The Saving of Manning’s Pit for the Community

This post records briefly the extended but ultimately successful fight to save the land known locally as ‘Manning’s Pit’ for the community.  The approximately 18 acres of land runs from Windsor Road, in the west, to Shearford Lane, in the east, and from the bridge over Bradiford Water leading to Anchor Mill, in the north, and Lynbro Road, in the south. A public footpath crosses the land from Lynbro Road to Bradiford Water.  From the Shearford Lane entrance, a public footpath takes you to Tutshill Woods and eventually to the A39 to Shirwell or the B3230 at Blakewell.  In the Gallery below are some images of Manning’s Pit.

The name Manning’s Pit may well immortalise one Benjamin Manning, a Pilton Street butcher, baker and shopkeeper (trading at 29 and 30 Pilton Street and then later in Joy Street, Barnstaple) in the 19th century, who leased the land on this side of this bridge over Bradiford Water in 1871.  The name may derive from the disposal of animal bones on the land but there is no solid evidence for this.

During an intense period of planning activity in Pilton in the 2010s, Manning’s Pit was sold at auction in October 2015 to an investment company, Summix Ltd. The Friends of Manning’s Pit was formed to save it from development. A planning application was submitted on behalf of the owners in February 2017 but subsequently withdrawn in March 2018 shortly before it was about to be voted on by North Devon Council. In the light of the strong local objections, Summix Ltd then decided to sell the land and it came up for auction in September 2020. By that time, the Friends of Manning’s Pit had already started fundraising to buy the land for the community, supported by the Pilton Green Man CIO which had been formed in 2016.

Among many events held to raise funds and awareness of Manning’s Pit was the Poetry Competition held in January 2019 (see picture in the Gallery below). The campaign was also publicised during the Pilton Panto ‘Robin Hood and his Merry Men’ in February 2018 (see below) and other productions.  A sponsored walk in June 2021 raised funds (photo outside the Yeo Dale Hotel below). In January 2020, the Oggle Band played at a Ceilidh in Pilton Church Hall to raise money (see below).

The Manning’s Pit slope has been used for sledging when there has been the occasional heavy snowfall, the last time in 2010.  The Bradiford Water bridge is where people sledging could end up, sometimes in the water if they couldn’t slow up in time.

After a successful campaign to raise the money and subsequent protracted negotiations, the Friends’ offer to buy the land was accepted in June 2021 and the land is now owned by the Pilton Green Man CIO on behalf of the community.  It is managed by the Friends of Manning’s Pit and a small group of volunteers.  It is now grazed by cattle from mid-May until the end of October, to control the grass, protect the wild flowers, and raise money for the maintenance of fences, trees and gates.  It remains in use by the community for recreation, something which has been going on for many decades.

(Post updated June 2026)