Tavistock ( ) is an ancient

stannary A stannary was an administrative division established under stannary law in the English counties of Cornwall and Devon to manage the collection of tin coinage, which was the duty payable on the metal tin smelted from cassiterite ore Mining in Co ...

and

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rura ...

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 ...

in the

West Devon West Devon is a local government district with borough status in Devon, England. Its council is based in Tavistock, the borough's largest town. The borough also includes the towns of Hatherleigh, North Tawton and Okehampton, along with nume ...

district, in the county of

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 situated on the

River Tavy The Tavy () is a river on Dartmoor, Devon, England. The name derives from the Brythonic languages, Brythonic root , once thought to mean 'dark' but now generally understood to mean 'to flow'. It has given its name to the town of Tavistock and ...

, from which its name derives. At the 2011 census, the three

electoral wards The wards and electoral divisions in the United Kingdom are electoral districts at sub-national level, represented by one or more councillors. The ''ward (subnational entity), ward'' is the primary unit of English electoral geography for civil pa ...

(North, South and South West) had a population of 13,028. The town traces its

recorded history Recorded history or written history describes the historical events that have been recorded in a written form or other documented communication which are subsequently evaluated by historians using the historical method. For broader world h ...

back to at least 961 when

Tavistock Abbey Tavistock Abbey, also known as the Abbey of Mary, the mother of Jesus, Saint Mary and Saint Rumon, is a ruined Order of Saint Benedict, Benedictine abbey in Tavistock, Devon. The Abbey was surrendered in 1539 during the Dissolution of the Monaste ...

, whose ruins lie in the centre of the town, was founded. Its most famous son is

Sir Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( 1540 – 28 January 1596) was an English Exploration, explorer and privateer best known for making the Francis Drake's circumnavigation, second circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition between 1577 and 1580 (bein ...

History

Middle Ages

The area around Tavistock (formerly Tavistoke), where the

runs wide and shallow allowing it to be easily crossed, and near the secure high ground 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 ...

, was inhabited long before historical records. The surrounding area is littered with archaeological remains from the

Bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

and

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

s. The abbey of

Saint Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

and Saint Rumon was founded in 961 by Ordgar, Earl of Devon. After destruction by Danish raiders in 997 it was restored, and at the time of the

Conquest Conquest involves the annexation or control of another entity's territory through war or Coercion (international relations), coercion. Historically, conquests occurred frequently in the international system, and there were limited normative or ...

ranked as the wealthiest house in Devon, including the

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...

and manor of Tavistock among its possessions. Among its famous

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of an independent monastery for men in various Western Christian traditions. The name is derived from ''abba'', the Aramaic form of the Hebrew ''ab'', and means "father". The female equivale ...

s was Aldred, who crowned Harold II and

William I William I may refer to: Kings * William the Conqueror (–1087), also known as William I, King of England * William I of Sicily (died 1166) * William I of Scotland (died 1214), known as William the Lion * William I of the Netherlands and Luxembour ...

, and died

Archbishop of York The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers the ...

. In 1105 a

royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but ...

was granted by Henry I to the monks of Tavistock to run a weekly "Pannier

Market Market is a term used to describe concepts such as: *Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand *Market economy *Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market *Marketing, the act of sat ...

" (so called after the baskets used to carry goods) on a Friday, which still takes place today. In 1116 a three-day

fair A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks. Fairs showcase a wide range of go ...

was also granted to mark the feast of Saint Rumon, another tradition that is still maintained in the shape of the annual "Goosey" fair on the second Wednesday in October. Tavistock Abbey from south east

By 1185 Tavistock had achieved

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 ...

status, and in 1295 it became a

parliamentary 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 ...

, sending two members to parliament. The abbey church was rebuilt in 1285. In 1305, with the growing importance of the area as one of Europe's richest sources of

tin Tin is a chemical element; it has symbol Sn () and atomic number 50. A silvery-colored metal, tin is soft enough to be cut with little force, and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, a bar of tin makes a sound, the ...

, Tavistock was one of the four

towns appointed by charter of

Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 125 ...

, where tin was stamped and weighed and monthly courts were held for the regulation of mining affairs.

Parish church

The St Eustachius' Church (named after the Roman centurion who became a Christian) was dedicated by Bishop Stapledon in 1318 though there are very few remains of that building today. It was rebuilt and enlarged into its current form between 1350 and 1450, at which time the Clothworkers' Aisle (an outer south aisle) was included, an indication of the growing importance of the

textile industry The textile industry is primarily concerned with the design, production and distribution of textiles: yarn, cloth and clothing. Industry process Cotton manufacturing Cotton is the world's most important natural fibre. In the year 2007, th ...

to the local economy—the trade was protected by a 1467

statute A statute is a law or formal written enactment of a legislature. Statutes typically declare, command or prohibit something. Statutes are distinguished from court law and unwritten law (also known as common law) in that they are the expressed wil ...

