Shebbear

Shebbear was the third-largest settlement recorded in North Devon in the Domesday Book, having 76 households, 20 of which were slaves. It was unusual in having no Lord, rather being owned directly by the King. Its pre-conquest Saxon name Sceftbeara (Spear-shaft Wood) gives a clue to its historical importance. It was later centre of Shebbear Hundred, a historic administrative area comprising the land surrounded on three sides by the River Torridge and the island of Lundy. An electoral ward exists titled Shebbear & Langtree. The 2021 census population of the parish was 1,021. The village shares its name with the Shebbeare family, who owned land in the area, and of which 18th-century political…