Colebrooke, Devon
| Colebrooke | |
|---|---|
 Colebrooke
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| Colebrooke shown within Devon | |
| Population | 411 (2001 UK Census) |
| OS grid reference | SS770000 |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Police | Devon and Cornwall |
| Fire | Devon and Somerset |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| EU Parliament | South West England |
Colebrooke is a village and parish in Devon, England about 8 km west of Crediton. The main point of interest is the church and the connection to Henry Kingsley's novel The Recollections of Geoffry Hamlyn. Also Uncle Tom Cobley, of the folk song, signed his will at Pascoe House,but is buried 4 miles west at Spreyton. The champion Devon wrestler, Abraham Cann was born and buried here. He won the all comers wrestling crown in London.
Colebrooke is also the site SS7700 of a Roman fort or marching camp, the site of which is just outside the village to the East. Disputed - see below.
Colebrooke gave its name to Colebrook, Connecticut, United States.
There is no mention of a Roman fort at Colebrooke in the NMR, no aerial photographs in the archives and no evidence on the ground. This mention of a fort appears to refer to a square field that used to sit astride a straight run of hedgerows that was mistakenly identified as the course of the Roman road to Exeter in the 1980,s (see 'Devon's Past an Aerial View' by Frances Griffith ). Two of this field's hedgerows have since been removed. The actual course of the road is further North and remains of the agger can be seen in a field some 300m South of Rag Lane and just to the East of Five Acre Copse. This is also clearly visible from aerial views accessible online. The road in fact follows the same line all the way from North Tawton to this point where the route becomes less obvious. A rather straight lane along the ridge of hills to the East of the railway line is suggestive of its line.
The Coplestone (or "Copplestone", "Copleston" etc.) family took its name from the manor of Coplestone in the parish of Colebrooke. Pole (d.1635) states that the earliest record of this family he was able to find was in a deed dated during the reign of King Edward II (1307-1327). The great antiquity of this family thus seems somewhat overstated in the traditional Devon rhyme, dismissed by Hoskins as containing "not a word of truth":
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