Roundswell & Sticklepath History :

Your readers will be able to find out the early history of the Sticklepath community from "The Story of a Modern Church", a booklet about the history of St.Paul's, the parish church first of Sticklepath then also Roundswell as well. It was written in 1996 by Richard Sears to mark the 40th anniversary of the new church, picking up on the research over several years of a former churchwarden, Tom Treloar, who has now moved to Truro.  Richard still lives on Sticklepath Hill but works much of the time in Bristol.  The booklet is copyright and you would need to contact Richard about republishing any information in it, but we do have a few copies left which are sold for church funds. Copies are available at the back of St.Pauls (£3.60).  The booklet was published by C & G Enterprises, a former business of one our present churchwardens and her husband, our Treasurer.

 

I am in possession of a number of old photos and newspaper cuttings, some of which were used in the book. In 1935 when the foundation stone of the first church was laid there were only 158 dwellings. Only Sticklepath Cottages and few other buildings existed before the 1920s, when the gradually move of Barnstaple up the hill began. Most of the life of the early community revolved around the church and even though the school later built was not a church school, there were several connections with St.Paul's as there still are, speaking as the longest serving Governor. In fact the first school in Sticklepath was run in what is now our church hall (then called the Parish Room) way back in 1936 as a day school for young children.

 

Regards

Guy Chave-Cox