Crapstone

Village in Devon, England

Village in South West England

Crapstone

Village

Village street

Country| United Kingdom
Region| South West England
County| Devon
Postcode District|

PL20

Crapstone is a village in the county of Devon. The village is located on the edge of Dartmoor, in the parish of Buckland Monachorum and is approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) from the village of Yelverton, 9 miles (14 km) from the city of Plymouth and 5 miles (8 km) from Tavistock.

## History

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During the Second World War, Crapstone was the nearest village to RAF Harrowbeer. Members of the RAF crew were housed in the nearby villages of Crapstone, Yelverton and Buckland Monachorum. The Ministry of Defence maintained a defence site in Crapstone until the 1980s when the site was cleared and converted for residential use.[1]

In 2007 Crapstone was used as the name of the village in a television advert for the RAC.[2] Local residents started a protest group on the social networking site Facebook complaining that the village used in the television advert was not actually Crapstone but a location using its name.[3]

As a child, Christopher Hitchens lived for some years in the village, and noted his embarrassment at the name in his autobiography, as well as in the pages of Vanity Fair.[4] It has frequently been noted on lists of unusual place names.[5] Other previous residents include singer Michael Ball, Michael Foot (MP), Seth Lakeman, Sam Lakeman, Sean Lakeman, and the writer Emma Smith.[citation needed]

Nearby villages include:

* Yelverton, Devon
* Milton Combe, Devon
* Buckland Monachorum

## References

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1. ^ "Dispersed Sites". RAF Harrowbeare, Yelverton. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
2. ^ "RAC - Crapstone". TellyAds. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
3. ^ Christie, Jonathan (20 May 2008). "What's in a name? Britain's rudest places". The Independent. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
4. ^ Hitchens, Christopher. "England Made Them". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
5. ^ Lyall, Sarah (22 January 2009). "No Snickering: That Road Sign Means Something Else". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 July 2014.

## External links

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Media related to Crapstone at Wikimedia Commons 50°29′26″N 4°06′43″W﻿ / ﻿50.4905°N 4.11199°W﻿ / 50.4905; -4.11199