Welcome 

Shute parish lies within the East Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is in the Newbridges ward of East Devon District Council and under the Tiverton & Honiton parliamentary constituency. This green and pleasant parish has just over 500 electors across its six centres of population; Shute, Whitford (largest population), Umborne, Seaton Junction, Hampton and the outlying area north of the A35.

Shute
The land at Shute was first recorded in the 13th Century and a church since at least 1205. Shute Piers is a pair of historic pillars, seen on the approach to Shute. There is a medieval deer park, now privately owned and home to the 800 year old 'King John's Oak' among Shute's other trees of note. Shute's original manor house was built in 1380, much of which was demolished in 1787 to build the new Shute House. What remains of the original building became a tenanted farmhouse or Barton.  Today, Shute Barton is owned by the National Trust and Shute Gatehouse by the Landmark Trust – both offer unique holiday accommodation.
Whitford
The manor of Whitford, on the west bank of the River Axe, was established by 1086 and named after the local White Friars community. It became part of the Shute estate in 1554. There is a bustling social life in and around its village and hall with many activities, village Produce Association shows - and even canoe races. It has a church, St Mary at the Cross, one of two within Shute parish; the other being St Michael's.
Seaton Junction
Named after its pretty Victorian railway station which was opened in 1860 on the Exeter extension of the London and South Western Railway. It became part of the Beeching cuts in 1966 and is now privately owned. One of Shute's array of public footpaths crosses the footbridge. From here, the occasional steam train can still be spotted passing through the old station. Seaton Junction is also home to the award-winning Lyme Bay Winery.
Umborne
Umborne is a very rural community scattered along the beautiful, nature-rich Umborne valley and has the Umborne Brook for good measure. There is a village hall that is well-suited to its many popular social events.

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Our council meetings

Members of the public are welcome to attend our meetings. It would be greatly appreciated if they could contact the Clerk in advance for seating to be organised.

Shute Parish Council meets approximately every six weeks on a Wednesday evening, starting at 7.30pm unless otherwise stated. 

The Parish Council is made up of members from all parts of the parish. As Shute is a long, thin and rural parish with a mostly scattered population, we move our meetings to ensure we are near to most residents two or three times in a year.  

Meetings generally alternate between the Umborne Hall, St Michaels Church, Shute and the Whitford Village Hall (map below).               

Proposed dates for Shute Parish Council meetings

                                        2026                                   

• January 14th                Whitford Hall
• February  25th             St Michaels Church, Shute
• April 1st                        Umborne Hall *   Annual Assembly of the Parish
• May 13th                      Whitford Hall **  Annual Meeting of the Council
• June 24th                      St Michaels Church, Shute
• August 5th                   Umborne Hall
• September 16th          St Michaels Church, Shute
• October 28th               Umborne Hall
• December 9th             Whitford Hall

                                        2027

• January 13th                Whitford Hall
• March 3rd                    St Michaels Church, Shute
• April 7th                       Umborne Hall *   Annual Assembly of the Parish
• May (tbc)                      Local Elections
• May (tbc)                      First meeting of the new Council 
                                 

* Annual Assembly of the Parish meeting. The ‘state of the union’ meeting for the residents of the Parish.  The Chairman details the work the Council had undertaken in the past year.

** Annual Meeting of the Council.  The meeting where the Chair, vice chair and other posts are appointed.

Additional meetings may be held if required.