episode of the BBC radio comedy series Cabin Pressure features Ottery St Mary. On 25 May 1866 a great fire occurred in Ottery. A newspaper report from the Exeter and Plymouth Gazette dated Friday, 1 June 1866, is summarized by historian J. Harris as follows: The fire started about noon and the raged through the homes and shops of about a quarter of the town, reducing everything to ashes. The fire started on Jesu Street where
9170-461: The church of Ottery plays the Old Ottery song after the peal of the church bells . Tradition has it that the funerals of Old Ottregians always take place at 12.00 noon, with the funeral service commencing immediately following the playing of the Old Ottery song: The words are as follows ('kine' are cattle): Sweet-breathing kine, / The old grey Church, / The curfew tolling slow, / The glory of
9301-457: The church was complete to the first two bays of the nave, where a design change in the vaults is visible. During Master Thomas of Witney's time the east cloister walk was begun (1318–25) and the nave, west front and north cloister walk were probably completed (c.1328–42). That the present west front is on the same site as the Norman predecessor is indicated by the narrowing of the nave bays towards
9432-554: The collegiate foundation, more suitable for parochial use. The church houses the Ottery St Mary Astronomical Clock , one of the oldest surviving mechanical clocks in the country. It is generally attributed to Bishop Grandisson and follows Ptolemaic cosmology placing the Earth at the centre of the solar system. The church has ten misericords dating from the building of the church in 1350, five showing
9563-537: The council are carried out by a paid officer, typically known as a parish clerk. Councils may employ additional people (including bodies corporate, provided where necessary, by tender) to carry out specific tasks dictated by the council. Some councils have chosen to pay their elected members an allowance, as permitted under part 5 of the Local Authorities (Members' Allowances) (England) Regulations 2003. The number of councillors varies roughly in proportion to
9694-464: The council of the urban district or borough in which they were contained. Many urban parishes were coterminous (geographically identical) with the urban district or municipal borough in which they lay. Towns which included multiple urban parishes often consolidated the urban parishes into one. The urban parishes continued to be used as an electoral area for electing guardians to the poor law unions . The unions took in areas in multiple parishes and had
9825-466: The council will an election be held. However, sometimes there are fewer candidates than seats. When this happens, the vacant seats have to be filled by co-option by the council. If a vacancy arises for a seat mid-term, an election is only held if a certain number (usually ten) of parish residents request an election. Otherwise the council will co-opt someone to be the replacement councillor. The Localism Act 2011 introduced new arrangements which replaced
9956-480: The country (the others are in Liverpool Cathedral and London's St Paul's Cathedral ), housed in the minstrels' gallery , along with a chorus of diapason pipes . In January 2013 an extensive refurbishment began on the organ, undertaken by Harrison & Harrison. The work consisted of an overhaul and a re-design of the internal layout of the soundboards and ranks of the organ pipes. In October 2014
10087-459: The creation of town and parish councils is encouraged in unparished areas . The Local Government and Rating Act 1997 created a procedure which gave residents in unparished areas the right to demand that a new parish and parish council be created. This right was extended to London boroughs by the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 – with this, the City of London
10218-420: The crew's mistaken belief that there was sufficient fuel on board to complete the flight. The aircraft's unreliable fuel gauges, the company's pilots' method of establishing total fuel quantity, and the imprecise company instructions regarding the use of dipsticks were also considered to be major contributory factors. Meter indications on the refuelling vehicle at Santander, which could not have accurately reflected
10349-463: The desire to have a more local tier of government when new larger authorities have been created, which are felt to be remote from local concerns and identity. A number of parishes have been created in places which used to have their own borough or district council; examples include Daventry (2003), Folkestone (2004), Kidderminster (2015) and Sutton Coldfield (2016). The trend towards the creation of geographically large unitary authorities has been
10480-594: The earliest record of it is in an inventory of 1327. The inventory was compiled by the Sub-Dean, William de Braileghe, and 230 titles were listed. Service books were not included and a note at the end mentions many other books in French, English and Latin which were then considered worthless. In 1412–13 a new lectrinum was fitted out for the books by two carpenters working for 40 weeks. Those books in need of repair were repaired and some were fitted with chains. A catalogue of
10611-428: The east end and was consecrated in 1133, by which date the choir, transept and first two bays of the nave were probably complete. As detailed above, remains of the Norman building can be seen in the massive transept towers . By 1160 the nave and west front were complete, and a cloister and chapter house were added between 1180 and 1244. During the 1270s, a new project began to replace the entire east end, starting with
