About Cullompton
A Devon market town with Saxon roots, a proud cloth-and-paper heritage, and one of the finest parish churches in the West Country.
Cullompton sits on the River Culm in a green valley in Mid Devon, around 13 miles north-east of Exeter and just off Junction 28 of the M5. Home to roughly 10,000 people, “Cully” is a busy market town that has kept its historic character while growing into a lively modern community. For generations it was known for its working textile and paper mills — and for one of the most dramatic fires in the West Country’s history.
What’s in a name?
The town appears in Anglo-Saxon records as Columtune, most likely meaning “the settlement on the River Culm.” Local tradition offers a second, more romantic story — that the name honours Saint Columba of Tir-dá-Glas, said to have preached to the West Saxons here in 549 AD. By the time of the Domesday Book in 1086, Cullompton was a modest manor recorded in the Devon hundred of Silverton.
A potted history
Saxon settlers moved into the Culm Valley in the 7th century, and Cullompton grew up around an important early church, or minster. In 872 AD, King Alfred the Great bequeathed Columtune and its lands to his son Æthelweard. After the Norman Conquest the manor passed to Lady Gytha, mother of King Harold II, before being granted by William the Conqueror to his own kin.
The town’s long, handsome high street reflects the prosperity it enjoyed from the 16th to the 18th century, when Cullompton was an important centre of the West Country cloth and wool trade. Wealthy merchants left their mark in fine buildings such as St Andrew’s Church and The Walronds. Older history survives just outside the centre, too: two Roman forts were discovered on St Andrew’s Hill in 1984 — now a scheduled monument.
Mills, wool & paper
Water from the River Culm and its mill leats powered Cullompton’s industries for centuries. Alongside the wool and cloth trade, the Culm Valley became a centre of papermaking: paper was made by hand at Higher Kings Mill from the 1750s, and after Albert Reed bought the mill in 1883 the business grew into part of Reed & Smith — one of the largest papermakers in the country. Remarkably, paper is still produced at Higher Kings Mill today, a living link to the town’s industrial past.
The Great Fire of 1839
On a hot, blustery 7 July 1839, fire broke out in a thatched house near New Street. It should have been containable — but by local legend the fire crew had been celebrating a birthday over the traditional strong cider, and by the time they responded the flames had taken hold. Around two-thirds of the town was destroyed, yet astonishingly only one life was lost. Cullompton was rebuilt with slate roofs in place of thatch — which is why so much of today’s town centre wears its distinctive 19th-century face.
Landmarks & heritage
St Andrew’s Church
Often called one of the finest parish churches in the West Country. Its soaring 15th–16th-century tower dominates the town, while inside you’ll find a richly painted rood screen, carved bench ends, a Jacobean gallery and stained glass designed by Edward Burne-Jones for Morris & Co.
The Walronds
A Grade I listed Jacobean townhouse on Fore Street, rebuilt 1603–05 for lawyer John Peter. One of Devon’s finest surviving high-status town houses, it is now a community venue for fairs, workshops and exhibitions. walronds.com →
Fore Street & the heritage trail
The street plan still follows the medieval layout, with shops along Fore Street and hidden courts and alleyways behind. A heritage trail with information boards tells the story of the town’s mills, foundries and merchants.
Cullompton at a glance
Explore more local history at the Cullompton History Archive, or find out about the town’s governance at Cullompton Town Council and the community-led Our Cullompton.
Curious where Cully is heading? See Cullompton’s Future — the returning railway station, Culm Garden Village and the town-centre relief road.