Crapstone is a village in the county of Devon

Devon

Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...

. The village is located on the edge of Dartmoor

Dartmoor

Dartmoor is an area of moorland in south Devon, England. Protected by National Park status, it covers .The granite upland dates from the Carboniferous period of geological history. The moorland is capped with many exposed granite hilltops known as tors, providing habitats for Dartmoor wildlife. The...

 and is approximately 1 miles (1.6 km) from the village of Yelverton

Yelverton, Devon

Yelverton is a large village on the south-western edge of Dartmoor, Devon, in England.When the village's railway station opened in the 19th century, the village became a popular residence for Plymouth commuters...

, 9 miles (14.5 km) from the city of Plymouth

Plymouth

Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...

 and 5 miles (8 km) from Tavistock.

History

During the Second World War Crapstone was the nearest village to RAF Harrowbeer

RAF Harrowbeer

RAF Harrowbeer was a World War II Royal Air Force airfield situated in the parish of Buckland Monachorum, Devon in the UK.-Location:RAF Harrowbeer was located approximately nine miles NNE of the city of Plymouth and approximately six miles south of Tavistock, and also sits within the boundary of...

. Members of the RAF crew were housed in the nearby villages of Crapstone, Yelverton and Buckland Monachorum. The Ministry of Defence

Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)

The Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....

 maintained a defence site in Crapstone until the 1980s when the site was cleared and converted for residential use.

In 2007 Crapstone was used as the name of the village in a television advert for the RAC

RAC plc

RAC Limited is a breakdown company in the United Kingdom supplying products and services for motorists. Initially formed as the "Associate Section" of the Royal Automobile Club, it was incorporated as R.A.C. Motoring Services Ltd. in 1978. It was then sold by the members of the Royal Automobile...

. Local residents started a protest group on the social networking site Facebook

Facebook

Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...

 complaining that the village used in the television advert was not actually Crapstone but a location using its name. One member of the group has stated that the location for filming was near 'The Pimple' at Tavistock; however none of this was mentioned anywhere in the advert.

The industrial hub of the town is found in the Crapstone business park, while the chief financial district is located at the banking counter within the local post office.

As a child, Christopher Hitchens

Christopher Hitchens

Christopher Eric Hitchens is an Anglo-American author and journalist whose books, essays, and journalistic career span more than four decades. He has been a columnist and literary critic at The Atlantic, Vanity Fair, Slate, World Affairs, The Nation, Free Inquiry, and became a media fellow at the...

 lived for some years in the village, and has noted his embarrassment at the name in his autobiography, as well as in the pages of Vanity Fair

Vanity Fair (magazine)

Vanity Fair is a magazine of pop culture, fashion, and current affairs published by Condé Nast. The present Vanity Fair has been published since 1983 and there have been editions for four European countries as well as the U.S. edition. This revived the title which had ceased publication in 1935...

.
Nearby villages include:

• Yelverton, Devon
  Yelverton, Devon
  Yelverton is a large village on the south-western edge of Dartmoor, Devon, in England.When the village's railway station opened in the 19th century, the village became a popular residence for Plymouth commuters...
  
  
• Milton Combe, Devon
  Milton Combe, Devon
  Milton Combe is a village in Devon approximately 2 miles from Yelverton and 8 miles from the city of Plymouth. The name Milton Combe is derived from the village's historic name, first mentioned in 1249, of 'Mile Cumbe' literally meaning 'Middle Valley'...
  
  
• Buckland Monachorum
  Buckland Monachorum
  Buckland Monachorum is a village and civil parish in the West Devon district of Devon, England, situated on the River Tavy, about 10 miles north of Plymouth.In 2006 the neighbourhood had an estimated 1,511 residents and 654 dwellings....
  
  

External links