10742-463: The east end chapels. This work is documented by a very extensive series of fabric rolls. Work advanced slowly, with the retrochoir, presbytery and choir being built in the 1290s. The original choir elevation had two storeys, but was later modified to three, presumably after the arrival of Master Roger in 1297. Master Thomas of Witney was engaged in 1316 to design the choir furnishings, then became master mason and stayed at Exeter until 1342. By 1328
10873-439: The ecclesiastical parishes. The Church of England parishes, which cover more than 99% of England, have become officially (and to avoid ambiguity) termed ecclesiastical parishes . The limits of many of these have diverged; most greatly through changes in population and church attendance (these factors can cause churches to be opened or closed). Since 1921, each has been the responsibility of its own parochial church council . In
11004-534: The established English Church, which for a few years after Henry VIII alternated between the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England , before settling on the latter on the accession of Elizabeth I in 1558. By the 18th century, religious membership was becoming more fractured in some places, due in part to the progress of Methodism . The legitimacy of the parish vestry came into question, and
11135-645: The gift and continued patronage (benefaction) of the lord of the manor , but not all were willing and able to provide, so residents would be expected to attend the church of the nearest manor with a church. Later, the churches and priests became to a greater extent the responsibility of the Catholic Church thus this was formalised; the grouping of manors into one parish was recorded, as was a manor-parish existing in its own right. Boundaries changed little, and for centuries after 1180 'froze', despite changes to manors' extents. However, by subinfeudation , making
11266-455: The government at the time of the Local Government Act 1972 discouraged their creation for large towns or their suburbs, but there is generally nothing to stop their establishment. For example, Birmingham has two parishes ( New Frankley and Sutton Coldfield ), Oxford has four, and the Milton Keynes urban area has 24. Parishes could not however be established in London until the law was changed in 2007. A civil parish can range in area from
11397-407: The great East Window (1390–92). The architecture of Exeter Cathedral at first appears remarkably harmonious with the continuous run of tierceron vaults extending from west to east. Although the bays are irregular in size, the plan is throughout based on a division into ninths. There is also a wonderful array of tracery designs in the clerestorey windows. More detailed analysis nevertheless reveals
11528-448: The interior include the multiribbed ceiling and the compound piers in the nave arcade. The 18-metre-high (59 ft) bishop's throne in the choir was made from Devon oak between 1312 and 1316; the nearby choir stalls were made by George Gilbert Scott in the 1870s. The Great East Window contains much 14th-century glass, and there are over 400 ceiling bosses, one of which depicts the murder of Thomas Becket . The bosses can be seen at
11659-476: The late 19th century, most of the "ancient" (a legal term equivalent to time immemorial ) irregularities inherited by the civil parish system were cleaned up, and the majority of exclaves were abolished. The census of 1911 noted that 8,322 (58%) of "parishes" in England and Wales were not geographically identical when comparing the civil to the ecclesiastical form. In 1894, civil parishes were reformed by
11790-452: The manor and advowson from Rouen, and two years later converted the church into a collegiate foundation with forty members. He rebuilt much of the church, and the present nave, chancel, aisles and Lady chapel date from this time. The nave is of five bays, and the chancel, unusually long in proportion, is of six, with vestry chapels to the north and south. The church is noted for its painted ceiling and early 16th-century fan vaulted aisle,
11921-465: The mid 19th century. Using a longer historical lens the better terms are "pre-separation (civil and ecclesiastical) parish", "original medieval parishes" and "new parishes". The Victoria County History , a landmark collaborative work mostly written in the 20th century (although incomplete), summarises the history of each English "parish", roughly meaning late medieval parish. A minority of these had exclaves , which could be: In some cases an exclave of
12052-528: The moon and its phase (using a rotating black shield to indicate the moon's phase). The upper dial, added in 1760, shows the minutes. The Latin phrase Pereunt et imputantur , a favourite motto for clocks and sundials , was written by the Latin poet Martial . It is usually translated as "they perish and are reckoned to our account", referring to the hours that we spend, wisely or not. The original clockwork mechanism, much modified, repaired, and neglected until it
12183-511: The nave, and addition of the Lady Chapel at the east end and two chantry chapels either side of the chancel" according to a reliable source. Other renovations were completed circa 1520: "principally expansion of the north nave aisle, complete with elaborate, fan-vaulted ceiling and pendant bosses". The town's primary schools are West Hill Primary School which was established in 1876 and now has around 210 pupils, and Ottery St Mary Primary School with around 356 pupils. The King's School , located on
