South Hams

This article is about the district. For the constituency, see South Hams (UK Parliament constituency).

Not to be confused with South Hampshire.

South Hams
From Start Point looking towards Hallsands and Beesands
South Hams shown within Devon
Coordinates (Totnes): 50°25′53″N 3°41′28″W
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	South West England
Non-metropolitan county	Devon
Formed	1 April 1974
Government
• Type	District council
• Body	South Hams District Council
• HQ	Totnes
• Sub-divisions	Civil parishes
• UK Parliament	South West Devon Totnes
• MPs (respectively)	Gary Streeter Anthony Mangnall
• Political party	Liberal Democrats
Area
• Total	342.28 sq mi (886.51 km2)
• Rank	Ranked 36th
Population  (2022)
• Total	89,812
• Rank	Ranked 264th
• Density	260/sq mi (101/km2)
• Ethnicity	99.09% White 97.04% White British 0.47% White Irish 1.57% Other White   0.13% Asian 0.06% Indian 0.02% Pakistani 0.02% Bangladeshi 0.03% Other Asian   0.12% Black 0.05% Black Caribbean 0.04% Black African 0.03% Other Black   0.49% Mixed 0.10% White & Black Caribbean 0.05% White & Black African 0.16% White & South Asian 0.18% White & Other   0.17% East Asian and Other 0.07% Chinese 0.10% Other
ONS code	18UG
Website	www.southhams.gov.uk

South Hams is a local government district on the south coast of Devon, England. Services divide between those provided by its own Council headquartered in Totnes, and those provided by Devon County Council headquartered in the city of Exeter.

Beside Totnes are its towns of Dartmouth, Kingsbridge, Salcombe, and Ivybridge — the most populous with 11,851 residents, as at the 2011 Census.

To the north, it includes part of Dartmoor National Park, to the east borders Torbay, and to the west Plymouth. It contains some of the most unspoilt coastline on the south coast, including the promontories of Start Point and Bolt Head. The entire coastline, along with the lower Avon and Dart valleys, form most of the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The South Hams, along with nearby Broadsands in Paignton, is the last British refuge of the cirl bunting.

History

The South Hams were formerly part of the Brythonic (Celtic) Kingdom of Dumnonia, later reduced to the modern boundary at the River Tamar as Cornwall, presumably during the tenth-century reign of Æthelstan. Post-Roman settlement on coastal promontory hillforts, such as Burgh Island, follows the established pattern of trading—of tin in particular—found across the western, so-called 'Celtic', Atlantic coastal regions. In the later Anglo-Saxon era, the South Hams was a feudal estate consisting of all of the land between the River Plym and River Dart and south of Dartmoor with the English Channel forming the southern boundary. There is some evidence that Cornish was spoken and understood in the area until the late Middle Ages.

In 1917, the village of Hallsands was abandoned after much of it was lost to the sea. This happened because the shingle bank protecting the shore was removed to help build Devonport dockyard.

In 1944 several villages were evacuated so that training for D-Day could be carried out in secret. The area was chosen because of the resemblance of its beaches to those of Normandy. Preparations were disrupted, and secrecy nearly compromised, by a devastating E-boat attack during Exercise Tiger. In 1967, the suburban towns of Plympton and Plymstock were amalgamated with the City of Plymouth.

The current district was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, by the merger of:

• Borough of Dartmouth
• Borough of Totnes
• Kingsbridge Rural District
• Kingsbridge Urban District
• Plympton St Mary Rural District
• Salcombe Urban District
• Totnes Rural District

In the 2016 EU Referendum it voted to remain with a very high (80.3%) turnout.

Geography

Geography divides into three unequal, fuzzy bands, one with bays, headlands, the birdlife, fishing and small harbour towns' estuaries and rias; an unequal wide-ranging elevations middle band with the main, well-conserved towns and; a sparsely populated, upland National Park moorland in the north. For over a century its tourism was concentrated around the railway, with most stations built here from 1847 to 1872 so tourism to its beaches and fishing villages began in earnest much later than to the 'English Riviera' east of the area. South Hams' widespread tourism multiplied on the dualling of the A38 and time-cutting construction of the M5 and A303 across other parts of south-west England.

