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Okehampton is a town
Town

A town is a type of human settlement ranging from a few to several thousand inhabitants, although it may be applied loosely even to huge metropolitan areas; the precise meaning varies between countries and is not always a matter of legal definition....
 and civil parish
Civil parish

In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, a civil parish is usually the lowest unit of local government, below district and county councils....
 in Devon
Devon

Devon is a large Counties of England in South West England. The county is also referred to as Devonshire, but that is an entirely unofficial name, rarely used inside of the county but often indicating a shire....
, England
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
, at the northern edge of Dartmoor
Dartmoor

Dartmoor is an area of moorland in the centre of Devon, England. Protected by National parks of England and Wales status, it covers .The granite highland dates from the Carboniferous period of geology history....
, on the River Okement
River Okement

The River Okement is a tributary of the River Torridge in Davon, England. It was formerly known as the River Ock.It rises at two places in Dartmoor, as the West Okement...
. The border of the Dartmoor National Park is just south of the town.

Like many towns in the West Country
West Country

The West Country is an informal term for the area of south western England roughly corresponding to the modern South West England government region....
, Okehampton grew on the Medieval wool
Wool

Wool is the fiber derived from the specialized skin cells, called follicles, of animals in the Caprinae family, principally domestic sheep, but the hair of certain species of other Mammalia such as cashmere goat, llamas, rabbits and keeshonds may also be called wool....
 trade. Notable buildings in the town include the 15th century chapel
Chapel

A chapel is a building used as a place for fellowship and of worship for Christians. It may be attached to an institution such as a large Church , a college, a hospital, a palace, a prison or a cemetery, or may be an entirely free-standing building, sometimes with its own grounds....
 of St. James, and Okehampton Castle
Okehampton Castle

Okehampton Castle is a ruined motte and bailey castle situated in Devon, England.The castle has Norman origins and dates from the late 11th century....
. There is the site of a Roman
Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
 fort close to the Town at SX5996. The town is also home to the Museum of Dartmoor Life.






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Okehampton is a town
Town

A town is a type of human settlement ranging from a few to several thousand inhabitants, although it may be applied loosely even to huge metropolitan areas; the precise meaning varies between countries and is not always a matter of legal definition....
 and civil parish
Civil parish

In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, a civil parish is usually the lowest unit of local government, below district and county councils....
 in Devon
Devon

Devon is a large Counties of England in South West England. The county is also referred to as Devonshire, but that is an entirely unofficial name, rarely used inside of the county but often indicating a shire....
, England
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
, at the northern edge of Dartmoor
Dartmoor

Dartmoor is an area of moorland in the centre of Devon, England. Protected by National parks of England and Wales status, it covers .The granite highland dates from the Carboniferous period of geology history....
, on the River Okement
River Okement

The River Okement is a tributary of the River Torridge in Davon, England. It was formerly known as the River Ock.It rises at two places in Dartmoor, as the West Okement...
. The border of the Dartmoor National Park is just south of the town.

Like many towns in the West Country
West Country

The West Country is an informal term for the area of south western England roughly corresponding to the modern South West England government region....
, Okehampton grew on the Medieval wool
Wool

Wool is the fiber derived from the specialized skin cells, called follicles, of animals in the Caprinae family, principally domestic sheep, but the hair of certain species of other Mammalia such as cashmere goat, llamas, rabbits and keeshonds may also be called wool....
 trade. Notable buildings in the town include the 15th century chapel
Chapel

A chapel is a building used as a place for fellowship and of worship for Christians. It may be attached to an institution such as a large Church , a college, a hospital, a palace, a prison or a cemetery, or may be an entirely free-standing building, sometimes with its own grounds....
 of St. James, and Okehampton Castle
Okehampton Castle

Okehampton Castle is a ruined motte and bailey castle situated in Devon, England.The castle has Norman origins and dates from the late 11th century....
. There is the site of a Roman
Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
 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
Unreformed House of Commons

The unreformed House of Commons is the name generally given to the British House of Commons as it existed before the Reform Act 1832.Until the Act of Union 1707 of 1707 joining the Kingdoms of Kingdom of Scotland and Kingdom of England , Scotland had its own Parliament of Scotland, and the term refers to the English House of Commons...
. The Reform Act 1832
Reform Act 1832

The Representation of the People Act 1832, commonly known as the Reform Act 1832, was an Act of Parliament that introduced wide-ranging changes to the electoral system of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland....
 abolished its representation as a rotten borough
Rotten borough

The term "rotten" or "decayed" borough referred to a parliamentary borough or constituency in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland which had a very small population and was used by a patron to exercise undue and unrepresentative influence within parliament....
.

