Photo © Fernweh, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Holne
Holne is a village and civil parish on the south-eastern slopes of Dartmoor, with the River Dart forming the parish's eastern and northern boundaries. The 2021 census recorded 303 residents. It is in Domesday Book (1086) as one of William of Falaise's Devon manors.
The church of St Mary the Virgin was built about 1300 and enlarged early in the sixteenth century. A priest is recorded at Holne in 1240, and the church first belonged to Buckfast Abbey. The rood screen dates from about 1480 to 1500 and has 38 saints' panels. The goblet-shaped pulpit is of the same period. The original font was found in use as a pig trough and recovered in 1892. In the churchyard is a dole table, set on John Goswell's chest tomb of 1782, and a yew that dendrologists put at over 1,000 years old. Wikipedia gives it as planted about 1300, so the age is not settled.
The Church House Inn stands beside the church. Tradition says it was built in 1329 to house the masons working on the church, but no record has been found for that date. A floor was added in the 1400s to lodge clergy and monks from Buckfast, and an oak screen in it dates from about 1530. Its main room is called the Kingsley Room.
Charles Kingsley, author of The Water Babies and Westward Ho!, was born in the vicarage in 1819, while his father was curate-in-charge for a few months. A window in the church with his portrait was put in in 1894. Holne Chase Castle, an Iron Age hill fort, lies between two medieval bridges over the Dart, Holne Bridge and New Bridge.
Holne on the map
In Holne
Church of St Mary the Virgin, Holne
Holne, Newton Abbot
Grade I church of about 1300 enlarged about 1500, with a painted screen and pulpit of that date; Charles Kingsley was born in the village in 1819.
Dartmoor Shepherds Huts
Holne
The site has direct access onto Holne moor which has stunning walks and breath-taking views and is a short walk from the River Dart where there are plenty of spots for wild swimming.
Holne Chase
Holne, Ashburton
A peaceful holiday cottage estate in the Dart Valley near Ashburton, offering two beautifully converted cottages on the edge of Dartmoor.
Holne Parish Council
Holne, Newton Abbot
The parish council for Holne, a small village on the southeastern edge of Dartmoor.
Holne War Memorial
Holne, Buckfastleigh
A solemn memorial to Holne's fallen, standing witness on the edge of open moorland.
Rosemary Bonney
Holne
I am a painter and creative photographer working from my studio in Holne with spectacular views across Dartmoor.
Sharrah Pool
Holne
One of the most beautiful wild-swimming pools in the Dart Gorge, a long, deep reach of clear green water between two cascades, lined with granite slabs and little sandy coves.
The Holne Ram Feast and Revel
Holne
Holne's ram feast was a May Day custom in which a ram was caught on the moor, tied to a granite pillar, roasted whole and shared out; it became the Holne Revel and is now a village fete.
Venford Reservoir
Holne
A small reservoir on the southern moor above Holne, built in 1907 to supply Paignton. It dams Venford Brook on Holne Moor, with an easy path around the water and Venford Falls tumbling below the dam.
White Woods
Holne
Ancient oak woodland on the south side of the River Dart gorge below Bench Tor, part of the Devon Wildlife Trust's Dart Valley reserve, reached via Venford Reservoir.
