Clyst St Mary is a small village and
civil parishIn England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and in some places the lowest tier of local government, below districts and counties. A civil parish can alternatively be known as a town, village, neighbourhood or community by resolution of its parish council; and in a limited number of...
east of
ExeterExeter is a city and district in Devon, England; it is the county town of Devon. Exeter is located approximately northeast of Plymouth, and southwest of Bristol, on the River Exe. The city has a population of 111,076 according to the 2001 Census....
on the main roads to
ExmouthExmouth is a town in Devon. It may also refer to:Places*Exmouth Peninsula in Southern Chile*Exmouth, Western AustraliaPeople*Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth , a British naval officerShips...
and
SidmouthSidmouth is a small town on the English Channel coast in Devon, South West England. The town lies at the mouth of the River Sid in the East Devon district, south east of Exeter. It has a population of about 15,000, of whom 40% are over 65.....
in
East DevonEast Devon is a local government district in Devon, England. Its council is based in Sidmouth.The district was formed on 1 April 1974 by the merger of the borough of Honiton with the urban districts of Budleigh Salterton, Exmouth, Ottery St. Mary, Seaton, Sidmouth along with Axminster Rural...
. The name comes from the
CelticThe Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic", a branch of the greater Indo-European language family. The term "Celtic" was used to describe this language group by Edward Lhuyd in 1707, having much earlier been used by Greek and Roman writers to describe tribes in...
word clyst meaning 'clear stream'.
Clyst St Mary contains the West of England Showground, the Crealy Adventure Park, the Cat and Fiddle Training Ground for Exeter City FC and has a small industrial estate, Langdons Business Park and a major office development.
The
populationIn biology, a population is the collection of inter-breeding organisms of a particular species; in sociology, a collection of human beings. Individuals within a population share a factor may be reduced by statistical means, but such a generalization may be too vague to imply anything...
has risen steadily, it was 97 in 1801, 157 in 1901, and 642 in 2004.
Clyst St Mary is a small village and
civil parishIn England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and in some places the lowest tier of local government, below districts and counties. A civil parish can alternatively be known as a town, village, neighbourhood or community by resolution of its parish council; and in a limited number of...
east of
ExeterExeter is a city and district in Devon, England; it is the county town of Devon. Exeter is located approximately northeast of Plymouth, and southwest of Bristol, on the River Exe. The city has a population of 111,076 according to the 2001 Census....
on the main roads to
ExmouthExmouth is a town in Devon. It may also refer to:Places*Exmouth Peninsula in Southern Chile*Exmouth, Western AustraliaPeople*Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth , a British naval officerShips...
and
SidmouthSidmouth is a small town on the English Channel coast in Devon, South West England. The town lies at the mouth of the River Sid in the East Devon district, south east of Exeter. It has a population of about 15,000, of whom 40% are over 65.....
in
East DevonEast Devon is a local government district in Devon, England. Its council is based in Sidmouth.The district was formed on 1 April 1974 by the merger of the borough of Honiton with the urban districts of Budleigh Salterton, Exmouth, Ottery St. Mary, Seaton, Sidmouth along with Axminster Rural...
. The name comes from the
CelticThe Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic", a branch of the greater Indo-European language family. The term "Celtic" was used to describe this language group by Edward Lhuyd in 1707, having much earlier been used by Greek and Roman writers to describe tribes in...
word clyst meaning 'clear stream'.
Description
Clyst St Mary contains the West of England Showground, the Crealy Adventure Park, the Cat and Fiddle Training Ground for Exeter City FC and has a small industrial estate, Langdons Business Park and a major office development.
The
populationIn biology, a population is the collection of inter-breeding organisms of a particular species; in sociology, a collection of human beings. Individuals within a population share a factor may be reduced by statistical means, but such a generalization may be too vague to imply anything...
has risen steadily, it was 97 in 1801, 157 in 1901, and 642 in 2004. This figure for the parish excludes all residents living on the north side of the main village street, who are counted within the parish of
SowtonSowton is a village and civil parish east of Exeter in East Devon, England. It has a population of 639.Its parish council merged with that of nearby Clyst St Mary in 1976 to form Bishop's Clyst.Sowton is also the name of an industrial estate at...
, a hamlet 1.5 km to the north. Both parishes are now administered collectively as
Bishop's ClystBishop's Clyst is the name adopted by the council representing two civil parishes that form part of the East Devon district in the English county of Devon....
