In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Bampton like this:
BAMPTON, a small town, a parish, a subdistrict, and a hundred, in Devon. The town stands in a vale, on the rivulet Batherne, about a mile above its influx to the Exe, 7 miles N of Tiverton r. station. It was an ciently called Bahantune, Bannton, Bathampton, and Bathrumpton; and it disputes with Bampton in Oxfordshire being the Beamdune of the Saxon chroniclers, where, in 614, the Britons were defeated with great slaughter by Cynegilsus, king of the West Saxons. ...
It is supposed by some to occupy the site of a Roman sta tion; and it had a castle, erected in 1336 by a member of the Cogan family, on a knoll at the east end of Castle street, now called the Mount, and crowned with firs The town consists of stone houses, irregularly scattered over a space of about ½ a mile; and has picturesque environs. It was formerly a borough, and sent two members to parliament; it was governed by a portreeve and other officers; and it is now a seat of petty sessions It has a post office under Tiverton, and two good inns; and it formerly had a manufacture of serges and pottery. A weekly market is held on Saturday; fairs, on Whit Tuesday and the last Thursday in Oct.; and great markets for cattle, sheep, and Exmoor ponies, on the last Wednesday in Nov. and the Wednesday before Lady-day. John de Bampton, a Carmelite friar, who first read lectures on "Aristotle" at Cambridge, and died in 1391, was a native. The parish includes also the hamlets of Petton and Shillingford. Acres, 7,785. Real property, £9,-144. Pop., 1,971. Houses, 397. Limestone is worked, in about 15 quarries, for supplying the country as far as to South Molton. There is a chalybeate spring of some celebrity. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Exeter. Value, £130.* Patron, Rev. E. Rendell. The church is decorated and perpendicular English; consists of nave, aisles, transept, and chancel, with western tower; and contains a fine carved oak screen, and mounments of the Bourchiers. A small chapel of ease is at Petton; and a small Baptist chapel in the town. Charities, £9.-The subdistrict contains four other parishes; and is in the district of Tiverton. Acres, 17,718. Pop., 3,296. Houses, 631.-The hundred contains seven parishes; and is noted principally for its quarries of limestone, and its fine breed of sheep. Acres, 28,757. Pop., 6,628. Houses, 1,360.
Bampton through time
Bampton is now part of Mid Devon district. Click here for graphs and data of how Mid Devon has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Bampton itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Bampton in Mid Devon | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/601
Date accessed: 23rd April 2024
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