Timeline - Axminster Heritage

Day	Month	Year	Event
		617	At around this time the Saxons moved into Devon from the East.
		755	First recorded use of the name 'Ascanmynster'.
		789	Cynehard the Atheling, heir to the throne of Wessex, is buried at Axminster.
		840	An era of repeated Viking raids on Devon (836 to 845).
		899	King Alfred's will passes the Manor of Axminster, by then a 'burh' (defended town) and principal settlement in the Hundred of Axminster, to his eldest son.
		901	The Witan (Royal Council) meets at Axminster.
		937	A major battle is fought near Axminster between the Saxons and the Vikings.
		1003	Exeter sacked by the Vikings.
		1086	Exeter subdued by the Normans.
		1086	The Domesday Book records substantial settlements in the Axe valley, at Axminster, Kilmington, Musbury, Colyton and Axmouth.
		1086	The Domesday Book records grist mills as well as settlements at Weycroft and Smallridge (Undercleave).
27	September	1204	King John makes William, Lord Briwer (or Brewer), the first Lord of the Manor of Axminster. The right to hold weekly markets is confirmed by charter.
	May	1209	King John grants a further charter to William Briwer (or Brewer), giving him the right to hold a week-long market at Axminster.
		1246	The Manor of Axminster is given to the Cistercians of Beaulieu to build an Abbey at Newenham (they also had Abbeys at Forde and Dunkeswell).
		1250	At around this time the Saxon Church is re-built in Norman style.
		1255	The Abbey allows Axminster to establish 'burgage plots' (an important step in the transition from village to town).
		1315	Newenham Abbey is trading in wool and woollen products with Florentine merchants.
		1330	Newenham Abbey builds a farm at Breweshays (Westwater).
		1333	Newenham Abbey builds a farmhouse at Bevor, a farm of about 770 acres.
		1345	Newenham Abbey has farms at Tollershayes (Tolcis) and Yeatlands.
		1348	The Abbot and two monks are the only survivors of the Black Death at Newenham Abbey.
		1376	A chapel is licensed at Uphay by Bishop Brantyngham.
		1395	Sir Thomas Brooke of Olditch buys the Weycroft estate, and builds a mansion and chapel.
		1417	A chapel is licensed at Weycroft by Bishop Stafford.
		1427	Sir Thomas Brooke encloses 800 acres at Weycroft.
	Approx	1460	Weycroft Manor in disrepair, and the park is cultivated.
	November	1497	King Henry VII stays at Newenham Abbey for a week.
		1509	The mouth of the Axe is blocked to shipping by a sand bar thrown up by a huge storm.
		1535	Newenham Abbey's lands include distinct farms at Bevor, Furzeleigh, Shapwyke and Westwater.
8	March	1539	Newenham Abbey and its property is surrendered to the King's Commissioners. The Market continues.
25	February	1543	Ownership of Newenham Abbey is settled on Catherine Parr on her marriage to King Henry VIII. A few years after her death it reverts briefly to the Crown.
		1574	First mention (in a survey of the Manor) of the George Inn, Axminster.
		1592	The town's citizens are involved in a dispute with a mill owner over the water supply, by then about 40 years old, which starts on Furzeleigh Down.
		1603	Weycroft Manor and mansion forfeited to the Crown, and settled on the Earl of Devon.
		1605	The Manor of Axminster is bought for £7,200 by Baron Petre of Writtle (Essex), whose family held it for over 200 years.
		1611	The Weycroft estate is bought by Sir Thomas Bennett, Sheriff of London, then broken up and sold.
		1613	Many Axminster residents are killed by an outbreak of Plague, which lasts for several weeks.
	Approx	1640	The Manor of Smallridge is broken up and sold in small parcels.
	January	1644	Royalist forces set fire to Ashe House after Parliamentary forces from Lyme had sought to establish a garrison there (the Drake family supported Parliament).