12314-465: The new district councils (outside London) to review their parishes, and many areas left unparished in 1972 have since been made parishes, either in whole or part. For example, Hinckley , whilst entirely unparished in 1974, now has four civil parishes, which together cover part of its area, whilst the central part of the town remains unparished. Some parishes were sub-divided into smaller territories known as hamlets , tithings or townships . Nowadays
12445-488: The other conurbations. Civil parishes vary greatly in population: some have populations below 100 and have no settlement larger than a hamlet , while others cover towns with populations of tens of thousands. Weston-super-Mare , with a population of 71,758, is the most populous civil parish. In many cases small settlements, today popularly termed villages , localities or suburbs, are in a single parish which originally had one church. Large urban areas are mostly unparished, as
12576-757: The outer walls. The walls are made of calcareous stone, which decays from acidic pollution, to form cracks and crevices which the spider and other invertebrates inhabit. Exeter Cathedral Choir is composed of 38 Choristers (boys and girls) along with Choral Scholars and Lay Vicars. There is also a voluntary choir, the St Peter's singers, dating back to 1881. Recorded names of organists at Exeter go back to Matthew Godwin, 1586. Notable organists at Exeter Cathedral include Victorian composer Samuel Sebastian Wesley , grandson of Methodist founder and hymn-writer Charles Wesley , educator Ernest Bullock , and conductor Thomas Armstrong . The current Director of Music, Timothy Noon,
12707-522: The outskirts of the town, was established as a choir school by Bishop John Grandisson in 1335, but was replaced by a grammar school by Henry VIII in 1545. It became a comprehensive school in 1982 and is now a government-endowed Sports College with access to facilities shared by the public – namely the LED Sports Centre. The school has 1,100 students and 80 teachers. The town typically stages annual events around Guy Fawkes Night when, in
12838-581: The owners of the fairground said that the builders working there were "lucky to be alive". The clear-up operation was entirely successful, however, and both the carnival procession and the Tar Barrels and bonfire night celebrations went ahead as planned. In 2009, the Factory Barrel was sabotaged by a visitor who threw an aerosol can into the barrel. The can exploded in the heat and 12 spectators required treatment for burns. In an unrelated incident,
12969-609: The parish lies Chettisholt, noted as an one of the fairly small number of Common Brittonic place-names surviving in England. The first element of this name is the Brittonic word which survives in modern Welsh as coed ("wood"); the last is the Old English word holt , also meaning "wood", added to the name when its original meaning had been lost due to the dominant language of the area switching from Brittonic to Old English. Archaeological excavations in 2014, in advance of
13100-401: The parish the status of a town, at which point the council becomes a town council . Around 400 parish councils are called town councils. Under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 , a civil parish may be given one of the following alternative styles: As a result, a parish council can be called a town council, a community council, a village council or occasionally
13231-404: The parish. As the number of ratepayers of some parishes grew, it became increasingly difficult to convene meetings as an open vestry. In some, mostly built-up, areas the select vestry took over responsibility from the entire body of ratepayers. This innovation improved efficiency, but allowed governance by a self-perpetuating elite. The administration of the parish system relied on the monopoly of
13362-562: The parish; the church rate ceased to be levied in many parishes and became voluntary from 1868. During the 17th century it was found that the 1601 Poor Law did not work well for very large parishes, which were particularly common in northern England. Such parishes were typically subdivided into multiple townships , which levied their rates separately. The Poor Relief Act 1662 therefore directed that for poor law purposes 'parish' meant any place which maintained its own poor, thereby converting many townships into separate 'poor law parishes'. As
13493-505: The peak of the vaulted ceiling, joining the ribs together. Because there is no centre tower, Exeter Cathedral has the longest uninterrupted medieval vaulted ceiling in the world, at about 96 m (315 ft). The fifty misericords are the earliest complete set in the United Kingdom. They date from two periods: 1220–1230 and 1250–1260. Amongst other things, they depict the earliest known wooden representation of an elephant in
13624-499: The perceived inefficiency and corruption inherent in the system became a source for concern in some places. For this reason, during the early 19th century the parish progressively lost its powers to ad hoc boards and other organisations, such as the boards of guardians given responsibility for poor relief through the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 . Sanitary districts covered England in 1875 and Ireland three years later. The replacement boards were each entitled to levy their own rate in
13755-411: The population of the parish. Most rural parish councillors are elected to represent the entire parish, though in parishes with larger populations or those that cover larger areas, the parish can be divided into wards. Each of these wards then returns councillors to the parish council (the numbers depending on their population). Only if there are more candidates standing for election than there are seats on
