Crediton

Market town in Devon, England, 12 km/7 mi northwest of Exeter; population (2001) 6,950. Crediton is situated on the River Creedy, in a narrow valley between two steep hills, and is divided into an old and a new town. Agriculture is the principal industry; other manufactures are sweets, medicinal lozenges, and cider, and woodwork is made for churches. The town dates from the early Middle Ages.

Crediton was the birthplace of the missionary monk St Boniface in 680, and from 910 to 1049 was the seat of a bishopric, afterwards transferred to Exeter. The parish church dates from the Norman period. In the Civil War, Oliver Cromwell captured Crediton in 1645. In 1743, and again in 1769, much of the town was destroyed by fire.