19	April	1644	Axminster is garrisoned by Prince Maurice and his Royalist troops and artillery, from 19 April to 15 June, as they lay siege to Lyme, damaging it badly but not capturing it.
Early	November	1644	Royalist forces re-enter Axminster and start to settle in.
15	November	1644	Parliamentary forces from Lyme attack Axminster in a pre-emptive strike. The town is badly damaged by fire.
18	November	1644	Parliamentarians return and destroy the remaining houses and workshops. This was the most complete damage suffered by any English town during the Civil War.
	October	1645	Sir Thomas Fairfax (Parliamentary General) bases his force at Axminster. There is fighting at Membury.
		1645	Lord Petre estimates his costs for re-building Axminster at £10,000. He re-built about 200 houses and associated workshops (and there will have been others).
26	June	1650	John Churchill born (see below for further details).
18	June	1650	John Churchill of Ashe House and Great Trill baptised at Axminster. His mother was born Elizabeth Drake, daughter of the former Steward of Newenham Abbey.
		1658	The first coach service from London to Exeter (via Axminster) begins. Journey time: 4 days.
	By	1660	A small school is operating in Axminster, run by Rev Bartholomew Ashwood.
		1660	An octagonal font is installed in the Church, replacing one which had been destroyed during the Civil War.
	February	1663	John Brocas is killed while ringing the Parish Church bells: strangled by the rope of a bell which had been cast in 1647, and was known after his death as the 'Brocas bell'.
		1665	John Churchill is appointed a Page to the Duke of York (the future James II).
8	April	1669	Cosmo de Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, visits Axminster (described by Count Megalotti, his Secretary, as about 289 houses mostly built of cob and thatch).
		1670	Shapwick, the largest of the former Newenham Abbey grange farms, is sold to Solomon Andrew of Lyme Regis (and later to the Rhodes family).
24	July	1671	King Charles II passes through Axminster on his way back to London, accompanied by the Duke of Monmouth. The Church bells are rung.
		1676	The 'Compton Census' records 889 conformists in Axminster parish, 128 non-conformists and one Catholic.
		1678	A beacon (probably not the first) is erected on Trinity Hill by warrant of magistrates, and at a cost of £28. The precise location has not been identified.
		1685	The 'arctic winter' of 1684/85 brings hardship to the town.
		1685	The Duke of Monmouth stops in Axminster on his way to defeat at the Battle of Sedgmoor. He was executed soon after.
10	September	1685	Two Axminster men sentenced to death at Dorchester for supporting the Monmouth rebellion. John Bull of Uphay was hanged, but Malachi Mallack was later pardoned.
3	November	1685	One supporter of the Duke of Monmouth (Mr Rose, a gunner who landed with the Duke, not an Axminster resident) is hanged at Axminster.
		1685	John Churchill is created a Baron. He was a commander at the battle of Sedgmoor.
		1686	Judge Jeffreys holds a hearing at Axminster (as part of the 'bloody Assizes').
15	November	1688	William of Orange lands at Torbay, invited by politicians concerned at James II's Catholic leanings.
24	November	1688	During William of Orange's 3-night stay in Axminster, John Churchill defects from James II to support William, and 'The Glorious Revolution'.
		1692	John Churchill is sent to the Tower of London on suspicion of treason against William of Orange.
		1698	An Independent Church is built at Axminster, on Chard Street.
		1700	Morris (an Exeter-based carrier of goods) uses the Dolphin Inn, Market Square as his base in Axminster.
	Approx	1710	Terrace Lodge (later re-named Pippins) is built for Henry Knight.
14	May	1714	Thomas Whitty (later known as senior) is baptised at Axminster.
16	June	1722	Death of John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, the most successful General of his day; at Cranbourn Lodge, Windsor.
		1731	Outbreak of smallpox in Axminster.
	Approx	1732	Cloakham House is built for Edward Smith, a leading Quaker.
