Molland

Coordinates: 51°02′31″N 3°42′14″W / 51.042°N 3.704°W / 51.042; -3.704

Molland is small village, civil parish, dual ecclesiastical parish with Knowstone and former manor, located on the southern slopes of the foothills of Exmoor in Devon, England. It lies within the North Devon local government district.

Geography

The northern boundary of the parish rises to 1,239 feet at Round Hill on Molland Common; its southern border mostly follows the River Yeo (a tributary of the River Mole), and part of its north-eastern border defines the county boundary with Somerset. The parish is surrounded, clockwise from the east, by the Devon parishes of West Anstey, a small part of East Anstey, Knowstone, Bishop's Nympton and Twitchen. The population of the parish was 203 in 2001, down from 397 in 1901.

The village lies on minor roads about 4 miles north of the A361 road between Bampton and South Molton.

History

A scatter of tumuli near Round Hill on Molland Common provide the earliest evidence of humans in the parish. A pollen analysis published in 2004 suggests that during the Romano-British period Molland Common was dominated by a pastoral economy with woodland, possibly managed, restricted to the steep-sided valleys. The evidence shows that the land continued in use for pasture until the 10th century when there was a marked increase in the cultivation of cereals. The researchers concluded that this change probably indicates an increase in population, and they pointed out that the evidence is consistent with the introduction of convertible husbandry, a type of land-use management not otherwise documented until the 1500s.