In the north, there is...the "wildscape"—...[a new] bypass [to the A30, the A38]...cut[s] through some of the most beautiful country in Britain, that of the Dartmoor national park....while in the south-west there is extensive mining of china clay...[an abortive] tungsten mine in the Shaugh Prior — Sparkwell area will be [would have been] amongst the largest in the world and probably the largest in Europe. The wildscape band runs from Cadover Bridge and Shaugh Prior in the west right over to the other side of Dartmoor, to the Avon dam, Shipley Bridge and South Brent, touching the outskirts of Buckfastleigh.

The second band is the agricultural belt of lush, fertile farmland which produces some of the finest milk and Devon cream. Within that belt are the medieval towns of Modbury and Totnes and small hamlets and villages such as...Holbeton, Marldon and Berry Pomeroy.

The third band is the Heritage coast [and South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty], running from near the fishing port of Brixham through Churston, Kingswear, Dartmouth, Slapton Sands, Torcross, East Prawle, Salcombe and Bigbury Bay almost to the boundaries of Plymouth in Heybrook bay. That area is filled with rivers such as the Erme, the Plym, the Avon and the Dart. [There is] an island in the shape of Burgh Island. There are rolling hills, deep wooded valleys, estuaries full of fish and a coastline full of crab, lobsters and oysters. The climate is warm and mellow. Some regard it as a garden of Eden. We even have a naturist beach and hotel. ...forgive me if I wax lyrical about this beautiful, delightful area. Tourism is an important livelihood...the other is farming...for many.

— Anthony Steen, MP for this area (1983–2010), South-West Region potential and current public priorities debate, 1983)

Note: The aforementioned Brixham and Churston are geographically within neighbouring Torbay but were part of the South Hams Parliamentary constituency.

Settlements

• Ash, Aish, Allaleigh, Ashprington, Aveton Gifford
• Badworthy, Bantham, Beesands, Beeson, Berry Pomeroy, Bickleigh, Bigbury-on-Sea, Bittaford, Blackawton, Blackpool, Bolberry, Brixton, Broadhempston, Buckland-Tout-Saints
• Charleton, Chillington, Chivelstone, Churchstow, Cornwood, Cornworthy, Curtisknowle
• Dartington, Dartmouth, Dean Prior, Didworthy, Diptford, Dittisham, Dodbrooke (neighbourhood of Kingsbridge)
• East Allington, East Charleton, East Portlemouth, East Prawle, Ermington
• Ford (Chivelstone), Ford (Holbeton), Frogmore
• Goveton
• Hallsands, Halwell, Harberton, Harford, Hemsford, Heybrook Bay, Holbeton, Holne, Hutcherleigh
• Ivybridge
• Kingsbridge, Kingston, Kingswear
• Landscove, Ledstone, Lee Moor, Littlehempston, Loddiswell, Lutton
• Malborough, Marldon, Michelcombe, Modbury, Moreleigh
• Newton Ferrers, Noss Mayo, North Huish
• Rattery, Revelstoke, Rew, Ringmore, Roborough
• Salcombe, Scorriton, Shaugh Prior, Sherford (near Kingsbridge), Sherford (new town), Slapton, Soar, South Brent, South Huish, South Milton, South Pool, Sparkwell, Start, Staverton, Stoke Fleming, Stoke Gabriel, Stokenham, Sutton
• Thurlestone, Torcross, Totnes, Tuckenhay, The Mounts
• Ugborough, Uphempston
• Washbourne, Wembury, West Alvington, Woodleigh, Woolston Green, Wotter, Wrangaton
• Yealmpton

Politics

Main article: South Hams District Council elections

South Hams District Council
Logo
Type
Type	Non-metropolitan district council of South Hams
Houses	Unicameral
History
Founded	1 April 1974
Leadership
Leader	Judy Pearce, Conservative since 16 May 2019
Structure
Seats	31
Political groups	Administration (16)   Conservative (16) Opposition (15)   Liberal Democrats (10)   Green (3)   Independent (2)
Elections
Voting system	First past the post
Last election	2 May 2019
Next election	2023
Meeting place
Follaton House, Plymouth Road, Totnes, TQ9 5NE
Website
www.southhams.gov.uk

The South Hams is represented in the House of Commons by two parliamentary constituencies. The constituencies however do not represent the borders of the South Hams. Sir Gary Streeter and Anthony Mangnall represent the constituencies of South West Devon and Totnes respectively.