. The whole is in the Perpendicular style and consists of a nave and chancel; both with two aisles, tower and outer south aisle. It possesses a lofty tower supported on four open arches, one of which was reputedly added to accommodate the 19th-century "tinners" or tin miners. Within are monuments to the Glanville and Bourchier families, besides some fine stained glass, one window being the work of

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was an English textile designer, poet, artist, writer, and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts movement. He was a major contributor to the revival of traditiona ...

and another of

Charles Eamer Kempe Charles Eamer Kempe (29 June 1837 – 29 April 1907) was a British Victorian era designer and manufacturer of stained glass. His studios produced over 4,000 windows and also designs for altars and altar frontals, furniture and furnishings, lychg ...

. It also has a roof boss featuring one of the so-called ' Tinners' Hares', a trio of rabbits/hares joined at and sharing three ears between them. The font is octagonal and dates from the 15th century.

Early modern period

The greater part of the abbey was rebuilt in 1457–1458. The town continued to prosper in the charge of the abbots, acquiring one of England's first

printing press A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a printing, print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. It marked a dramatic improvement on earlier printing methods in whi ...

es in 1525. Tavistock remained an important centre of both trade and religion until the dissolution of the monasteries—the abbey was demolished in 1539, leaving the ruins still to be seen around the centre of the town. From that time on, the dominant force in the town became the Russell family, Earls and later Dukes of Bedford, who took over much of the land following the Dissolution. In 1552 two fairs on 23 April and 28 November were granted by

Edward VI Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and King of Ireland, Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. The only surviving son of Henry VIII by his thi ...

to the Earl of Bedford, then

lord of the manor Lord of the manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England and Norman England, referred to the landholder of a historical rural estate. The titles date to the English Feudalism, feudal (specifically English feudal barony, baronial) system. The ...

. In the 17th century great quantities of cloth were sold at the Friday market, and four fairs were held at the feasts of

Saint Michael Michael, also called Saint Michael the Archangel, Archangel Michael and Saint Michael the Taxiarch is an archangel and the warrior of God in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. The earliest surviving mentions of his name are in third- and second- ...

, Epiphany,

Saint Mark Mark the Evangelist ( Koinē Greek: Μᾶρκος, romanized: ''Mârkos''), also known as John Mark ( Koinē Greek: Ἰωάννης Μᾶρκος, romanized: ''Iōánnēs Mârkos;'' Aramaic'': ܝܘܚܢܢ, romanized: Yōḥannān'') or Saint Ma ...

, and the Decollation of John the Baptist. The charter of Charles II instituted a Tuesday market, and fairs on the Thursday after

Whitsunday Whitsun (also Whitsunday or Whit Sunday) is the name used in Britain, and other countries among Anglicans and Methodists, for the Christian holy day of Pentecost. It falls on the seventh Sunday after Easter and commemorates the descent of the Ho ...

and at the feast of Saint Swithin. Tavistock is tied from late medieval times with the Russells, the family name of the Earls of Bedford and since 1694, the Dukes of Bedford. This is clearly seen from the history of the town. The second title of the

Duke of Bedford Duke of Bedford (named after Bedford, England) is a title that has been created six times (for five distinct people) in the Peerage of England. The first creation came in 1414 for Henry IV's third son, John, who later served as regent of Fran ...

is the Marquess of Tavistock, taken as the courtesy title of the eldest son and heir to the dukedom, and illustrates the importance of this Devon town, its hinterland and the minerals beneath it to the family's fortunes. It is believed that the Russell family retains considerable interests in the locality. Most recently, Robin, the short-lived 14th Duke, as Marquess of Tavistock, was a frequent visitor to the town along with his wife, Henrietta. Andrew Russell is the 15th Duke of Bedford and Marquess of Tavistock. It is this Russell family connection through the Bedford Estates which gives the name by ownership to

Russell Square Russell Square is a large garden square in Bloomsbury, in the London Borough of Camden, built predominantly by the firm of James Burton (property developer), James Burton. It is near the University of London's main buildings and the British Mus ...

and

Tavistock Square Tavistock Square is a public square in Bloomsbury, in the London Borough of Camden near Euston Station. History Tavistock Square was built shortly after 1806 by the property developer James Burton and the master builder Thomas Cubitt for Fr ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, famously home to the

Tavistock Clinic The Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust is a specialist mental health trust based in north London. The Trust specialises in talking therapies. The education and training department caters for 2,000 students a year from the United Kin ...

, and the bus-bombing of 7 July 2005.