		1738	The first Workhouse is established in Axminster, on West Street.
		1739	The first known reference is made to the existence of a fire engine in Axminster.
		1740	Thomas Whitty junior is born at Axminster.
23	September	1743	John Wesley's first visit to Axminster, at the invitation of an existing group of residents sypmathtic to his cause, to whom he preaches.
31	April	1744	John Wesley stops briefly in the town at midday as he heads towards Cornwall.
		1746	A Free School is established in Axminster.
		1746	Charles Wesley visits Axminster, and preaches.
		1750	John Pester, rector of Axminster, reports that there are about 220 houses in Axminster, and another 120 in the rest of the parish. These may be under-estimates.
		1753	The London-to-Exeter road (through Axminster) becomes a toll road.
25	April	1754	Thomas Whitty makes a sample of carpet on a conventional loom.
22	June	1755	Thomas Whitty finishes making a new perpendicular frame loom for knotted carpets.
		1758	Oak House, Chard Street is built for Simon Bunter, a local attorney.
		1759	Fire destroys several houses in the town centre, and the Cross Keys Inn (where the George now stands).
		1759	The George Inn is built in its present location, by Mr Drake. It becomes the premier coaching inn of the town.
		1759	Thomas Whitty wins the third Royal Society competition for carpet manufacture outright, having shared first place with others the two previous years.
		1760	Exeter carpet factory goes bankrupt.
		1760	The Golden Lion Inn, an important coaching inn where Trinity Square now stands, is destroyed by fire.
		1761	Hilary House is built for Amos Collard, a local attorney and Steward to the Petre estate. In 1763 he sells it to John Knight, his successor in both roles.
		1763	A Friendly Society for men is founded in Axminster.
	Approx	1765	John Knight establishes a Catholic chapel at his home, Hilary House, for the use of his local co-religionists.
30	August	1766	After a gap of 20 years John Wesley re-visits Axminster, and preaches (indoors that evening, but the next morning (Sunday) in the market place).
		1766	A Friendly Society for women is founded in Axminster.
		1767	The invention of the 'Spinning Jenny' spells the beginning of the end for an important Devon cottage industry.
		1767	An unsuccessful attempt is made to sink a coal mine at Pinney Wood, near Weycroft.
22	September	1768	John Wesley again visits, and preaches at, Axminster.
		1773	The invention of the 'Flying Shuttle' marks the start of large-scale weaving, and the decline of another cottage industry.
		1774	A Wesleyan Meeting House is established in Axminster.
		1776	The winter is particularly cold, with snow still lying in March.
		1776	Castle Hill House, North Street is built for Robert Hallett, a local wine and spirit merchant, and manufacturer of tapes.
4	August	1778	John Wesley's last visit to Axminster, aged 75, where he is well received, and preaches in the market place to a large congregation.
		1778	A detailed map of the Petre Estate's land holdings in Axminster parish is completed, by James Haywood.
		1780	The Market House with a Guildhall Room set above the butchers' stalls (with the shambles behind) is demolished.
		1780	John Thatcher, bailiff to the Petre estate, is appointed Captain of the Fire Brigade.
		1782	The Manor of Trill is sold by the Drake family (of Ashe House, Musbury) to the Rev. George Tucker.
		1782	A new fire engine is given to the town by the Petre estate.
12	March	1784	William Buckland is born at Axminster. He became a leader of the new science of geology, and (from 1845) Dean of Westminster.
27	March	1784	Samuel Ramson Whitty, last member of the family to make carpets, is born at Axminster.
		1785	The first Mail Coach service from London to Exeter (via Axminster) is established. Journey time: 24 hours.
	Approx	1785	A visitor to Axminster reports being unable to get any butter, because it was all being sold to London merchants.
		1786	A fire adjacent to the White Hart destroys 15 dwellings.
		1787	Hail and sleet storms are followed by frosts in June.
26	July	1787	John Adams (later President of the USA) and his wife Abigail visit Axminster, and the carpet factory.
13	August	1789	King George III and Queen Charlotte visit Axminster, and the carpet factory.
	September	1789	A fire in Market Place is stopped from spreading by men from the 1st Regiment of the Dragoon Guards.
