Bovey Tracey () is a town and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

, England. It is located on the edge of

Dartmoor Dartmoor is an upland area in southern Devon, South West England. The moorland and surrounding land has been protected by National Park status since 1951. Dartmoor National Park covers . The granite that forms the uplands dates from the Carb ...

, which gives rise to the slogan used on the town's boundary signs: ''The Gateway to the Moor''. It is often known locally as ''Bovey''. About south-west of

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

, it lies on the A382 road, about halfway between

Newton Abbot Newton Abbot is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish on the River Teign in the Teignbridge, Teignbridge District of Devon, England. Its population was 24,029 in 2011, and was estimated at 26,655 in 2019. It grew rapidly in ...

and Moretonhampstead. The village is at the centre of the

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected t ...

of Bovey. At the 2021 census, it had a population of 7,996, which was an increase on the 7,168 recorded in the 2011 census.

History

Bovey Tracey was an established

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

community and takes its name from the River Bovey. The name first appears in

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

as ''Bovi'' and possibly earlier as ''Buui''. The town gained its second name from the de Tracey family, who were lords of the manor after the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...

, and was first documented as ''Bovitracy'' in 1309. One member of the family,

William de Tracy Sir William de Tracy (died ) was a knight and the feudal baron of Bradninch, Devon, with ''caput'' at the manor of Bradninch near Exeter, and was lord of the manors (amongst very many others) of Toddington, Gloucestershire and of Moretonhampste ...

, was implicated in the murder of Archbishop

Thomas Becket Thomas Becket (), also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London and later Thomas à Becket (21 December 1119 or 1120 – 29 December 1170), served as Lord Chancellor from 1155 to 1162, and then as Archbishop of Canterbury fr ...

in Canterbury Cathedral in 1170. It is thought that he rebuilt the parish church of St Peter, St Paul and St Thomas of Canterbury as penance for the murder. In the early 13th century, Henry de Tracey created a

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

here and, in 1259, was granted the right to hold a weekly market and an annual three-day fair. During the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

, on 9 January 1646,

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially ...

and a contingent of his Roundhead army entered Bovey Tracey after dark and caught part of

Lord Wentworth's Regiment Lord Wentworth's Regiment was a regiment of infantry raised during the exile of King Charles II during the Interregnum to serve in the Royalist Army in Exile. Formed as the Royal Regiment of Guards in 1656 at Bruges under the command of the Earl ...

by surprise, catching a number of officers playing cards in an inn. Many of Wentworth's Royalist troops escaped, but Cromwell did capture about 400 horses. If local legend is to be believed, the Royalists escaped by throwing coins from the windows in order to distract the poorly paid Roundhead troops. The next day a battle was fought on nearby Bovey Heath ending in victory for Cromwell's army. The name of Cromwell lives on in the town today in both the

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

, ''The Cromwell Arms'', and the remains of a nearby stone arch, known locally (and incorrectly) as ''Cromwell's Arch''. The arch is actually what is left of a priory that stood previously on the site of the nearby Baptist Church. It has been shown through many historical documents that this is a local myth perpetuated by local historians and that there is no evidence that a priory once stood in the centre of Bovey Tracey. The Bovey Tracey Potteries operated from the 1750s for about 200 years. Bovey Tracey was twinned with

Le Molay-Littry Le Molay-Littry () is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. History On 23 January 1969 Le Molay merged with the old commune of Littry to form ''Le Molay-Littry''. Le Molay-Littry has good trav ...

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

; however, in February 2018, local councillors discovered surprisingly that the French town had unexpectedly twinned with another location,

Theydon Bois Theydon Bois ( ) is a village and civil parish in the Epping Forest district of Essex, England. It is south of Epping, northeast of Loughton and south of Harlow. The population was 4,062 as at the 2011 Census. Theydon Bois is inside the M2 ...

in Essex.

Geography

Bovey Tracey lies in the valley of the River Bovey at the junction of the A382 road (between Newton Abbot and Moretonhampstead) and the B3387 road ( Chudleigh Knighton to Haytor Vale).

Climate

Since 1990, the highest recorded temperature was 27 °C (81 °F) in July 2018 and the lowest was -5 °C (23 °F) in February 1991 and March 2018.

Transport

Bovey Tracey is served by Newton Abbot railway station, which lies on the Exeter-Plymouth line.