, named after the Bishop's Court former palace of the
Bishop of ExeterThe Bishop of Exeter is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Exeter in the Province of Canterbury. The incumbent usually signs his name as Exon or incorporates this in his signature.-History:...
, situated between them.
The village of Clyst St Mary itself has three main areas:
- the old village, site of the school, village hall, shop/post office and pubs;
- the Winslade Park estate - in the grounds of the old Manor house, across the A3052, home to the majority of the population and the old church
- the Cat and Fiddle mobile home park, east of the old village.
Additionally the parish includes various outlying farms and hamlets.
Historically, the village was recorded in the
Domesday BookThe Domesday Book is the record of the great survey of England completed in 1086, executed for William I of England, or William the Conqueror...
as 'Bishop's Cliste' and is best known for its late 12th century bridge across the
River ClystThe River Clyst is a river of England. The river runs through the county of Devon.Rising near the village of Clyst William near Cullompton, the river runs west and southwest, flowing through the settlements of Norman's Green, Plymtree, Clyst Hydon, Clyst St...
, long the main route between Exeter and London. Rebuilt in 1310, it is the oldest bridge in Devon and for over seven hundred years constituted part of the main road connection between Exeter and London.
Battle of Clyst St Mary
Clyst St Mary was the site of one of the decisive battles in the 1549
Prayer Book RebellionThe Prayer Book Rebellion, Prayer Book Revolt, Prayer Book Rising, Western Rising or Western Rebellion was a popular revolt in Cornwall and Devon, in 1549. In 1549 the Book of Common Prayer, presenting the theology of the English Reformation, was introduced...
, when West Country resistance to the Protestant Reformation was quashed. After the Battle of
Woodbury CommonWoodbury Common in East Devon is an area of common land that is predominantly heathland adjacent to the village of Woodbury, Devon.Within the common is Woodbury Castle, an Iron Age hill fort situated on a viewpoint overlooking westwards the villages of Woodbury and Woodbury Salterton and across the...
on 4 August 1549, the rebels under the control of
Humphrey ArundellSir Humphrey Arundell was executed at Tyburn, London, Middlesex, England. He was born at Helland, Bodmin in Cornwall and was an experienced soldier and the leader of the Cornish rebellion of 1549, which is also known as the Prayer Book Rebellion. His maternal grandfather had been involved in the...
had re-grouped with the main contingent of 6,000 at Clyst St Mary, but on 5 August were attacked by a central force led by Sir William Francis, under the control of
John Russell, 1st Earl of BedfordJohn Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford, KG, PC, JP was an English royal minister in the Tudor era. He served variously as Lord High Admiral and Lord Privy Seal....
. After a ferocious battle Russell's troops gained the advantage leaving a thousand Cornish and Devonians dead and many more taken prisoner, 900 of whom were massacred later that day at
Clyst HeathClyst Heath is a suburb to the south east of Exeter, Devon, to the east of Rydon Lane.On 5 August 1549 Clyst Heath was the site of one of the worst atrocities in British history during the Prayer Book Rebellion when troops loyal to the King under the command of John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford...
. The village was burned and many of the combatants and villagers drowned in the river.
Education
Clyst St Mary has its own Primary School, Clyst St Mary Primary School, established in the 1830s. The school catchment area now includes the hamlets of Sowton and Farringdon as well as some neighbouting villages and many of the families of Exeter City FC players, who train nearby.
Older children from Clyst St Mary attend senior school at either Exmouth School or Clyst Vale Community College in Broadclyst. Many undertake 'A'-levels at Exteter College.
Business, Commerce & Employment Prospects
Langdons Business Park is the only industrialised area within Clyst St. Mary.
There is also a large office complex in Winslade Park, the site of the original manor house and, subsequently, a boarding school. The complex was initially developed by the London & Manchester group, later this site was taken over by the
Friends ProvidentFriends Provident is an organisation offering life insurance in the United Kingdom. It was founded as a mutual Friendly Society for Quakers, although demutualised in 2001 and is now a publicly listed company, no longer linked with the Religious Society of Friends.The head office is now located at...
group. Apart from the refubishment of the old school (Winslade House) in the 1980s there was a development of newer buildings on the adjacent land of Grindle House. These buildings house the Devon region DEFRA offices (in Clyst House). Winslade Park is the name for the grounds containing Winslade House, Clyst House and the other facilities here. Much of the original estate was redeveloped in the 1960s as the Winslade Park Estate.
External links