13886-660: The previous century, had brought together a great collection of holy relics at Exeter Cathedral; sending out emissaries at great expense to the continent to acquire them. Amongst these items were said to be a little of "the bush in which the Lord spoke to Moses ", and a "bit of the candle which the angel of the Lord lit in Christ's tomb". According to the semi-legendary tale, the Protestant martyr Agnes Prest , during her brief time of liberty in Exeter before her execution in 1557, met
14017-411: The quantity of fuel delivered, were also considered to have been a probable contributory factor. The accident investigation report concluded, however, that the aircraft commander's handling of the emergency once the aircraft's four engines stopped had been skilful and assured. Had he not acted in the way he did, there could have been a considerable loss of life of both aircraft passengers and residents of
14148-476: The railway gates at places such as north of Cadhay Bridge. The closest railway station to Ottery St Mary is now at Feniton, approximately 3 miles away. Civil parishes in England In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government . It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to
14279-438: The right to create civil parishes was extended to London boroughs , although only one, Queen's Park , has so far been created. Eight parishes also have city status (a status granted by the monarch ). A civil parish may be equally known as and confirmed as a town, village, neighbourhood or community by resolution of its parish council, a right not conferred on other units of English local government. The governing body of
14410-570: The road leading them to the cliff's edge at Sidmouth . Just as the monks were about to fall over the cliff, one of the monks stubbed his toe on a rock and said "God bless my soul" and the spell was said to be broken. The bells were then brought to Otteri and installed. However, the pixies' spell was not completely broken; each year on a day in June the 'pixies' come out and capture the town's bell ringers and imprison them in Pixies' Parlour to be rescued by
14541-486: The roof of the old fire station burned down on the night of the 2009 tar barrels. In 2020, the tar barrel event was cancelled as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Pixie Day is an old tradition which takes place annually in June. The day commemorates a legend of pixies being banished from the town to local caves known as the 'Pixie's Parlour'. The Pixie Day legend originates from the early days of Christianity, when
14672-450: The secular functions of the parish vestry . A civil parish can range in size from a sparsely populated rural area with fewer than a hundred inhabitants, to a large town with a population in excess of 100,000 . This scope is similar to that of municipalities in continental Europe, such as the communes of France . However, unlike their continental European counterparts, parish councils are not principal authorities , and in most cases have
14803-518: The steps of St Paul's Cathedral , and resolved to form a Society to promote good fellowship among Ottery people wherever they may be. So was founded the Old Ottregians Society, which took as its motto Floreat Ottregia ("May Ottery Flourish"). The Old Ottregians society still exists (1997). Another tradition in Ottery that continues today is the daily playing of the Old Ottery song. At eight o'clock, midday and four o'clock each day,
14934-461: The time of Halloween . In recent years the event has been jeopardised by the need for increasing public liability insurance coverage. Nevertheless, the event continues and the town of 7,000 people increases to well over 10,000. During the event all roads in and out of Ottery are closed for safety reasons with diversions in place. On 30 October 2008 the annual event was threatened by a severe hailstorm, which hit East Devon shortly after midnight, with
15065-519: The top of the staircase in the schoolroom, near the cottage chimney around noon on Friday. It then spread very rapidly. Within hours one hundred houses had been destroyed, and 500 people rendered homeless – 10% of the population. A great part of the town extending westwards from the school to the silk factory in Mill Street was reduced to a heap of smouldering ruins. One evening in July 1980, a disaster
15196-399: The town centre, often packed with onlookers, in an exhilarating and risky spectacle. Only those born in the town, or who have lived there for most of their lives, may carry a barrel. Generations of the same family have been known to compete across the years and it is thought that the event may have originated as a means of warding off evil spirits, similar to other British fire festivals, around
15327-488: The town. One of the propellers from the aircraft was later donated by the airline to the town to be auctioned for charity. The town still lies under the flightpath for Exeter International Airport . There are several historic estates within the parish of Ottery, including: The Non-League football club, Ottery St Mary A.F.C. plays at Washbrook Meadows. The Colin Tooze Sports Centre is located opposite
15458-508: The urban area alone at the 2011 census was 4,898. There are two electoral wards in Ottery (Rural and Town). The total population of both wards, including the adjacent civil parish of Aylesbeare , at the 2011 census was 9,022. The town as it now stands has several independent shops, mainly in Mill Street, Silver Street and Yonder Street. An area known as 'The Square', is the heart of Ottery St Mary. There are pubs, restaurants, and coffee and tea rooms. Ottery provides services, employment, and
