Newton Poppleford derives its name from the pebble ford through the Otter.  'Popple' is a word for 'stone' still used in North Devon.  Just what was 'new' is not certain, but it could have been 'new tun' (field), thus 'the new field by the pebble ford'.
The old road crossed the Otter at Harpford, but when the Romans built their new road straight down Four Elms Hill, they built a bridge over the river rather than make a detour.  It is possible there was a Roman settlement here. The main road has recently been straightened (1983) and has now reassumed the line of the Roman road.

In the village itself, the site of the oldest known house is 'The Gardens', as there is known to have been a Saxon dwelling house there over 1000 years ago.

The Exeter Inn was then the last inn before Exeter and was owned by the diocese of Exeter until about 1960. A book left at the inn by an Elizabethan chaplain was recently found and given to the present vicar, the Rev. R.G. Merwood.  The inn and the houses behind the bus shelter were the sites of guest houses for old-time travellers.

The long gardens of the High Street houses are a relic of the strip-farming methods of the Middle Ages before the Enclosure Act.

The river Otter was navigable certainly as far as Otterton and it is quite possible that small boats could get up as far as Newton Poppleford.  This doubtless helped the little community to thrive with its sheep and wool markets. There was a very ancient mill at Dotton which has since disappeared.

The slopes of the hills above the Otter were grazing grounds for the sheep which supplied the wool for the famous Exeter cloth.  The beautiful houses in Exeter High Street were built by the wealthy wool merchants.

In the 14th century, Newton Poppleford was deemed important enough to be granted a charter for a three-day fair to be held at St. Luke's Tide.  In 1359 the charter was duly presented to the village by Hugh de Courteney;  it is for all time and can never be rescinded.  The de Courteneys became Earls of Devon with their home at Powderham Castle.

The Fair was an annual event until about 100 years ago.  On the first day of the Fair the village was wakened by a man walking through the main street very early in the morning blowing a large carved horn.  The Fair was revived about 25 years ago for three years and the money raised was used to build the original Playing Field pavilion.  A Cheese Fair and a small cattle market were held on Green Bank.

Milimoor Lane had a silk factory, shown on the tithe map of 1842 and is still known locally by its former name of Factory Lane.  About the turn of the century there was also a glove factory where Thiel  Autoshears now stands.

Until March 1862, St. Luke's was simply a chantry of the parish of Aylesbeare, being "all that part of the Parish of Aylesbeare in the county of Devon and in the Diocese of Exeter, which is confined within the Tything or chapelry of Newton Poppleford".  The tything of Newton Poppleford was situated at the eastern end of Aylesbeare parish separated by the un-enclosed common known as Ayl Hill, containing 541 acres affording turf, furze and rough pasturage to the freeholders of the parish and their tenants.

Services were held at St. Luke's every fifth Sunday until the appointment of Henry William Marker as rector of Aylesbeare in 1817.  This remarkable man took it upon himself to ensure the spiritual well-being of Newton Poppleford by holding regular services at St. Luke's on alternate Sundays.  This meant that some Sundays he performed an 11 a.m. service at Aylesbeare and 3 p.m. Evensong at Newton Poppleford.

The three-mile walk across dark windswept wasteland to Aylesbeare in all weathers meant that he often did not reach home before 9 p.m.  Mr. Marker wrote in the Parish register flyleaf that his successors need not feel obliged to continue this self-imposed duty.
On his resignation in 1848, however, his successor did continue up to the formation of the district chapelry in 1862.  Mr. Marker was also reckoned to have given nearly £1000 to the church on his annual salary of no more than £85.

Grants from Queen Anne's Bounty of £200 in 1769 and £400 in 1800 were probably equalled by sums from the vicar, and this money purchased Warren's Farm in Aylesbeare and two fields in the parish of Ottery St. Mary called Baker's (or Woodford's) and Shutt's field.  These were then let to provide a parish income.

On the 21st March, 1862, St. Luke's was separated ecclesiastically from the mother church of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Aylesbeare and on 21st September 1863 Samuel Henry Walker, M.A. was admitted as incumbent of St. Luke's.  Early in 1872 the vicar of Aylesbeare applied to the trustees of the Bicton Estate suggesting an exchange of land in Aylesbeare belonging to St. Luke's for land in the immediate vicinity of Newton Poppleford village as a later site for a Parsonage House.