In South Hams, most councillors who are elected have been nominated by one of England's major political parties, although there have also been a small number of independents in previous elections. As of the 7 May 2015 election, the majority of councillors in the council are Conservatives. Up until 1983, the council was governed by independent councillors, before the Conservatives gained a majority in 1987; a position which has since been held (excluding a brief period where they lost control between 1995–99). In the 2023 election the Liberal Democrats took control of the council for the first time in its history.

Date		Conservative	+/-		Liberal Democrat	+/-		Greens	+/-		Labour	+/-		Independent	+/-	Control
2011	30			5			3			1			1			Conservative
2015	25		-5	2		-3	3		=	1		=	0		-1	Conservative
2017	24		-1	3		+1	3		=	1		=	0		=	Conservative
2019	16		-8	10		+7	3		=	0		-1	2		+2	Conservative
2023	7		-9	19		+9	3		=	1		+1	1		-1	Liberal Democrats (UK)

Mapped results by ward as of May 2019

Electoral wards

The district of South Hams is divided into 20 wards, each returning between one and three councillors. Some wards are coterminous with civil parishes, though most consist of multiple parishes or parts of parishes. The following table lists the electoral wards of South Hams and the associated civil parishes.

Ward	Civil Parishes	No. of councillors
Allington & Strete	Buckland-Tout-Saints Charleton East Allington Frogmore and Sherford Slapton Strete	1
Bickleigh & Cornwood	Bickleigh (part) Cornwood Harford Shaugh Prior	1
Blackawton & Stoke Fleming	Blackawton Halwell and Moreleigh Stoke Fleming	1
Charterlands	Bigbury Kingston Modbury Ringmore	1
Dartington & Staverton	Dartington Staverton	1
Dartmouth & East Dart	Dartmouth Kingswear Stoke Gabriel	3
Ermington & Ugborough	Ermington Ugborough (part)	1
Ivybridge East	Ivybridge (part) Ugborough (part)	2
Ivybridge West	Ivybridge (part)	2
Kingsbridge	Kingsbridge	2
Loddiswell & Aveton Gifford	Aveton Gifford Churchstow Loddiswell Woodleigh	1
Marldon & Littlehempston	Berry Pomeroy Littlehempston Marldon	1
Newton & Yealmpton	Holbeton Newton and Noss Sparkwell Yealmpton	2
Salcombe & Thurlestone	Malborough Salcombe South Huish South Milton Thurlestone West Alvington	2
South Brent	Dean Prior Diptford Holne North Huish Rattery South Brent West Buckfastleigh	2
Stokenham	Chivelstone East Portlemouth South Pool Stokenham	1
Totnes	Totnes	3
Wembury & Brixton	Brixton Wembury	2
West Dart	Ashprington Cornworthy Dittisham Harberton	1
Woolwell	Bickleigh (part)	1

Responsibilities for services

As of 2022, South Hams District Council is responsible for a population of 89,812 (ranked 264th in England) and covers an area of 887 km² (342 sq mi) (ranked 36th). South Hams along with Devon County Council and 61 town and parish councils operate a three-tier system of local government. Devon County Council is responsible for larger issues such as education, highways and social services. South Hams District Council and Devon CC are jointly responsible for community transport, economic development, emergency planning, environmental protection, museums and arts, recycling, street lighting and tourism. More minor responsibilities are held by just the district council and/or the town and parish councils. Some of these responsibilities include car parks, litter, public toilets and waste collection. In order to reduce waste and injuries to the public, the council offer seagull-proof sacks as form of waste management.

See also

• Grade I listed buildings in South Hams
• Grade II* listed buildings in South Hams

External links

• South Hams District Council
• south-hams