| Tavistock or Tavy-stock, meaning stockade
settlement on the Tavy, was first recorded as a Saxon settlement
in around 800 AD. It stands in a valley on the edge of Dartmoor
National Park, just 15 miles away from the sea and close to
the Devon Cornwall county border.
In AD 961 Ordgar the Earl of Devon laid the foundations of
a Benedictine Abbey very much where the present town centre
now sits. This took about 7 years to build, during which time
Ordgar died and his son Ordulf took over the project. The
abbey was dedicated to St Mary and St Rumon and was large
enough to house 1,000 men.
In AD 997 the town was looted by a marauding band of Vikings
and the Abbey was largely destroyed. It was, subsequently,
rebuilt by Abbot Lyfing. By the time of the Norman Conquest
in 1066 Tavistock was prospering under the influence of the
Abbey and was firmly established as an ecclesiastic and trading
centre.
The town received its Market Charter from Henry 1 in 1105
and prospered from its wool trade and its weekly markets.
Mining was a boom industry for Tavistock, with copper, tin
and arsenic all being mined locally. In 1281 Tavistock became
a Stannary Town where tin was weighed, stamped and assessed,
by which time the area was exporting large quantities of tin
into Europe.
In 1295 Tavistock gained recognition as a Borough and sent
two Members of Parliament to London.
The Parish Church of St Eustachius dates from 1318, and in
1467 a Statute was passed to protect the manufacture of cloth
in the town.
In 1525 one of the first printing presses in England was
established in the Abbey, and Walton's translation of Boethius
de Conolatione was printed here by Thomas Rychard, a local
monk.
In 1539 Henry VIII called for the dissolution of the monasteries
and control of the abbey with its grounds and property was
given to John Russell, the first Earl of Bedford whose descendants
became the Dukes of Bedford.
Sir Francis Drake was born at Crowndale, close to the town,
in 1542 and a statue of him, by Edgar Boehm, stands on the
Plymouth Road. Sir Francis made his home nearby at Buckland
Abbey and after his naval exploits he later went on to become
Mayor of Plymouth.
In 1626 the plague hit Tavistock and over 600 people died.
In 1694 the Earl of Bedford was created Duke, and the links
between the family and the town continued to flourish.
In 1810 the first stone was laid for Endsleigh House beside
the Tamar at Milton Abbott, 6 miles west of Tavistock. This
was the country seat for the Dukes of Bedford. For over a
century the family, accompanied by an army of retainers, descended
on Endsleigh for a few weeks each year.
In 1817 a canal was opened to link the town with the River
Tamar at Morwellham. It had taken 13 years and 10 months to
complete the 4 1/2 mile main section. A tunnel 12 foot high,
7 foot wide and 1 1/2 miles long took the canal under Morwell
Down, at one point the canal being 460 foot under ground.
An aqueduct carried it at a maximum height of 60 foot over
the River Lumburn, and it emerged 237 feet above the Tamar
at Morwellham to which it was connected by an inclined plain.
Lead, granite, slate, iron ore and limestone were all carried
before the canal became unnavigable in 1873. There is still
a good level walk along the banks starting from the Abbey
Bridge. Some of the original canal-side buildings have been
developed into the popular Wharf Community Arts Centre.
The railways came in 1859 and about this time the Bedfords
commenced a massive rebuilding project in the town which included
the present Town Hall, Guildhall, Pannier Market and the shops
along Duke Street.
In 1934 a HydroElectric Power Station was opened at Morwelham
and water passed from the River Tavy along the canal before
dropping down to power the turbines.
After the death of the twelfth Duke in 1953 the gardens designed
by Humphry Repton at Endsleigh House were largely neglected
and became overgrown but they are now being restored to their
former magnificence. Restoration of the historic site began
in 1981 and in 1998 the house and gardens received a Heritage
Lottery Grant.
Tavistock is now a friendly market town with much evidence
remaining of its long and prosperous past under the benevolent
guidance of first the Abbey and then the Dukes of Bedford.
It still retains its traditional markets and the town is very
popular with shoppers. Family run businesses such as Creber's
the delicatessen and Follett's the cabinet makers, both in
Brook Street and Country Cheeses and Howell's the butcher,
both in the market precinct, are all fine examples of local
retailers providing quality products with good old fashioned
service and a friendly word.
Because the town lies close to the border between Devon and
Cornwall Tavistock is near to most of the attractions of the
West Country. It has some good restaurants and hotels, and
the internationally known Horn of Plenty, a Country House
Hotel and Restaurant with a well-deserved reputation for excellence
is just 3 miles away overlooking the Tamar at Gulworthy.
Close by are Buckland Abbey, Castle Drogo, Cotehele House,
Dartmoor, Endsleigh House, the Garden House, Lydford Gorge,
Morwellham Quay (Historic Port and Copper Mine), National
Marine Aquarium, RHS Garden Rosemoor. A bit further away but
still within range of a day-trip are Cornwall's many beaches
and fishing ports, the Eden Project and the Lost Gardens of
Heligan.
Tavistock is a great place to live, and an ideal base from
which to explore the many attractions of the West Country.
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