Bucks Mills

Bucks Mills
The "Gut" blasted from the rocks on Bucks Mills beach.
Bucks Mills is located in Devon
Bucks Mills
Bucks Mills
Location within Devon
OS grid referenceSS357233
Civil parish
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Postcode districtEX35
PoliceDevon and Cornwall
FireDevon and Somerset
AmbulanceSouth Western
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Devon
50°59′11″N 4°20′30″W / 50.9863°N 4.3418°W / 50.9863; -4.3418

Bucks Mills is a small English village within the parish of Woolfardisworthy on the north coast of Devon. It was anciently the mill of the manor of Bucks, anciently Bokish,[1] Buckish,[2] Bochewis etc., listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Bochewis.[3] The village is within the North Devon Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and on the South West Coast Path.

Next to the village is Bucks Woods which includes the site of the Iron Age hill fort at Peppercombe Castle.

Pack donkeys at Buck Mills, 1906

The stream which runs through the village powered at least one mill. It falls over the cliff edge in a waterfall onto the beach which has large pebbles and hard sandstone formations. In the Elizabethan era a break in the rocks, known as the Gut, was created by Richard Cole (1568-1614), lord of the manor of Bucks, by blasting the rock with gunpowder to allow access to the small harbour built by him,[4] which has since disappeared, creating a small harbour for fishing vessels. In the 18th century this was used for the import of culm, a mixture of anthracite and limestone which was burnt in kilns to produce fertiliser.[5] The remains of two of the lime kilns can be seen on either side of the beach access.[6][7]

In the 18th and 19th centuries many of the residents of Bucks Mills and the surrounding villages were related to the Braund family and King Cottage within Bucks Mills was once the home of Captain James Braund who was informally known as the "King of Bucks".[8]

St Anne's Church was built in 1862.[9] The church was endowed by a Mrs Elwes, the Lord of the Manor of Walland Cary, the estate on which the village stood.[8]

At Bucks Mill Cabin resided artist Mary Stella Edwards and Judith Ackland.[10]

Hosted many child evacuees from London during World War 2, including actress

Prunella Scales (as featured in the "Bristol & the West Country" episode of "Great Canal Journeys" tv series)

  1. ^ Risdon, Tristram (d.1640), Survey of Devon, 1811 edition, London, 1811, with 1810 Additions, p.242
  2. ^ Thorn, Part 2 (Notes), 36:2
  3. ^ Thorn, Caroline & Frank, (eds.) Domesday Book, (Morris, John, gen.ed.) Vol. 9, Devon, Parts 1 & 2, Phillimore Press, Chichester, 1985, Chapter 36:2.
  4. ^ Risdon, p.242
  5. ^ "Bucks Mills Beach". North Devon Focus. Retrieved 15 August 2009.
  6. ^ Historic England. "Lime Kiln to east of beach access with access ramp (1250497)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 15 August 2009.
  7. ^ Historic England. "Lime Kiln to west of beach access (1263229)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 15 August 2009.
  8. ^ a b "Bucks Mills". North Devon Focus. Retrieved 15 August 2009.
  9. ^ Historic England. "Church of St Anne (1104436)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 15 August 2009.
  10. ^ "Bucks Mills Cabin Residency". Bucks Mills Cabin Residency. Retrieved 9 January 2018.