South Molton boasts a small, but excellent, chocolate factory and Quince Honey Farm. The town has many antique & curio shops, several tearooms and a massive farmer's hypermarket selling everything from green wellies to tractors and is worth a visit .South Molton boasts a small, but excellent, chocolate factory and Quince Honey Farm. The town has many antique & curio shops, several tearooms and a massive farmer's hypermarket selling everything from green wellies to tractors and is worth a visit .

South Molton is the historic regional centre where the beautiful Taw Valley and Exmoor meet. For centuries it has been renowned for its sheep Market, fairs and the related industries of weaving and cloth manufacturing. Sadly the latter declined over the years and no longer exists. However, the town"s association with sheep is still much in evidence in the twice weekly Livestock markets and the Annual sheep Fair held in August.  The carved rams heads on the façade of the 18th century Guildhall bear silent witness to the traces that were the backbone of the town"s economy for so many years.  Now, the mode of commerce has changed and the town has become a thriving centre of the arts and antiques trades.

Part of the fine Guildhall Building houses the glass roofed pannier market where in the past farmers and traders sold their wares from panniers carried in from the countryside. Although tables have now replaced panniers it is still possible to purchase homemade cakes, bread, jams, locally produced cheeses, eggs and flowers.Set in an area of outstanding beauty, South Molton is immersed in a blend of rural bustle and traditional tranquillity. Its facilities offer the tourist all in the way of supplies, whilst its spacious central areas are pleasant for the casual shopper or those who call by for refreshment. A relaxed town where the graceful facades of the mellow buildings look down on a happy, busy community. Much to see and take in — well worth a visit.

South Molton, a bustling market town with many shops selling local produce, which includes, perhaps a little unexpectedly, chocolate. The central square is overlooked by a splendid Guildhall, part of which houses the pannier market.

South Molton

South Molton is a small market town on the southern fringes of Exmoor trading sheep and cattle, wool and leather. A place of some importance in 1086 - the Domesday Book lists the unusually large number of four priests - it grew up around the now tranquil churchyard, the original Town centre. As the wool trade declined in the 18" and 19l centuries so South Molton's role as a transport, administrative and service centre grew. Coaching Inns and schools, Assembly Rooms and markets, doctors and auctioneers, printers and wheelwrights all flourished. Since the coming of the railway and the motor car, tourism is as important as farming.

South Molton

South Molton, a bustling market town with many shops selling local produce, which includes, perhaps a little unexpectedly, chocolate. The central square is overlooked by a splendid Guildhall, part of which houses the pannier market. This is an old-fashioned town of some 4,500 people; there is much history here, from the Saxon Churchyard to the Royal Market Charter granted by Henry III.

The Square in South Molton - Copyright photo by Gordon Bray - www.northdevonlink.co.uk/south-molton.htm

The town is rich in traditional architecture including two fine churches. A town trail directs visitors to the main points of interest including the well-kept award-winning town museum. Today the town has a growing reputation for its antique shops, fine arts and crafts and its selection of local produce, particularly honey and luxurious chocolates both made within the town. South Molton is an ancient town noted for its elegant Georgian buildings. It was granted Royal Charters in the 16th century and 17th century to hold both cattle and produce markets. At its largest in the 1850's with 5,000 people, nine malthouses and 34 licensed houses, South Molton was a flourishing woollen and coaching town. Despite the decline of both those activities, the town has retained it's charm and pride in it's history.

Both North and South Molton are situated on the River Mole, a tributary to the River Taw, with attractive wooded dells and footpaths. Set between the hills of Exmoor and the pastureland of mid-Devon, South Molton is an ideal location for a market town.

It is well worth a visit and has many interesting features, such as the Town Hall where the museum is housed on the ground floor. This holds an excellent collection of pewter and a comprehensive history of mining on Exmoor. The museum is open Mid-March to November except for Sundays and Mondays. Entry is free. South Molton also has a covered pannier market and an elegant Old Market House with a fine view of the Square. The town has become well known as a centre for antiques and also for its annual sheep market, which takes place in August and dates back to 1357. Quince Honey Farm, alleged to have the largest exhibition of working honeybees in the world, is open between Easter and October. There is a shop which is open throughout the year, which sells many interesting presents including honey, candles and other items made from beeswax. Tel (01769 572401) It is well worth visiting the village of Chittlehampton to see the parish church. Nearby is St Urith's Well, dedicated to the Saxon Lady, 3ntn, wRo was slain by local heathens. The well is said to have sprung from the ground where she fell. She later was named St Hierithra and the church was named in her honour.