15589-401: The west of England. Others are at Wells , Ottery St Mary , and Wimborne Minster . The main, lower, dial is the oldest part of the clock, dating from 1484. The fleur-de-lys -tipped hand indicates the hour (and the position of the sun in the sky) on a 24-hour analogue dial . The numbering consists of two sets of Roman numerals I to XII. The silver ball and inner dial shows both the age of
15720-501: The west, squeezed to meet an existing feature. The image screen across the west facade and the chantry chapel of Bishop Grandisson located within the west front were probably designed by William Joy , who succeeded Witney as master mason in 1342 but seems to have died in 1347, possibly from the Black Death. From 1377 to 1414 the east, south and west cloister walks were finished by Master Robert Lesyngham, who probably also designed
15851-477: Was appointed in 2016. The Cathedral organ stands on the ornate medieval screen, preserving the old classical distinction between quire and nave . The first organ was built by John Loosemore in 1665. There was a radical rebuild by Henry Willis in 1891, and again by Harrison & Harrison in 1931. The largest pipes, the lower octave of the 32′ Contra Violone, stand just inside the south transept . The organ has one of only three trompette militaire stops in
15982-582: Was closed under the Beeching Axe . The line ran from Sidmouth Junction (renamed as Feniton in 1971) on the main line from Exeter to Waterloo to the north of Ottery, and to Sidmouth and Exmouth to the south. The line split just south of Tipton St John , near the Bowd Inn. Both routes closed in March 1967. For many years the path of the railway, with the rails removed, remained in place, with evidence of
16113-435: Was compiled in 1921, research among musicologists has revised how some of the instruments are called in modern times. Using revised names, the list should now read from left to right gittern , bagpipe, shawm , vielle , harp, jew's harp , trumpet, organ, citole , recorder , tambourine, cymbals. The Exeter Cathedral Astronomical Clock is one of the group of famous 14th- to 16th-century astronomical clocks to be found in
16244-453: Was constructed was home to Roman buildings. A legionary fortress was constructed between 50–75 AD. A Roman bathhouse was discovered in 1971. The founding of the cathedral at Exeter , dedicated to Saint Peter , dates from 1050, when the seat of the bishop of Devon and Cornwall was transferred from Crediton because of a fear of sea-raids. A Saxon minster already existing within the town (and dedicated to Saint Mary and Saint Peter)
16375-474: Was meeting in the cathedral and this small church caused upset when the minister "excommunicated" Susanna Parr . During the Victorian era , some refurbishment was carried out by George Gilbert Scott . As a boy, the composer Matthew Locke was trained in the choir of Exeter Cathedral, under Edward Gibbons , the brother of Orlando Gibbons . His name can be found scribed into the stone organ screen. During
16506-548: Was narrowly averted when an aircraft on approach to Exeter Airport crash-landed on the outskirts of town, in a field immediately south of the Salston Hotel. The aircraft, an Alidair Vickers Viscount turboprop, flying 62 passengers from Santander in Spain to Exeter was 11 miles short of the runway over a wooded area on East Hill, just before the town, when it ran out of fuel and all four engines stopped. The pilot, who knew
16637-505: Was rebuilt in the Decorated Gothic style, following the example of Salisbury . However, much of the Norman building was kept, including the two massive square towers and part of the walls. It was constructed entirely of local stone, including Purbeck Marble . The new cathedral was complete by about 1400, apart from the addition of the chapter house and chantry chapels . Like most English cathedrals, Exeter suffered during
16768-492: Was replaced in the early 20th century, can be seen on the floor below. The door below the clock has a round hole near its base. This was cut in the early 17th century to allow entry for the bishop's cat to deter vermin that were attracted to the animal fat used to lubricate the clock mechanism. Si quis illum inde abstulerit eterne subiaceat maledictioni. Fiat. Fiat. (If any one removes this he shall be eternally cursed. So be it! So be it!) Curse written by Leofric on some of
16899-429: Was sold to Max Norris who completed a major renovation over five years. A report in June 2020 describes The Chanter's House as having ten bedrooms, 11 bathrooms and a library (built by Coleridge) with 22,000 books, purchased with the property in 2006. The grounds include a "walled gardens, stables, tennis court, a Victorian palm house and an aviary, as well as over 21 acres of gardens, woodland and streams ... [as well as]
17030-587: Was the architect of the new building on the site of the old cloister. During the 20th century the greater part of the library was transferred to rooms in the Bishop's Palace, while the remainder was kept in Pearson's cloister library. Today, there is a good collection of early medical books, part of which came in 1948 from the Exeter Medical Library (founded 1814), and part on permanent loan from
17161-404: Was used by Leofric as his seat. In 1107 William Warelwast was appointed to the see, and this was the catalyst for the building of a new cathedral in the Norman style. Its official foundation was in 1133, during Warelwast's time, but it took many more years to complete. Following the appointment of Walter Bronescombe as bishop in 1258, the building was already recognised as outmoded, and it
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