	April	1790	A major snow storm hits Devon.
13	August	1793	Death of Thomas Whitty senior at Axminster.
		1795	A bank is founded by Axminster at Messrs Hallett, Steven & Whitty jr.
		1796	A fire destroys the Methodist Meeting House on South Street (and 18 houses). A replacement chapel is built on Castle Street.
		1796	The Western Academy, a training college for the Congregational Church (later United Reform Church) opens on West Street.
		1797	The Old Vicarage is built on Silver Street, opposite the Old Carpet Factory.
	Approx	1798	Axminster School moves to a site on West Street.
	August	1799	Death of Thomas Whitty junior, at Axminster.
	by	1800	Moorfield carpet factory (one of Whitty's last remaining British competitors) goes bankrupt.
		1800	Improvement works to the Parish Church are completed, including a new south aisle (in place of the south transept, which was demolished), and the installation of an organ.
		1800	An exceptionally dry year with a very hot summer.
		1800	The Western Hotel (later the Anchor, the Railway Inn and the Cavalier) is built.
15	July	1808	Severe hail and thunder storms affect Devon, leading to crop losses.
20	April	1809	Significant snow storms are experienced.
		1810	Death of Thomas Whitty, eldest son of Thomas Whitty junior, leaving his younger brother, Samuel Ramson Whitty, in sole charge of the family business.
		1812	Prices for woollen cloth are seriously depressed, while food prices are high, due to the Napoleonic wars.
		1814	The last of the 'London ice fairs' marks the end of the mini ice-age which affected the whole country.
		1816	The volcanic eruption of Mount Tambora, Indonesia in 1815 leads to the 'year with no summer' in Europe in 1816.
		1817	Samuel Thatcher takes over as Captain of the Fire Brigade.
22	August	1817	A serious fire breaks out at the back of the George Hotel, destroying four other houses and killing 10 horses in Mr Warr's stables.
		1819	George Philip Rigney Pulman, author of the 'Book of the Axe' and founder of Pulman's Weekly News, is born at Axminster.
		1820	By this time Samuel Ramson Whitty employs over 100 persons, mostly women and children.
		1820	James Davidson, the leading historian of Axminster, buys Secktor.
		1821	A sixth bell is added to the Parish Church (there had been five since the time of Edward VI).
		1821	The census records a population of 1,700 for the town, and another 1,040 in the surrounding parish lands
		1822	Axminster School has 144 pupils.
		1824	Lord Petre sells most of his Axminster land (and the manorial rights) to James Alexander Frampton (a London lawyer) and William Knight (son of Lord Petre's former Steward).
25	January	1825	William Tucker of Coryton, Kilmington buys a large portion of Westwater from the Manor of Axminster. By his death in 1855 he owned 780 acres in Axminster parish.
		1825	Hill House (later re-named Old Park) is built for Rawlin Mallack, a local attorney.
4	July	1826	Lord Petre sells a large block of land (320 acres) including Bevor to Thomas Barns of Tillworth, Hawkchurch.
29	November	1826	Axminster gets 21 street lights (one of the first towns in England to do so). Unfortunately the necessary funds do not materialise, and the lights are re-possessed.
	Approx	1826	The new United Reform Chapel is opened on Chard Street, replacing the earlier (and adjacent) Independent Church.
	January	1828	Samuel Ramson Whitty's Silver Street carpet factory is destroyed by fire.
		1828	The Western Academy (on West Street) closes.
	March	1829	Samuel Ramson Whitty's new and larger carpet factory opens on Silver Street.
	October	1829	A serious fire breaks out in the premises of Mr Dommett, a fell-monger. Eight houses and Mr Gammes' stables are all lost, and the Red Lion loses 30 hogsheads of strong beer.
	By	1829	Thomas Russell & Co (an Exeter-based carrier of goods) used the Bell Inn as their local base from at least 1829 to 1853.
