The New Inn, Now Known As the Ashen Faggot, at the Little Village Of

257 Devon and Cornwall Notes and Queries, Volume 30. 179. Change of Name of the Village Inn at Northleigh«—The New Inn, now known as the Ashen Faggot, at the little village of Northleigh, in the beautiful Vale of the Coly, is one of the few places in East Devon where the ancient custom of burning the Ashen Faggot is still celebrated every Christmas Eve. The faggot, which often weighs as much as one hundredweight, and usually measures about five feet in length and eighteen inches in thickness, is burnt in the great open fireplace of the bar-parlour. It is composed of a number of sticks of green ash securely bound with from five to eight binds of hazel or withy. A large number of binds are used, because in the old days every time a bind was seen to bum apart it was the custom for all the assembled company to have a drink of cider or beer. The reason for the great size of the faggot can be easily understood when it is realized that the huge open fireplace at the inn is seven and a half feet in width and three feet in depth. The faggot used on Christmas Eve, 1966, was cut and tied by Mr. Ernest George Goddard, of Northleigh, who is 75 years of age. Except for the years 1956 and 1961, Mr. Goddard has been responsible for providing the inn with an ashen faggot since Christmas Eve 1929.1 As a matter of further interest regarding the bar-parlour, there are two large horseshoes fixed to the wall at the back of the fireplace which were placed there many years ago as a protection against witchcraft. They are five feet up from the hearth towards the right-hand side of the chimney. This superstitious precaution was probably taken about the year 1877 when there was an extraordinary witchcraft scare in the neighbouring village of Farway. Also at the back of the fireplace, on the left-hand side, there is a very large bread oven. This was used during the second half of the nineteenth century for baking bread for local consumption. At least two of the licensees during that period ran a bakery business in addition to keeping the inn.2 Daniel Hooper, one of the last of the East Devon smugglers, used to frequent the New Inn once upon a time. He was born on 10 January 1831, and died in Honiton in 1923 at the great age of 92.3 As a young man Daniel Hooper had been a member of the same smuggling gang as Samuel Bray of Woodhead Farm, Branscombe. Bray was one of the leaders of the Branscombe and Salcombe Regis smugglers, and, in 1857, he was convicted by the Sidmouth magistrates of being in possession of a large quantity of contraband. The smuggled goods consisted of thirty-five tubs, and six flagons of brandy, which had been concealed in the barn at Woodhead Farm.4 In the year 1876, the inn was being kept by a widow named Mary Ann Halfyard, and, curiously enough, the name of the rector of the parish was the Rev, Edward Yarde, Ever since that time there has been a traditional joke in the neighbourhood to the effect that at one period there used to be a yard and a half in the village of Northleigh. Because the original name of the inn was somewhat uninteresting, and because of its long connection with the charming old custom of burning a faggot of green ash every Christmas Eve, the New Inn at Northleigh was renamed the Ashen Faggot on 5 April 1966, by the owners—Messrs. 258 Devon and Cornwall Notes and Queries, Volume 30. Charrington and Company (South West) Ltd. of Yeovil, Somerset. A fine painted sign, depicting an ashen faggot lying across the iron fire-dogs of an open hearth, was fixed to a tall post in front of the inn on 14 September 1966. The artist who designed and painted the sign was Mr. Norman P. Seal of 76 South Street, Yeovil, Somerset. Licensees of the Ashen Faggot, Northleigh, from 1850. 1850-1856 Mary Ann Halfyard (widow). Her husband, Thomas Halfyard died on 22 April 1839, and lies buried in Northleigh churchyard. 1857—1858 J. Hawkins. He ran the New Inn in conjunction with a small bakery business.6 A quart pewter tankard bearing the inscription “J. Hawkins” is still preserved at the Ashen Faggot. 1858-1862 John Underdown 7 1866-1882 Mary Ann Halfyard (widow).8 She died on 2 May 1882, and was buried in Northleigh churchyard 1883- Tom Hawkins. He ran the New Inn in conjunction with a small bakery business.9 1889-1893 John Henry Collier 1897- Harry White. 1902-1907 Charles Trim 10 1907-1916 Henry Parrett. 1916-1924 Ralph Backwell 1924—1926 William Ivens Taverner 1926-1929 Fawkes Steirn 1929-1934 William George Conner 1934-1953 Ernest Vernon. Churchwarden of Northleigh Church 1955-1967 1953-1955 George Edward Melbourne 1955-1967 Hubert Ernest Joy 1957- John Netsel NOTES AND REFERENCES 1. Ernest George Goddard was born at Woodbridge, Farway, on. 10 November 1891. He was the son of Emmanuel and Mary Ann Goddard of Woodbridge, and was baptised at Farway Church on 25 December 1891. (Register Book of Births (Honiton), No. 39, entry No. 230.) 2. Billing’s Directory of the County of Devon (1857), p.156, and Kelly’s Directory of Devon and Cornwall 1883. 3. Ernest George Goddard can remember that about the year 1904 Daniel Hooper was known in the Northleigh neighbourhood as “Daniel the Prophet” because of his long white beard. 4. Trewman’s Exeter Flying Post 12 March, 1857, p. 7, and Smuggling Days in Devon, by J. R. W. Coxhead, pp. 26-29. 5. Devonshire by .W White (1850), p. 383, and Kelly’s Directory of Devon (1856), p. 208L 6. Billing’s Directory of the County of Devon (1857), p. 156. 7. Information obtained from a document in the possession of Mr. John James Underdown of Northleigh. 8. Kelly’s Directory of Devon. (l866), J. G. Harrod & Co’s Directory of Devon and Cornwall (1878.1, and Headstone in Northleigh churchyard. 9. The names and years of office of the licensees Scoot 1883 to 1902 have been taken from Kelly's directories of Devon and Cornwall. 10. The names and years of office of the licensees from 1903 to 1957 have been obtained from the Magistrates’ Clerks’ Office, 4 Northernhay Place, Exeter. J. R. W. Coxhead. .

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