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Coordinates: 50°44'20?N 4°00'15?W? / ?50.7388, -4.0041
Okehampton is a town and civil parish in Devon, England, at the northern edge of Dartmoor, on the River Okement. The border of the Dartmoor National Park is just south of the town.
Like many towns in the West Country, Okehampton grew on the Medieval wool trade. Notable buildings in the town include the 15th century chapel of St. James, and Okehampton Castle. There is the site of a Roman fort close to the Town at SX5996. The town is also home to the Museum of Dartmoor Life. Okehampton elected two members to the Unreformed House of Commons. The Reform Act 1832 abolished its representation as a rotten borough.
Map of Okehampton from 1946
The substantial army training camp on Dartmoor is reached via Okehampton, and is referred to as "Okehampton Camp". It is managed by the Defence Training Estate, and used by a variety of military units, predominantly the Commando Training Centre Royal Marines (CTCRM), Lympstone, Devon and many cadet training units. The Ten Tors event is run by the Army each year in early May from Okehampton Camp.
Okehampton's location at the edge of the moor means that it has always been a route centre. The A30 trunk road now bypasses the town. 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 because of Meldon quarry, just to the west of Okehampton. In summer, and at weekends throughout the year, the Dartmoor Railway operates a heritage railway service between Okehampton and Meldon Quarry.
Okehampton is also characterized by the large number of smaller villages and towns that surround it. Notable examples are the villages of Folly Gate, a small picturesque village which lies in close proximity to the village of Inwardleigh and Abbeyford woods, Belstone, known for its location on the very outskirts of Dartmoor, and Sticklepath which runs in parallel fashion to the A30 dual carriageway.
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. At other times the town is linked to Exeter and North Cornwall by increasingly infrequent bus services.
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(Source: Wikipedia) |