Walkhampton
village and civil parish in Devon, UK
Walkhampton is a village and civil parish on the western side of Dartmoor in the county of Devon, England. The village lies on the Black Brook, a tributary of the River Walkham, about 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) south-east of Tavistock, near the villages of Horrabridge, Yelverton and Dousland. Burrator Reservoir, constructed in 1898, is to the south-east.
In 2001 the population of the parish was 863. For administrative purposes the parish is grouped with the parishes of Meavy and Sheepstor to form Burrator Parish Council, and for electoral purposes it is grouped with the same two parishes to form Burrator Ward.
The village has a pub, the Walkhampton Inn, dating from the 17th century, and a primary school named Lady Modiford's School which was founded in 1719, though the present building with its distinctive bell and clock tower dates from the second half of the 19th century. In 2004 the school had 119 pupils in four classes.
Walkhampton church, which is Grade I listed, is on an ancient elevated site about half a mile north-west of the village. Unlike most churches which face east, it faces north-east, the direction of the rising sun on the longest day. The present building, which is built of granite and has a tower with four prominent pinnacles, dates from the 15th century, with much later alteration, including restoration in 1860–61.
“Walkhampton” enters the record as village and civil parish in Devon, UK. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Walkhampton, village and civil can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Walkhampton” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Walkhampton, village and civil provides the most credible route into that argument.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 25, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q3397002. Authority coordinates are 50.508, -4.070. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1898, 2001, 1719 and 2004.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Walkhampton”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Walkhampton primary sources, Walkhampton archive and Walkhampton research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Walkhampton”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Walkhampton” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.