Uffculme

Uffculme is a village and civil parish located in the Mid Devon district, of Devon, England. Situated in the Blackdown Hills on the B3440, close to the M5 motorway, near Cullompton, Uffculme is on the upper reaches of the River Culm. The 2001 census recorded the population of the parish as 2,631. It is surrounded, clockwise from the north, by the parishes of , Hemyock, Sheldon, Kentisbeare, Cullompton, Willand, Halberton and Burlescombe.

Historically, Uffculme was a parish in Bampton Hundred, under the Peculiar jurisdiction of the Prebendary of Uffculme, Salisbury Cathedral. Uffculme is of particular interest to local historians because the wills and inventories for Uffculme have survived due to the parish being a peculiar of the Bishop of Salisbury, and hence they were not among the Devon probate records that were destroyed by fire in Exeter following a bombing raid during the Baedeker Blitz of World War II. 

The earliest (1801) census put the population of Uffculme parish at 1837. From the 16th century, Uffculme was a significant part of the West Country's wool industry, reaching its height in the middle of the 18th century "when large quantities of Uffculme serges were exported to Holland by the Tiverton merchants". Coldharbour Mill, the last woollen mill to operate in the village was built in 1799 by Thomas Fox. In 1983, Coldharbour Mill was opened as a working museum.

On 17 November 1998 a major explosion occurred at a fireworks factory in the village. Windows of homes near to the plant were broken by the blast, which could be heard 10 miles (16 km) away in Tiverton. £300,000 of damage to the roof of St Mary's Church was caused but there were no serious injuries. The firework company later pleaded guilty to six charges under the Health and Safety at Work Act. The firm resumed trading a week after the blast and continued until December 2003 when it went into liquidation.

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