Under the new poor law of 1834 workhouses were to be built for groups of parishes known as poor-law unions. The Devon Exmoor parishes were placed in the South Molton union. South Molton workhouse was built in 1837 for 230 inmates though it usually held less than half that number. Poor and elderly people who could not support themselves went to the workhouse. The children of lone women were often born there and abandoned children were brought up in the institution, which had its own school. The mentally ill were often placed in workhouses like a young woman from Dulverton and a brother and sister from West Anstey housed in South Molton workhouse in 1881.

South Molton poor-law union included the southern Exmoor parishes of East and West Anstey, Molland and Twitchen and for several decades the district, later parish, of Exmoor in Somerset.  There were a number of disturbances in towns in Devon and Cornwall, including South Molton, when the new poor law was introduced. One of the main problems was unemployment caused by a depression in the trade in cheap woollen cloth. Inexpensive cotton was replacing serge in Europe and America. That affected the Devon cloth industry, which had produced serge for centuries. Not only were the clothiers and their small factories short of orders, 11 in Crediton had been forced to close, but also many people in rural parishes supplemented their income by carding and spinning. The woolcombers of South Molton who had organised such work were suffering widespread unemployment. It was said in 1837 that '”ages are at present too low to allow the Agricultural Laborer the means of supporting himself and a wife and family consisting of 4 or 5 children”.

When the South Molton workhouse opened in 1837 it was said to be full but by 1841 there were only 107 inmates and thereafter it never seems to have had more than 100 although it could accommodate over 200. A shooting incident in 1840 appears to have led to the replacement of the master and mistress, Robert and Maria Leach, by Robert and Margaretta Jowell. In 1841 there were only four staff. Most of the inmates that year were young female servants and their children.

The Mill
More information about the history and location of many of the Holy Wells in Tarka Country can b'e found on the special Holy Wells Website: www.holywells.com

Also close to South Molton is the North Devon Farm Park, which is situated 2 miles from Barnstaple on the Landkey/Swimbridge road. There is free parking and the attractions include pony rides, tractor rides, shire horses, nature walks and a museum. Tel (01271 830255)

For anyone who enjoys natural history at close quarters then a visit to the Exmoor Bird Garden is an excellent choice. Situated on the B3226 midway between Blackmoor Gate and Bratton Fleming, it is open daily and extends over 12 acres and the displays include a large collection of tropical birds. Tel (01598 763352)

South Molton is known as the Gateway to Exmoor. It is a thriving small country town full of friendly people plus a good variety of shops, some selling quite unusual wares. There are numerous alleyways lined with buildings in a hotchpotch of architectural styles. Local residents are extremely innovative in designing gardens in what are often tiny pocket-handkerchief-sized pieces of land.When approaching South Molton from any direction one's eye is drawn to the church of St Mary Magdalene. Dating from Saxon times, the church was rebuilt in the fifteenth century and dominates the rest of the town to this day. There are well-established walkways linking the church to the town centre One of these, New Walk, was created as a processional way - a direct link between the church and the Guildhall - when the church became part of the corporate identity in the mid-eighteenth century. A mitre, symbolising the church and the townspeople's allegiance to it, is part of the town crest.  Surrounded by a rural hinterland, South Molton has a higher than average number of its working population employed in agriculture. The importance of this industry to the town cannot be underestimated; it has been Saxon times. The market place was originally in the Square, known as Broad Street. It developed as a shambles of semi-permanent shops used mainly by butchers. Between 1710 and 1765 about thirty of these were bought by the corporation and demolished to make a large open market place with wooden shambles. On sale in the market was produce which could be carried in over several miles: cheese, butter, eggs, fruit, vegetables, poultry and meat. The present Pannier Market, completed by local builder John Cock in 1863, is probably the most impressive building in the town centre. Visit the Pannier Market on a Thursday when it bustles with activity. An excellent WI stall stocks a wide range of homemade cakes and pies plus fruit, vegetables and plants in season and craft items promoting local sustainable development. This stall seems to encapsulate what the original pannier market would have sold when women accompanied their men bringing cattle and sheep to sell in the livestock market, carrying the panniers and baskets from which they sold their own wares. Other stalls, including plants, pottery, clothes, pet foods and flowers, reflect the demands of twentieth-century consumers.  Sheep have always been important to South Molton. The town crest features a a market centre since fleece as well as the aforementioned mitre and the crown. The arches of the Pannier Market display rams' heads, the sheep fair field on the southern edge of the town holds the annual sheep fair and the wealth brought by wool in the past is reflected in the richness of the town's Georgian buildings. The proximity of the River Mole, from which the town takes its name, meant that the woollen industry was able to develop. In 1644 there were three fulling mills on the river and during the eighteenth century South Molton reached its peak of prosperity.

