Woolfardisworthy, Torridge

Village in Devon, England

Village in England
Woolfardisworthy is located in Devon
Woolfardisworthy
Woolfardisworthy
Location within Devon
Population1,123 [1]Civil parish
District
  • Torridge
Shire county
  • Devon
Region
  • South West
CountryEnglandSovereign stateUnited KingdomPost townBidefordPostcode districtEX39Dialling code01237PoliceDevon and CornwallFireDevon and SomersetAmbulanceSouth Western UK Parliament
  • Torridge and West Devon
List of places
UK
England
Devon
50°57′53″N 4°22′37″W / 50.96472°N 4.37694°W / 50.96472; -4.37694

Woolfardisworthy (/ˈwʊlzəri/) is a village and civil parish in the Torridge district of Devon, England. The village is accessible via the A39 road, 2 miles (3 km) from the village.

Name

The name of the village is a local curiosity, as its pronunciation (and occasional spelling) differs from what one might expect. On local signs, the village is sometimes marked as Woolsery alongside the original name. This is due to the pronunciation of the village's name being /ˈwʊlzəri/. The name also provides evidence for the power of the written word in conserving place-names: the shortened pronunciation is known to have been in use since the 17th century.[3]

According to the Oxford Dictionary of English Place Names (Eilert Ekwall, 4th ed., 1960), the origin of the name is probably "Wulfheard's homestead". The element "worthy" is from Old English worþig, one of several words used by the Anglo-Saxons to denote a homestead, farmstead or small settlement.

Woolfardisworthy (the full name), jointly with a few other places in Devon, has one of the longest place names in England, with 16 letters.

All Hallows Church

In the parish church dedicated to All Hallows is the large monument with effigy to Richard Cole (d.1614) of Buckish within the parish, also of Slade in the parish of Cornworthy, Devon. It is a Grade 1 British Listed Building.[4]

Organisations

The Centre for Fortean Zoology is based here.

References

  1. ^ Census 2001; Parish Headcounts
  2. ^ "Woolsery Parish Council - Home". WPC.
  3. ^ Padel, O. J. (1999). "Place-names". In Kain, Roger; Ravenhill, William (eds.). Historical Atlas of South-West England. Exeter: University of Exeter Press. pp. 88–9. ISBN 0-85989-434-7.
  4. ^ "Church of All Hallows, Woolfardisworthy, Devon". www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk. Listing NGR: SS3322121085. Retrieved 9 May 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: location (link)

External links

  • Media related to Woolfardisworthy at Wikimedia Commons
  • v
  • t
  • e
Towns, villages and hamlets in the Torridge District of Devon, England
  • v
  • t
  • e
Exeter1,2
  • None
East Devon1
Mid Devon1
North Devon1
Torridge1
West Devon1,3
South Hams1
Teignbridge1
Plymouth2,4
  • None
Torbay4
Bold text denotes a parish council referred to as a "town council".
  1. Non-metropolitan district of the non-metropolitan county of Devon (administered by Devon County Council).
  2. Has city status in the United Kingdom.
  3. Has borough status in the United Kingdom.
  4. Unitary authority not part of the non-metropolitan county, thus not administered by Devon County Council.
  5. The remainder of Torbay is unparished.