Thus Warren's Farm was exchanged for three arable fields (two sloping towards the Otter) under the sanction of the Enclosure Commissioners.  In March 1872 a £500 donation by Mr. Walker was met by £500 from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, together producing a 'perpetual annuity' of £33.6s.8d. p.a. payable to the vicar of Newton Poppleford. At Mr. Walker's death in May 1873 the church income stood at £59.6s.8d. p.a. with field and farm rents and annuity.

In September 1874 Rev. Reginald Worth was instituted and in October that year William C. Walker, in compliance with the will of his brother, another clergyman, gave to the incumbent and his successors a field.  Part was consecrated as a cemetery and the rest remained as glebe.  Gifts in 1875 came from W.C. Walker, the trustees of Bishop Philpott's fund and the governors of Queen Anne's Bounty totalling £400, some of which was used in 1877 to buy some freehold land adjoining the glebe known as Miller's Park and Orchard.

By October 1877 the church income stood at £85.13s.11d., and due to various subscriptions and £100 from Rev. Augustus Archer Hunt, a "good and substantial Parsonage House, with the necessary fixtures, offices and stables" were erected at the total cost of £1290.7s.3d.  On the resignation of Mr, Worth (to whom the window over the church porch is dedicated) in 1877 Holled Darrell Cove Smith Horlock D.D. was instituted.  Mr. Horlock was able to take up residence during the summer of 1880.

St. Luke's church has a late 16th century 'Ions' chalice among the plate. [Note by Moderator: Ions is the Exeter Silver Hallmark, 1570-3, of John (Ions) Jones, a goldsmith resident in and churchwarden of St. Petrock's Exeter, a noted West Country silversmith who made much plate for Devon churches]. Two of the priests who served the chantry died of the plague.

The village had a new school in 1877.

The Exmouth-Sidmouth Junction railway line on which Newton Poppleford station is situated was opened in 1874. The line ran from Sidmouth Junction (now Feniton) to Tipton St. John where it forked, the Budleigh Salterton branch opening in 1897 and being extended to Exmouth in 1903. This branch runs from Tipton St. John down the Otter valley through Newton Poppleford station and over the Otter on an intact girder bridge to East Budleigh station (actually on the outskirts of Otterton). From there it goes to Budleigh Salterton, Littleham station (now defunct) and Exmouth. The line closed in March 1967.

The population of Newton Poppleford stood at 481 in the Census of 1821 and rose steadily to reach 676 in 1871. There was an unaccountable drop to 484 in 1891 with a steady rise thereafter. The number of dwellings has been subject to a sporadic rise from about 80 in 1801 to 150 in 1871 and then a decline to 125 (1931). Since then the village has become a popular retirement area and there has been a big increase in the number of dwellings and inhabitants.

[See Venn Ottery and Harpford for earlier history – Moderator]

Author: Amanda Prowse. Extracted from Sketches on local History – The Lower Otter Valley © 1984 Otter Valley Association.

See publications page of web site for full list of publications available for purchase.

Christopher Pound comments in a letter of 25/1/11 that the name Newton may refer to its being one of the mediaeval New Towns. Its market charter having been given in 1226 to William Brewer, Aylesbeare (Pevsner). He also points out that the silk factory was still showing on the 1888 OS map and that the disparity between the Rev. Marker’s expenditure and stipend may be explained if he were a member of the well to do Markers of Combe family. Finally, Pevsner claims the Toll House to be the oldest in Devon 1758. –Moderator.

References

Census (1801) to (1931) England and Wales: Devon (H.M.S.O.)
Lancefield, Rev. A.P. Churches of Harpford and Fen Ottery.
Prowse, Amanda J. (1976) Venn Ottery - A Brief Historical Survey.
Sellman, R.R. (1967) Devon Village Schools in the 19th Century. (David & Charles)
Somerville, C. (1982) Walking West Country Railways. (David & Charles)
Towers & Belfries Committee Report (1977) (Central Council of Church Bell Ringers)

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