In 1851 there were thirty-seven tailors and ten tailors' apprentices employed in the clothing trade. Fifty-three married  women and ninety-three single women and girls were milliners or dressmakers. Most of this work took place in South and East Street as well as Broad Street. Wool serge was exported to Europe but by the 1890s the woollen trade had died out because of competition from Yorkshire In 1800 the first factory for spinning wool was opened and continued working until 1888. It reopened in 1890 as a shirt and collar factory employing mainly women and was in operation until quite recently when part of it became a laundry. This has since closed but the factory's location can be easily identified by the name of the lane Factory Row a few yards from the River Mole to the east of the town. A tannery in East Street was set up in 1851 when the master tanner, William Gould Smyth, employed twenty-eight men, eighteen of whom lived in cottages close by. These buildings can all be seen today although the tannery now accommodates a variety of light industries. Most of South Molton's present day industries, including a chocolate-making factory, are located to the east of the town on the Pathfields Estate which is built on the site of the old railway station, closed, along with so many others, in the 1960s. The chipboard factory situated on a hill to the west of the town emits a plume of steam which can be seen from many miles away and is a good landmark as well as being my personal wind vane! This factory is not what one expects to see in rural North Devon but it is an important part of the local economy. Apart from the Pannier Market there are other fine buildings located around the Square. The Town Hall was formerly the Guildhall, built in 1743 and constructed from materials brought from Stowe House, near Kilkhampton in Cornwall. This mansion was being demolished so various items, including doors and windows, were transported to Bude, shipped to Barnstaple and then carried to South Molton. In 1773, what is now called the Old Assembly Room was built as a dining room. Below this were the kitchens; spacious rooms which now house the South Molton and District Museum. This museum received the Small Museums Award in 1987 and is well worth a visit. On the front of the Town Hall is a bust of Hugh Squier who was born in South Molton in, 1625. He was a successful merchant in London, sadly predeceased by his wife and young children. As a result of this misfortune he endowed a school for poor children which eventually became the town's main school. In his will he made further provision for the school as well as bequeathing property and money for the upkeep of the town. More than 350 years later the town's needs are similar - new educational facilities are required plus a face-lift for the town.

The Post Office was originally the Corn Market, built in 1809. It was open underneath with arches fronting on to the Square. There used to be more buildings on the north side including Poole's Printing Works but these were demolished to allow access for increased traffic to and from Barnstaple. On the opposite of the Square is the Medical Hall situated on the western end of Oliver's Island. (The unanswered question is: 'Who was Oliver?') Here, Ionic columns support a wrought-iron balcony and the ground floor space is occupied by,a pharmacy still carrying on the medical tradition. The George Hotel was the town's principal coaching inn and also a theatre tavern, hence the series of masks on the hotel's facade. The town was one of the top three voted as having changed the least since the 1960s. However, this does not mean that there is an air of complacency amongst the local residents and the town does maintain an air of vitality in a subdued kind of way.

 Tourist Information Centre 01769 574122

Markets: Thursday - Pannier & Cattle; Saturday - Pannier (summer only).

Places to visit: - Quince Honey Farm, Hancock's Devon Cider, South Molton Museum

• South Molton Community website
• http://www.visitsouthmolton.co.uk/
• www.southmolton.org
• www.visitsouthmolton.co.uk
  The official South Molton tourist association web site
• www.northdevonlink.co.uk/south-molton.htm

Contributed by: Lucy Pinknall