Ottery St Mary | |
---|---|
Paternoster Row |
|
Ottery St Mary shown within Devon | |
Population | 4,898 (2011) |
OS grid reference | SY0995 |
Civil parish |
|
District | |
Shire county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | OTTERY ST. MARY |
Postcode district | EX11 |
Dialling code | 01404 |
Police | Devon and Cornwall |
Fire | Devon and Somerset |
Ambulance | South Western |
EU Parliament | South West England |
UK Parliament | |
Ottery St Mary, known as "Ottery" (/ˈɒtəri/ or local /ˈɒtri/), is a town and civil parish in the East Devon district of Devon, England, on the River Otter, about 10 miles (16 km) east of Exeter on the B3174. At the 2001 census, the parish, which includes the villages of West Hill, Metcombe, Fairmile, Alfington, Tipton St John and Wiggaton, had a population of 7,692. The population of the urban area alone at the 2011 census was 4,898. There are two electoral wards in Ottery (Rural & Town). The total population of both wards, including the adjacent civil parish of Aylesbeare, at the above census was 9,022. Ottery is first attested in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as 'Otri' and 'Otrei'. 'Oteri Sancte Marie' is first mentioned in 1242. The town takes its name from the River Otter on which it stands, the river taking its name from the animal. The 'St Mary' element refers to the fact that the town belonged to the church of St Mary in Rouen in 1086.
The town was the birthplace of the Romantic poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, where his father, the Reverend John Coleridge, was a vicar. The diplomat Sir Ernest Satow spent his retirement (1906–29) here at a house called Beaumont, which still stands. Sir Ernest was buried in the churchyard; there is a commemorative plaque to him in the church.