Feniton

The village

The original village of Feniton contains the 13th-century Church of St Andrew, the post office, and a number of thatched cottages. The Wesley chapel which was built in 1850 is now disused and functions as an animal store.

The Vine Water, a tributary of the River Otter, runs through this part of the village and is generally believed to have given the village its name.

Feniton new village lies about 0.75 miles (1.21 km) west of the original village and is separated by open countryside. This area was formerly known as Sidmouth Junction and for many years consisted of just a few houses, a public house and a chapel, which were associated with the building and operation of the railway station of the same name. From the mid-1960s onwards, this area was transformed into Feniton new village by various medium-scale housing developments. These were accompanied by the building of Feniton Primary School, two village shops (one of which has since closed), and a playing field. In 1967, when the new village was taking shape, the original Sidmouth Junction railway station and its associated branch line were closed as part of the Beeching cuts. The station was reopened by British Rail in 1971 with the new name of Feniton. South Western Railway operate services from it to Exeter and London Waterloo.

In 1976, Feniton signed a twinning charter with the village of Louvigny in Normandy, France

More recently, a sports and social club, private dental practice, hairdresser and fast food takeaway have opened in this part of the village.

Feniton today

In 2008 a number of residents were forced to move into the upper storeys of their houses to escape rising flood waters, and the village suffered again in November 2012: the village has its own Flood Warden scheme, and Devon County Council has estimated the cost of a flood defence scheme as in the region of £1.6 million.

Under East Devon District Council's draft Local Plan, the Council deemed that in the period up to 2026 it would be appropriate for Feniton to host another 35 houses. However, several developers have applied to build a large number of houses in and around the village.

References

• Devon County Council, https://web.archive.org/web/20140427231200/http://www.devon.gov.uk/index/councildemocracy/improving_our_services/facts_figures_and_statistics/factsandfigures/thepeople/peopleestandproj/peoplepopestimates/peoplefhsaeastpar.htm
• https://web.archive.org/web/20140703014659/http://eastdevon.gov.uk/drafteastdevonlocalplan.htm
• https://web.archive.org/web/20151102001255/http://www.devon.gov.uk/devon_november_floods_2012_final.pdf
• http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/9921344/Councillors-for-hire-who-give-firms-planning-advice.html

References

1. [http://www.devon.gov.uk/index/democracycommunities/improving_our_services/facts_figures_and_statistics/facts_and_figures/dff_the_county/dff_geographic_areas/dff_geog_areas_east_par.htm Devon County Council : ''East Devon Parishes''] {{webarchive. link. (30 September 2007)
2. "Feniton (Parish, United Kingdom) - Population Statistics, Charts, Map and Location".
3. "Feniton & Buckerell ward 2011".
4. "Church of St Andrew". English Heritage.
5. "Wesley Chapel". English Heritage.
6. (11 December 2012). "Flood hit Feniton villagers angry at home build plans". BBC News.
7. "About". Feniton Primary School.
8. "Sidmouth Junction". Disused Stations.
9. (14 September 2016). "40th ANNIVERSARY OF TWINNING OF FENITON AND LOUVIGNY".
10. "lafta1".
11. (25 January 2013). "Flooding". Feniton Parish Council.
12. (4 January 2016). "Water, water, everywhere ... here we go again!". Susie Bond.
13. "Feniton Housing Development – Ottery Road (120 or 59 houses)- Dismissed at Appeal". CPRE.