Cullompton is probably best known to most of us as a road sign flashing by on the motorway, the last service station on the M5 before Exeter.
But tucked behind the McDonald’s and Costa sits a town of around 8,500 people that has been pottering along since Roman times. So what would it be it like to peel off the fast lane and live here, in the place affectionately known to locals as “Cully”?
-
Cullompton, left, is surrounded by beautiful Mid Devon countryside, above
-
Well, Cullompton was bypassed by the road that later became the M5 in 1969, a blessing that freed the town from its role as a traffic bottleneck between Exeter and Taunton. Today, this rural market town is a charming and friendly place to live.
The town centre is Mid Devon’s only conservation area, with two Grade I listed buildings (St Andrew’s parish church and a 17th century house, The Walronds). In all, Cullompton has seven Grade II* listed buildings and 90 Grade II listed buildings.
Our heavyweight cards have FREE UV silk coating, FREE next day delivery VAT included. Choose from 1000’s of pre-designed templates or upload your own artwork. Orders dispatched within 24hrs.
Terms:
Visit our site for more products: Business Cards, Compliment Slips, Letterheads, Leaflets, Postcards, Posters much more. All items are free next day delivery. www.myprint-247.co.uk
Contact: 01858 468192
Valid until: Monday, June 24 2013
Cullompton, a major trend-setter in matters agricultural, was the first town in the UK to have a farmers’ market, started by local lass Tracey Frankpitt in 1998. The still-thriving monthly market has been used as inspiration for a storyline on The Archers and visited by an enthusiastic Prince Charles.
In recent years, the town has grown rapidly, thanks to its convenient location as a commuter town for Exeter. Planners want 95 new houses to be built here every year from now on. As a result, schemes are afoot to ease the town centre once more with a much-needed new relief road.
A £1.5 million community centre opened here in 2011 and much of the housing stock on sale now is in new-build developments. But the town centre and outlying villages also offer traditional architecture. Super-successful local girl the soul singer Joss Stone lives nearby in her pretty home village of Uffculme.
There are 40 different spellings of the name Cullompton recorded over history. In the end the locals have, somewhat bewilderingly, settled on spelling the name “Cullompton” but pronouncing it “Collumpton”. The derivation of the name is disputed, too. Some say it means “farmstead on the River Culm”, others insist it is named after Saint Columba, who preached to West Saxons in 549 AD.
The street plan reflects Cullompton’s medieval origins. Most shops lie along Fore Street with courts behind them linked by alleyways. The length of the high street reflects the prosperity of the town back when it was a centre of the cloth trade.
Cullompton folk have always been a lively bunch, with bull-baiting banned here only in 1805. In 1847, a riot occurred in the town due to the high price of wheat.
In April 1903, the energetic nature of the town centre had evidently got slightly out of hand, with a petition objecting to the renewal of alcohol licences for local inns signed by 450 exasperated locals. The sheer number of licensed houses was “too large in proportion to the population” said the petitioners. Today, Cullompton is a more peaceful but nonetheless friendly place, much loved by locals and well worth the detour from the motorway.