16	August	1831	The first Catholic Church since the time of Henry VIII is opened in Axminster, lagely paid for by Henry Knight of Terrace Lodge.
		1831	The census records a population of 2,720 for the parish, living in 522 houses, of which roughly 330 would have been in the town itself.
		1831	Outbreak of cholera in Axminster.
		1832	The tunnel between Axminster and Charmouth is opened by Axminster Turnpike Trust, significantly assisting road links on the way to London.
		1834	The nave roof of the Church is raised to allow clerestory windows to be added.
	May	1834	On Trinity Sunday a major fire damages or destroys a baker's shop and 20 other houses (affecting 30 families) in the town centre. The opportunity is taken to widen the road and create Trinity Square.
		1834	The new Axminster Poor Law Union, covering 17 parishes, is formed, and takes over responsibility for the workhouse and various other functions of public health and municipal governance.
		1834	Dissatisfaction among farm workers is highlighted by the Tolpuddle Martyrs case of 1834.
		1835	Samuel Ramson Whitty's carpet factory goes bankrupt. The machinery is moved to Wilton, near Salisbury.
		1835	A new and much larger Axminster (and district) Union Workhouse is built on the south side of town, replacing the one on West Street.
		1836	Axminster's only remaining manufacturer is Messrs Hallett & Fowler's tape-making business, on North Street.
		1836	South Street suffers a further serious fire.
		1838	The Tithe Apportionment process is carried out for Axminster parish (with accompanying map).
		1838	Axminster Gas Works is erected on Gas Lane and, after a gap of 12 years, street lighting is re-installed in Axminster town centre, this time more permanently.
		1838	A meeting of the Church Vestry decides not to spend any further money on the fire brigade (but does not scrap it).
8	December	1840	The ecclesiastical parish of All Saints is created from parts of Axminster and Chardstock parishes.
		1842	The Axminster Turnpike Trust starts to build a new road round Kilmington Hill, down-slope from the old Roman Road alignment, and not so steep.
		1844	Freemasons establish a Lodge (Virtue & Honour) in Axminster. For the first 40 years meetings were held at The George Hotel.
		1844	Exeter is connected to Bristol via the first railway line to reach Devon. Axminster starts a 16-year period of relative disadvantage compared to much of East Devon.
		1847	Dorchester is connected to the rail network.
		1848	The railway line from Exeter is extended to Plymouth.
		1850	Canon William Daniel Conybeare, until recently vicar of Axminster, gives land from his holding as Lord of the Manor of Prestaller to allow a National School to be built on West Street.
		1853	Yeovil is connected to the rail network.
		1854	The railway line from Exeter to Barnstaple is completed.
11	April	1855	Death of Samuel Ramson Whitty.
1	October	1855	The churchyard is closed to further burials. The new cemetery on Chard Road is opened.
		1855	Devonshire Police Committee buys a house on Church Street, demolishes it and builds the Police Station and cells, with a room for Court hearings above.
		1857	Bridport is connected by rail to both London (via Dorchester) and Bristol.
		1857	Pulman's Weekly News is founded.
		1859	Construction of the Salisbury-to-Exeter railway line is in full swing at Axminster. The station is built.
18	July	1860	Axminster is finally connected to the rail network, with its own station on the London-to-Exeter line.
		1860	A particularly wet year in Devon.
	March	1861	The triple-lancet window at Newenham which features in older paintings of the Abbey ruins falls down.
		1862	The Catholic Church on Lyme Road is re-built by Henry Knight (son of the original benefactor).
29	February	1864	James Davidson of Secktor House, the leading historian of Axminster, dies aged 70, and is buried at Axminster.
		1865	Outbreak of typhoid in Axminster.
		1866	James Boon moves his woolstapling and cloth business to Axminster from Uplyme, following a disastrous fire at his mill there.