The substantial army
British Army

The British Army is the Army branch of the British Armed Forces. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdoms of Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707....
 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
Commando Training Centre Royal Marines

Commando Training Centre Royal Marines is the principal military training centre for the Royal Marines of the British Armed Forces. It is situated near the village of Lympstone, between the city of Exeter, and the town of Exmouth, Devon in Devon....
 (CTCRM), Lympstone
Lympstone

Lympstone is a village and civil parish in England county of Devon. It has a harbour on the estuary of the River Exe, lying at the outlet of Wotton Brook between cliffs of red breccia....
, Devon and many cadet training units. The Ten Tors
Ten Tors

Ten Tors is an annual weekend hiking organised and run in early May for 2,400 young people by the British Army on Dartmoor. The majority of entrants are schools, colleges, The Scout Association and Combined Cadet Force squadrons from South West England, though groups from across the United Kingdom regularly take part, as do teams from Austral...
 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
A30 road

The A30 is an old trunk road which runs from central London to Land's End, the westernmost point of the mainland of southern Great Britain , and is sometimes called the Great South West Road....
 trunk road now bypasses the town. Okehampton railway station
Okehampton railway station

Okehampton railway station is a railway station serving the town of Okehampton in Devon. It is only served by main line trains on summer Sundays....
 is on the former northerly rail route from Exeter
Exeter

Exeter Exeter was the most south-westerly Roman fortified settlement in Roman Britain and has existed since time immemorial. Exeter Cathedral, founded in 1050 is Anglicanism....
 to Plymouth
Plymouth

Plymouth is a City status in the United Kingdom and unitary authority on the coast of Devon, England, about south west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers River Plym to the east and River Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound....
 via Tavistock. The line from Exeter remains open for freight traffic because of Meldon quarry
Quarry

A quarry is a type of open-pit mining from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone....
, just to the west of Okehampton. In summer, and at weekends throughout the year, the Dartmoor Railway
Dartmoor Railway

The Dartmoor Railway is a 17 mile long railway route in Devon. It is primarily a freight railway serving the Aggregate Industries quarry at Meldon....
 operates a heritage railway
Heritage railway

A heritage railway , preserved railway , tourist railway , or tourist railroad is a term used for a railway which is run as a tourist attraction, is usually but not always run by volunteers, and seeks to re-create railway scenes of the past....
 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
Belstone

Belstone is a village in Devon, England best known for the Nine Maidens stone circle. It lies within the West Devon local government district....
, known for its location on the very outskirts of Dartmoor, and Sticklepath
Sticklepath

Sticklepath is a village on Dartmoor, in the county of Devon, England. Its history is unusual in that, unlike most villages, it did not evolve around a Manorialism....
 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
Dartmoor

Dartmoor is an area of moorland in the centre of Devon, England. Protected by National parks of England and Wales status, it covers .The granite highland dates from the Carboniferous period of geology history....
. At other times the town is linked to Exeter
Exeter

Exeter Exeter was the most south-westerly Roman fortified settlement in Roman Britain and has existed since time immemorial. Exeter Cathedral, founded in 1050 is Anglicanism....
 and North Cornwall
Cornwall

Cornwall , constitutional Duchy and palatine, is a metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties of England of England, United Kingdom, located at the tip of the south-western peninsula of Great Britain....
 by increasingly infrequent bus
Bus

A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. A bus can generally seat a maximum of anywhere from 8 to 200 passengers; many more passengers than a minivan....
 services.

On February 6th 2009, Okehampton was badly affected with significant amounts of snow
Snow

Snow is a type of precipitation in the form of crystalline water ice, consisting of a multitude of snowflakes that fall from clouds. The process of this precipitation is called snowfall....
, seeing 22in (55cm) of it. Snow had been falling since second of February and had been building up since then. Okehampton was the worst affected place in England.

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