East Allington

East Allington
East Allington parish hall
East Allington is located in Devon
East Allington
East Allington
Location within Devon
Population596 (2001 census)
Civil parish
  • East Allington
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
List of places
UK
England
Devon
50°19′N 3°44′W / 50.317°N 3.733°W / 50.317; -3.733

East Allington is a village and civil parish in the South Hams district of Devon, England, three miles (5 km) south of Halwell and just off the A381 road. It lies about three miles (5 km) from Kingsbridge and about ten miles (16 km) from Totnes. The coast at Slapton Sands is about five miles (8 km) to the south-east. Also in the parish is the hamlet of The Mounts, about one mile (1.6 km) away.

The parish is surrounded clockwise from the north by the parishes of Halwell, Blackawton, Slapton, Stokenham, Frogmore and Sherford, Buckland-Tout-Saints and Woodleigh.[1] Its population at 2001 was 596, up from 396 in 1901.[2] The village is also part of the electoral ward named Allington and Loddiswell with a population at the 2011 census of 2,265.[3] Historically, East Allington formed part of Stanborough Hundred, and for ecclesiastical purposes, it falls within Woodleigh Deanery.

The church, dedicated to St. Andrew, overlooks the village from a hillside position. The first rector here was presented in 1268, and Bishop Grandisson dedicated the altar in 1333. The present building, however, dates from the 15th and 16th centuries.[2]

It was in East Allington Church, on 12 November 1943, that the announcement was first made to the people of a large part of the South Hams that they were all to be evacuated from the area by 20 December 1943.[4] Although nobody was told the reason, it was because The War Office had chosen to use Slapton Sands to rehearse the D-Day landings, as the beach at Slapton is very similar to the beach at Normandy which had been chosen for the landings. Ultimately, 749 American soldiers died at Slapton Sands in April, 1944 in a German attack during the exercises.

Today, East Allington is a thriving village, with some new housing. It has a church, primary school, village hall, public house and recreation ground. Every year the road through the village is closed for the whacky races[5] which involve home-made soap box style go-karts racing downhill against the clock along a course lined with hay bales and crowds of people.

  1. ^ "Map of Devon Parishes" (PDF). Devon County Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 November 2013. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  2. ^ a b Harris, Helen (2004). A Handbook of Devon Parishes. Tiverton: Halsgrove. p. 163. ISBN 1-84114-314-6.
  3. ^ "Allington & Loddiswell ward population 2011". Retrieved 19 February 2015.
  4. ^ Putt, Jane. "The Evacuation of the South Hams". WW2 People's War. BBC. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
  5. ^ "Eastallingtonwhackyraces.co.uk - Domain Name Expired". Archived from the original on 22 March 2016. Retrieved 3 December 2019.