		1870	The Church organ is moved to the south side of the choir, and the pulpit is restored to its original position.
		1872	Henry Knight (son of William, the joint purchaser of the Manor) becomes Lord of the Manor of Axminster.
10	March	1874	A School Board is elected, chaired by William Forward, a local solicitor.
11	July	1874	The newly-formed Axminster Cricket Club plays its first game, against Colyton.
		1875	Responsibility for functions such as water and sewerage pass from the Board of Guardians of the Poor Law Union to the newly-constituted Rural Sanitary District Authority.
		1875	The 'Board School' is opened on the former site of Paradise Lodge, between Chard Street and Lyme Road, with a total of 420 places for boys, girls and infants.
2	November	1875	Lady Emma Tulloch of Old Park gives the land on which Woodbury (or South Axminster) National School is then built.
		1877	Axminster Turnpike Trust closes, with responsibilities passing to the Highways Board.
		1879	The former Dolphin Inn (on Market Square, by then being used as a warehouse and wine vaults) is damaged by fire. A further fire in 1881 ensures its demolition.
22	July	1879	Serious flooding in Devon, and one of the coldest and wettest Summers recorded. Widespread crop failures.
		1880	Woodbury (or South Axminster) National School is expanded, providing 90 places for boys, girls and infants.
		1880	Blizzards throughout much of England leading to widespread losses of sheep.
3	February	1880	George Philip Rigney Pulman, author of the 'Book of the Axe' and founder of Pulman's Weekly News, dies aged 60.
		1881	Devon is hit by a 48-hour blizzard.
	Approx	1881	Edwin Dawkins establishes his drapery business on Victoria Place.
		1882	An exceptionally wet autumn leads to many winter crops not being planted at all.
		1882	The town's new water supply system is officially completed (though subject to repeated adjustments for many decades thereafter).
	Approx	1883	James Coate moves his brush-making business (founded in London in 1847) to factories near Chard and in Axminster. Bidwell Brothers also move their factory to adjacent premises for a short while.
		1883	The Mission Chapel on Woodbury Lane is built with the financial support of Lady Emma Tulloch of Old Park.
24	March	1884	Tithings of Shapwick and Beerhall transferred from Axminster parish to Uplyme and Thorncombe respectively.
		1885	An unusually dry year.
		1886	Two more bells are installed in the Parish Church, making eight in all.
	Approx	1886	Edwin Chapple, local bank manager and insurance agent, revives the fire brigade.
2		1887	Miss Emily Conybeare opens the 14-bed Axminster Cottage Hospital (expanding the existing facilities), in Whitty's former Silver Street carpet factory.
3		1887	Another unusually dry year.
1	June	1887	The Jubilee Fountain is erected in Trinity Square, replacing an older pump / fountain closer to the Church which dated from about 1834.
	Approx	1889	Bidwell Brothers move their brush-making business (founded in London in 1839) from Ottery St Mary back to Axminster.
	March	1891	Serious blizzards and deep snow drifts in Devon.
		1893	Hardly any rain falls from February to July.
		1893	The fire brigade fires a jet of water over the Church tower to demonstrate its vigour, and the improvements to the water supply.
		1894	The newly-formed Axminster Rural District Council, covering 15 parishes, takes over responsibility for several municipal governance functions. A Parish Council is also formed.
		1894	The Methodist Church on Lyme Road is built.
	November	1894	Gales and floods throughout the lower Axe valley damage houses in Axminster and sweep away some bridges.
		1894	Heavy frosts and deep snowdrifts over the winter of 1894/95.
	February	1895	In separate incidents, the Town Gas Works suffers a serious fire, and the partial collapse of one of the gasometers.
		1895	Civil War damage to the Church tower is finally repaired.
		1897	Church clock and chimes donated by W E Pitfield Chapple, solicitor and Chairman of the first Parish Council.
		1898	A ninth bell in installed is the Parish Church.
		1898	Axminster's old manual-pump fire engine is replaced by a steam-driven one, allowing water to be thrown 100 feet.
		1901	A new organ is purchased for the Parish Church, with financial support from the Carnegie Foundation.
14	November	1902	Axminster Town Football Club is formed.
24	August	1903	The branch railway line from Axminster to Lyme Regis is opened.
		1904	Building work starts on Hillhead Terrace, Musbury Road, the largest development yet (of 22 houses) outside the old town footprint.
