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Summary

West Town was an early medieval estate, centred on High Street and St Lawrence's Green, which became a borough by the mid 13th century.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SS80SW/25

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• SETTLEMENT (Early Medieval - 1066 AD to 1399 AD (Between))

Full description

King, R. J., 1874, The Birthplace of Wynfrith or St. Boniface, 72-3 (Article in Serial). SDV124364.

The early settlement of Crediton is discussed.

Reichel, O. J., 1922, The Manor and Hundred of Crediton, 154,156,157,158,159,160,172 (Article in Serial). SDV40070.

West Town, Crediton. An early medieval estate which was included in Town Tithing. By 1242, it had gained Borough status.

Gover, J. E. B. + Mawer, A. + Stenton, F. M., 1931, The Place-Names of Devon: Part One, 404-5 (Monograph). SDV1312.

Crediton was first mentioned as 'Cridie' in 739, 'Crydiatun' in 974 and 'Chritetona' in 1086. It was referred to as 'Credington' in 1274 and 'Krytone' in 1380.

Venn, T. W., 1955, An Introduction to Crediton, alias Kirton or sometimes Critton, 28 (Article in Serial). SDV58742.

Timms, S. C., 1980, Proposed Conservation Area at Crediton (Report - non-specific). SDV354697.

West Town appears to have been a secondary development to East Town, perhaps coinciding with the foundation of the market town in the early 13th century. It has a simple linear plan, based on High Street, in the middle of which the market was until the construction of a purpose built market hall in 1836. West Town was originally joined to East Town by Bowden Hill and Park Street, Union road being a Victorian construction. The medieval layout of burgage plots can be seen on both sides of High Street. On the north side the rear boundary of the plots is marked by Buller Park Road and Alexandra Road and on the south side by Barnfield and the path to Stonypark Lane.

Reed, S. J. + Weddell, P. J., 1994, Archaeological Recording During Construction of the Crediton Sewer Pipeline Stage 4B (Report - Watching Brief). SDV40011.

'West Town' or 'Borough', centred on High Street and St Lawrence's Green. Property boundaries laid out in the 13th century as part of the creation of a new Borough by the Bishop of Exeter. High street contained flourishing yarn and flesh markets up to the early 19th century. Linked to East Town by Park Street and Bowden Hill and later by Union Road, built in 1830s.

Wessex Archaeology, 2000, Alexandra Road, Crediton: Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment (Report - Assessment). SDV323105.

Coates, R. + Breeze, A, + Horovitz, D., 2000, Crediton & the River Creedy: A Breeze, 129-130 (Article in Monograph). SDV323111.

'Creedy' and 'Crediton' provides evidence for Celtic speech in Devon and must have been borrowed by English before the late 7th century. The name comes from the Welsh verb 'cryddu' suggesting a small slow moving river.

Exeter Archaeology, 2003, Archaeological Asssessment of Land off Charlotte Street, Crediton, 2 (Report - Assessment). SDV352118.

Mid Devon District Council, 2003, Crediton Conservation Area Appraisal, Section 3 (Report - non-specific). SDV345978.

A second settlement grew up to the west (of the church), called Borough Town or West Town.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV2569 - Archaeological recording during construction of the Crediton sewer pipeline stage 4b
• EDV2570 - Alexandra Road, Crediton: Archaeological desk-based assessment

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