History of King's Nympton & Huxleigh
King's Nympton as a village has great pride in its local heritage. The name Nympton comes from the Celtic word Nemeton which designated a sacred place which in this case refers to a grove. Within these sacred places would have almost certainly been images and symbols of Celtic Gods. Indeed when recorded in the 'Doomsday' book the area was referred to in its 'latinised' name of Nimetone. Many of these sacred places remained important even after christian churches had begun to appear.
There are still echoes of this heritage today, for example the village pub was renamed as 'The Grove Inn' to reflect something of its Celtic history.
The Village church (St. James) dates back to the Saxon era, whilst the huge tower is believed to be one thousand years old - or more! The church roof holds striking carved bosses portraying heads of men and women. The ceiling was originally plastered in 1755 and depicts a huge golden cross in a sky of stars and clouds. The glory of the building reflects something of its importance to the village of King's Nympton and is well worth a look.
We have records for Huxleigh Cottage dating back to to the 1880s when it was owned by the Reverend Mordant Henry Martin Byne as part of his estate in King's Nympton. It was sold in 1921 to a William Henry Moore who passed it immediately on to Mr James Moore. In 1944 Mr Moore sold the property to a Mr R J Bowden. Since when there have been several other owners to bring us up to the present day.