9	June	1904	Devon County Council threatens legal action unless work is undertaken to improve Axminster's sewage disposal arrangements, and to protect the Axe from pollution.
		1905	The present organ, built by Norman & Beard, is installed in the Church.
		1905	Axminster Carnival is revived after a break of a few years (regular events were held during the 1890s, and a torchlight procession was held in 1900).
	Approx	1907	King Edward Road is created, relieving the pressure on South Street and the town end of the Musbury Road.
	January	1909	Axminster Men's Institute is established, meeting in the Gospel Hall, Castle Hill.
		1909	The first houses on Alexandra Road are built (the last ones being completed the following year, making 22 in all).
1	September	1911	The foundation stone for the new Axminster Hospital is laid on the current (Chard Street) site.
18	June	1912	The new Axminster Hospital is opened by Mrs Emily Conybeare Craven, long-time supporter of the earlier Silver Street hospital.
	October	1912	The Livestock Market moves to the Coombe Fields site (off South Street), with space for 400 cattle, 500 calves, 2,000 sheep and 500 pigs.
30	September	1914	Axminster Rural District Council (covering 15 parishes) is divided into a new Urban District Council for Axminster, and the remainder, still called the Rural District Council.
		1914	Work starts on the town's new sewerage system. It is completed by 1918.
		1920	An exceptionally cold year, with slight frosts in the Yarty valley reported throughout the Summer.
		1921	Axminster's first Council-sponsored housing scheme (of 22 houses) gets under way on Boxfield Road.
		1921	Henry Norrington Ltd purchases the iron foundry at the foot of Castle Hill from George Heal & Sons.
	September	1921	The War Memorial is dedicated.
		1922	Axminster Town Football Club wins the Perry Street league for the third season running.
		1922	Axminster School is re-built on the same site.
	November	1925	The organ in the Parish Church is moved from the north side of the tower to its present position.
25	December	1927	Heavy snow and deep drifts throughout East Devon.
		1928	The Council completes the construction of 26 houses on North Street.
24	November	1928	Axminster's public electricity supply is switched on.
		1929	Foot and mouth disease hits East Devon, and farmers meet in Axminster to express their disquiet.
		1929	Work starts on the construction of Cridlake (34 houses).
		1931	The Plaza cinema is built on West Street to show 'talkie' films. The old Regent in Market Square closed at much the same time.
		1932	The Council is given approval to build 24 houses at Prestor, on Sector Lane.
		1934	The first houses are built at Gamberlake, with over 20 completed by 1938.
		1934	Axminster Health Centre is established on Church Street by Dr A L Crawford. It is the first such centre to be built in England.
1		1936	A large ballroom is opened behind the Plaza cinema.
2		1936	Harry Dutfield moves to Axminster, and starts to build a new carpet factory near the railway station, with local investors Messrs R J Luff and S O Gill.
	May	1937	The first carpet from Axminster Carpets Ltd is exhibited in Potter's shop, Harry Dutfield having won a bet that he could hit that target by Coronation Day (12 May).
		1938	Hundreds of acres of farmland are flooded, along with the new Axminster Carpets factory (to a depth of a few inches).
		1938	There are five cases of typhoid in Axminster, with one death.
	May	1939	The Devon County Show is held at Axminster.
		1939	Axe Vale Laundry merges with White Rose Laundry, Lyme Regis, with the merged company continuing to be based in Axminster.
		1939	The Cedars Hotel opens in a converted house on the corner of Silver Street and Musbury Road.
21	April	1940	A German bomb hits Market Square, killing at least one person.
		1940	J H Shand's engineering works moves to Axminster to reduce the chances of being affected by wartime bombing. They share floor space with Axminster Carpets.
