What's the name of that inaccessible Devon village with legends of inbreeding?

[Buckets]

Years ago my Devonshire aunt told me about a village (Dartmoor I think) that in olden days was so inaccessible that people had odd genetic mutations. Just popped into my head today, can anyone expand on the legend (or disprove it?)

I always heard this about Redruth. But again not Devon.

The isolated abandoned places on Dartmoor tend to be single farms (e.g Nun's Cross Farm)

There's Milton Coombe on the edge of Dartmoor, down a steep hill, but that's only inaccessible when its icy. And Sir Francis Drake lived about a mile away so it can't ever have been that inaccessible.

I think Dartmoor is really unlikely tbh- it's not really a place of inaccessible valleys. It's just high, open and windswept. Exmoor a better bet.

I thought it was Norfolk too, the whole Normal For Norfolk thing here

And this too NFN

I HATE that normal for norfolk thing (or normal for cornwall- another one). Someone here was told that about her child by a doctor and a professional involved with ds1 told me she flipped when she found 'normal for cornwall' written in one child's notes.

Would be funny if professionals were mature enough not to use it about real children.

Another vote for Tiverton (crime centre of mid-devon) or Shepton Mallet up in Somerset.

GP friend told me that when he had done his training in Norfolk that he had come across the NFN acronym on patients' notes. Perhaps he was pulling our legs?

No unfortunately I doubt he was. It's certainly used and is VILE imo.

It's Cornwall and Pensilva that has the reputation for inbreeding! Milton Coombe v accessible and has a great pub as well.

Apparently it was Milton Combe, she knew someone who did a national project on inbreeding in the UK and apparently Milton Combe came up in the research, with mentions of 6 toes and village-wide resemblance! I'm assuming the accessibility issues were pre-car although there seems to have been a thriving factory there in the 19th century. However, I can't find any gossip or legends online (for surely there would be piss-taking somewhere in cyberspace) so I am somewhat sceptical too.

I don't buy that about Milton Combe. It's not isolated at all and never really has been. I've seen lots of people from Milton Combe barefoot and never spotted 6 toes!

Exbourne has a lot of the same surname

There was a village in Glos which was saved from terminal inbreeding by the arrival of GIs in WWII.

Don't know about Dartmoor.

I think most areas have these sorts of tales. In Swansea people joke about Penclawdd and inbreeding and in Gloucestershire it is the Forest of Dean...

Here were are. Pretty isn't it Houses are quite expensive there now!

I wasn't joking fio! My parents knew the village quite well.

Not Norfolk anymore. Well not in this village. Most people seem to be from out of the county including me.

No not a laughing matter but it is fascinating, is it not? The idea of being able to pinpoint mutations to some degree at least within some historical context.

And yeah, those hills don't look that steep at all .

Within half a mile of Milton Combe is Buckland Abbey, from where Francis Drake was able to rush off into Plymouth to play bowls. It's honestly not remote. If you follow the stream you have quite a reasonably flat route into Plymouth, and if you go up the hill- it's one short hill (used to be hard for buses when icy or snowy) but it's not very long. Within 2 miles of the place you have Crapstone (yep it really is called that) and Buckland Monachorum which has always been a reasonably sized village. During the war there was the big Harrobeer aerodrome about a mile away.

I'm sorry I think it's bollocks. It's just not a remote place. There would have been no reason for inbreeding.

The town I live in has a mention on this thread

It is true to a certain extent that inbreeding is a problem although the town is big enough to keep the gene pool from getting too samey, however there is a huge mistrust of outsiders and a lot of people have never been to the next town never mind to another county or Lunnon Town. My colleague (who lives in a village 20 miles away) was reviled by his IL's because their daughter left the town to live with him... he reckons part of the reason his relationship didn't last was because his inlaws didn't consider him as local enough and as far as they were concerned, he took their daughter away

'Children aged 8 and over, walked to School in Buckland Monachorum during the early years of the twentieth century.'
Yep, think that proves the accesibility of Milton Combe!

I hate that 'normal for XXXX' thing too. So rude and arrogant. 'Oh look at us civilized city dwellers. Let's take the p* out of those ignorant country folk' Sickening...

Where's your aunt from Buckets? My guess is somewhere inaccessible like Brentor or Lydford....