Oakford, Devon
| Oakford | |
|---|---|
 Oakford 19th century map |
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 Oakford
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| Oakford shown within Devon | |
| OS grid reference | SS9102521393 |
| Civil parish |
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| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | TIVERTON |
| Postcode district | EX16 9 |
| Dialling code | 01884 |
| Police | Devon and Cornwall |
| Fire | Devon and Somerset |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| EU Parliament | South West England |
| UK Parliament | |
Oakford is a village and civil parish in the Mid Devon district of Devon, England. It is located three miles south west of Bampton and eight miles north north west of Tiverton. Oakford is located near the river Exe.
In 1870, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Oakford like this:
It had a population of 358 according to the 2011 census with 185 being Males and 173 being Female.
The 1831 census provides information, down to parish-level, on the occupations of males aged over 20 using nine categories. Here we reorganise this information to provide a crude measure of social status, based more on contemporary ideas than on modern definitions of social class: "middling sorts" combines small farmers not employing labourers with both masters and skilled workers in urban manufacturing and handicrafts.
According to the 2011 census, 32% of those who are economically active in Oakford are self-employed; this is nearly twice the district statistics and over 3 times higher than the country's average.
Oakford church (St. Peter) dominates the village from an eminence. The porch, nave, cancel and vestry were rebuilt in 1838-9, except for the 15th century tower, with a spacious nave and short chancel. The tower houses eight bells, said to have exceptional tone, cast by Mears of London in 1825 and given to the church by the then rector, the Rev James Parkin. He also presented the organ, built by J R Mortimore of Tiverton, in 1841. Spurway Barton lies remote above a wooded combe and was a Domesday manor. The Spurways were already settled here in 1244 and continued to own it until recently. Other farms mentioned in Domesday are Bickham Barton, Mildon, Woodburn and East and West Tapps.
Oakford is located within Mid Devon local authority area. Historically it formed part of Witheridge Hundred. It falls within Tiverton Deanery for ecclesiastical purposes. The Deaneries are used to arrange the typescript Church Notes of B.F.Cresswell which are held in the Westcountry Studies Library. The population was 480 in 1801 484 in 1901 .
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Wikipedia