28	June	1942	A German incendiary bomb hits Axminster Hospital. Other buildings in the town are also damaged at around the same time.
		1942	There is a case of foot and mouth disease on a farm at Membury.
		1943	A US Military Hospital is built at Millwey Rise, with 600 beds.
	December	1944	Some of the worst flooding in the Axe valley for many years.
		1945	Axminster and District Chamber of Commerce is founded. For many years the secretary was Herbert R Jeffery.
		1945	Axminster Rural and Urban District Councils move from Castle Hill House to Oak House, Chard Street.
10	November	1945	Axminster is granted the right to have a coat of arms.
8	July	1946	This is the date on the foundation stone of J H Shand's West Street factory, though parts of the building were started well before that.
	January	1947	The worst blizzard for over 50 years hits Axminster and East Devon.
	Approx	1948	The first civilian residents start to occupy the former US Military Hospital site, initially as 'squatters', but then by agreement with the Council.
		1955	Church Street is significantly widened.
		1955	Bidwell Brothers' brushworks closes down.
		1958	Millwey Rise Football Club in formed, at the Trout Inn.
		1961	New Masonic Hall opened on South Street.
	January	1963	Blizzards affect Axminster. Some roads are closed to traffic for weeks, and milk has to be brought into Trinity Square by tractor for collection.
		1963	The former Plaza cinema is bought by public subscription, and converted into the Guildhall. The ballroom becomes J H Shand's social club.
		1963	New Magistrate's Court building opened on Lyme Close.
		1964	New Police Station opened on Lyme Close.
27	September	1965	The branch railway line from Axminster to Lyme Regis is closed.
		1970	Severe summer floods cause great damage to the Yarty valley in particular. The road bridge between Axminster and Kilmington is seriously damaged.
28	November	1971	The Old Bell closes.
		1974	Axminster Rural and Urban District Councils are abolished, to be replaced by East Devon District Council.
		1974	Axminster Town Council takes over the Guildhall.
		1975	Jaffe et Fils Ltd move their feather business into premises at the foot of Castle Hill.
		1976	Mole Avon opens a branch beside Axminster station.
	February	1978	A blizzard affects the whole area. The Seaton-to-Sidmouth road is blocked for 5 days.
		1978	Edwin Dawkins & Son, arguably Axminster's best-known shop of the previous 100 years, closes.
	Approx	1980	East Devon District Council closes its Oak House office.
31	October	1983	Axe Vale Laundry closes, and the land (off North Street) is then used for housing.
		1986	Axminster Care Services, a local charity, is founded.
		1987	Permission is granted to build Leo's supermarket (part of the Co-op group) on West Street.
		1988	J H Shand's Axminster factory closes. The site is later re-developed as Shand Park.
		1988	The Green Dragon, at the foot of Castle Hill, finally closes.
		1990	Coate's remaining brush business merges with A Simpson. The business was wound up in 1994 (having closed down in Axminster many years before).
		1990	Work starts on the Axminster by-pass, with associated Roman-era archaeological finds.
	November	1991	Axminster by-pass is opened to traffic.
3	August	1998	Tesco opens a supermarket in Axminster.
12	September	1998	The Flamingo Pool opens, adjacent to the secondary school.
		1999	The Shrubbery (West Street) is re-developed as 10 flats and 3 town houses after years of dereliction.
3	May	2001	Axminster Magistrate's Court sits for the final time, ending 600 years of court hearings in Axminster.
		2001	A national outbreak of foot and mouth disease severely disrupts the marketing of farm animals, and closes Axminster Market for many weeks.
		2003	45 flats at Minster Court (West Street) are built on the former site of a filling station and row of three shops.
		2006	21 flats at Mellowes Court (off West Street) are built on the site of a former garage.
		2006	The site of Axminster Livestock Market is sold for re-development as housing.
25	March	2016	Axminster Heritage Centre opens to the public.
7	July	2016	One of the largest cannabis 'farms' ever found in SW England discovered by police at the former Axe Vale Social Club building, Chard Street.