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...

operates local services to , , , and ; it also provides inter-city services to , , and . The town was once served by Bovey railway station; it opened on 26 June 1866 with the new Moretonhampstead and South Devon Railway, on a site to the west of the town. It closed to passengers on 28 February 1959, but goods trains continued to operate until 6 July 1970. The main bus operators in the area are Stagecoach South West and Country Bus (Newton Abbot). Key routes link the town with

, Moretonhampstead,

Tavistock Tavistock ( ) is an ancient stannary and market town and civil parish in the West Devon district, in the county of Devon, England. It is situated on the River Tavy, from which its name derives. At the 2011 census, the three electoral wards (N ...

and

Ivybridge Ivybridge is a town and civil parish in the South Hams, in Devon, England. It lies about east of Plymouth. It is at the southern extremity of Dartmoor, a National Park of England and Wales and lies along the A38 "Devon Expressway" road. The ...

Notable features

The town has over a hundred

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

s. The parish church, at the top of the town, is grade I listed. It has a tower dating from the 14th century, many 15th-century carvings including three

misericord A misericord (sometimes named mercy seat, like the biblical object) is a small wooden structure formed on the underside of a folding seat in a church which, when the seat is folded up, is intended to act as a shelf to support a person in a p ...

s and a screen described by

Arthur Mee Arthur Henry Mee (21 July 187527 May 1943) was an English writer, journalist and educator. He is best known for ''The Harmsworth Self-Educator'', ''The Children's Encyclopædia'', ''The Children's Newspaper'', and ''The King's England''. Ea ...

as "one of the finest in this county of fine screens". The screen was restored in 1887 with the central panels the work of Charles Edgar Buckeridge. The church has an unbroken list of vicars from 1258. On Hind Street, the East Dartmoor Baptist Church was built in 1824 and is now grade II listed. The church was founded by workers in the Bovey Potteries. Bovey Tracey Town Hall was completed in 1866. Since 1986, the Devon Guild of Craftsmen contemporary crafts gallery has occupied a building known as Riverside Mill, on the bank of the River Bovey. The building, dating from 1854, has an undershot waterwheel that was used to pump water up to a tank in its tower. The stored water was used as the supply for a nearby house owned by John Divett and to water its stable yard and gardens. Nearby, the ''Bovey Tracey Heritage Centre'' in the disused Bovey railway station is run by volunteers and is open in the summer months. On the outskirts of the town are the ''House of Marbles'', a visitor attraction on the site of the historic pottery; and the headquarters of the Dartmoor National Park Authority at Parke, a large house which is leased to the authority by the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

. Also nearby are a Devon Wildlife Trust nature reserve at Bovey Heath and the Haytor Granite Tramway, the route of which runs through the parish, west of the town. According to the town council, the town has a "good mixture of shops" and there is a

farmers' market A farmers' market (or farmers market according to the AP stylebook, also farmer's market in the Cambridge Dictionary) is a physical retail marketplace intended to sell foods directly by farmers to consumers. Farmers' markets may be indoors or ...

on alternate Saturday mornings. The town also hosts multiple events throughout the year for both tourists and the local community, including: * ''Nourish'', a food and gin festival held in September * ''Green Man Festival'' of morris dancers and other folk traditions, at the end of April. * ''Contemporary Craft Festival'', held in June.

Historic estates

Within the parish of Bovey Tracey are various historic estates, including: *

Indio Indio may refer to: Places * Indio, Bovey Tracey, an historic estate in Devon, England * Indio, California, a city in Riverside County, California, United States People with the name * Indio (musician), Canadian musician Gordon Peterson * Índi ...

, long a seat of the Southcott family, later of Bentinck. The ''Indeo Pottery'' was established here between about 1766 and 1785. * Parke, seat of Nicholas Eveleigh (d.1620) whose monument with effigy survives in Bovey Tracey Church. His widow married Elize Hele, whose monument and effigy faces that of Eveleigh. There are several inscribed tablets to later owners in Bovey Tracey Church. Now the headquarters of the

Dartmoor National Park Dartmoor is an highland (geography), upland area in southern Devon, South West England. The moorland and surrounding land has been protected by National parks of England and Wales, National Park status since 1951. Dartmoor National Park covers ...

Authority.

Sport

Bovey Tracey is the start point of the Dartmoor Devil

bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike, push-bike or cycle, is a human-powered transport, human-powered or motorized bicycle, motor-assisted, bicycle pedal, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, with two bicycle wheel, wheels attached to a ...

ride, an annual Audax UK ''Brevet Populaire'' event held in late October that takes in over 2,000 m of climbing and over 100 km around and across

, the ride ends in nearby Manaton. The town has a

Non-League football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

club Bovey Tracey A.F.C. who play at The Western Counties Roofing Ground in the South West Peninsula League.

References

External links

Bovey Tracey Town Council
{{Authority control Towns in Devon Dartmoor Civil parishes in Devon Teignbridge