Francis Drake

Around 1540 (some sources state 1542 as the exact year),

was born at Crowndale Farm, just to the west of what is now Tavistock College. A

Blue Plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom, and certain other countries and territories, to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving a ...

is mounted on the current farmhouse, behind which Drake is believed to have been born, the original farmhouse having been dismantled and the stone transported for use in Lew Trenchard. He became a prominent figure of his age, a champion of Queen Elizabeth, the first Englishman to circumnavigate the world from 1577 to 1580 and one of the English commanders in the victory against the

Spanish Armada The Spanish Armada (often known as Invincible Armada, or the Enterprise of England, ) was a Spanish fleet that sailed from Lisbon in late May 1588, commanded by Alonso de Guzmán, Duke of Medina Sidonia, an aristocrat without previous naval ...

in 1588. The famous statue of Drake on

Plymouth Hoe Plymouth Hoe, referred to locally as the Hoe, is a large south-facing open public space in the English coastal city of Plymouth, Devon. The Hoe is adjacent to and above the low limestone cliffs that form the seafront and commands views of Pl ...

is a copy of that on a

roundabout A roundabout, a rotary and a traffic circle are types of circular intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junct ...

on the A386 at the western end of the town, with panels not replicated on the Hoe copy. Drake later made his home at

Buckland Abbey Buckland Abbey is a Grade I listed 700-year-old house in Buckland Monachorum, near Yelverton, Devon, Yelverton, Devon, England, noted for its connection with Sir Richard Grenville the Younger and Sir Francis Drake. It is owned by the National ...

, about away towards Plymouth, jointly owned/run by

Plymouth City Council Plymouth City Council is the local authority for the city of Plymouth, in the ceremonial county of Devon, England. Plymouth has had a council since 1439, which has been reformed on numerous occasions. Since 1998 the council has been a unitary aut ...

and 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 ...

, and now a museum to Drake.

Industry

Mines of

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

manganese Manganese is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese was first isolated in the 1770s. It is a transition m ...

lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

and

were previously in the neighbourhood and the town played host to a considerable trade of

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...

and

corn Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout Poaceae, grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago ...

, and industries in

brewing Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and #Fermenting, fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with Yeast#Beer, yeast. It may be done in a brewery ...

and iron-founding. By the 17th century,

tin mining Tin mining began early in the Bronze Age, as bronze is a copper-tin alloy. Tin is a relatively rare element in the Earth's crust, with approximately 2 ppm (parts per million), compared to iron with 50,000 ppm. History Tin extraction and use ca ...

was on the wane and the town relied more heavily on the cloth trade. Under the stewardship of the Russells the town remained prosperous, surviving the

Black Death The Black Death was a bubonic plague pandemic that occurred in Europe from 1346 to 1353. It was one of the list of epidemics, most fatal pandemics in human history; as many as people perished, perhaps 50% of Europe's 14th century population. ...

in 1625 (though 52 townspeople died).

English Civil War

In 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 ...

starting 1642, the town was at first held by the Parliamentarians ( Francis Russell, the 4th Earl of Bedford was a leading figure in the parliamentarian movement), before later hosting King Charles I and his Royalist troops in 1643 after the defeat of the Parliamentary forces at the Battle of Bradock Down. The town was recaptured by the Parliamentarian

New Model Army The New Model Army or New Modelled Army was a standing army formed in 1645 by the Parliamentarians during the First English Civil War, then disbanded after the Stuart Restoration in 1660. It differed from other armies employed in the 1639 t ...

following the end of the Siege of Plymouth in 1646. In 1694, William Russell, 5th Earl of Bedford became the first

Late modern period

By 1800, cloth was heading the same way as tin had done a century earlier, but copper was starting to be copiously mined in the area, to such an extent that by 1817 the Tavistock Canal had been dug (most of the labour being performed by French

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

from the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

)Devon County Council: Local Studies
to carry copper to

Morwellham Quay Morwellham Quay is an historic river port in Devon, England that developed to support the local mines. The port had its peak in the Victorian era and is now run as a tourist attraction and museum. It is the terminus of the Tavistock Canal, and ...

on the

River Tamar The Tamar (; ) is a river in south west England that forms most of the border between Devon (to the east) and Cornwall (to the west). A large part of the valley of the Tamar is protected as the Tamar Valley National Landscape (an Area of Outsta ...

, where it could be loaded into sailing ships. In 1822 the old fairs were abolished in favour of six fairs on the second Wednesday in May, July, September, October, November and December. In the mid-19th century, with nearby Devon Great Consols mine at Blanchdown one of the biggest copper mining operations in the world, Tavistock was booming again, reputedly earning the 7th Duke of Bedford alone over £2,000,000. A statue in copper of the 7th Duke stands in Guildhall Square. The Duke built a 50,000

imperial gallon The gallon is a unit of measurement, unit of volume in British imperial units and United States customary units. The imperial gallon (imp gal) is defined as , and is or was used in the United Kingdom and its former colonies, including Ireland ...

(230 m³)

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

to supply the town in 1845, as well as a hundred miners' houses at the southern end of town, between 1845 and 1855. There is a strong, recognisable

vernacular Vernacular is the ordinary, informal, spoken language, spoken form of language, particularly when perceptual dialectology, perceived as having lower social status or less Prestige (sociolinguistics), prestige than standard language, which is mor ...

"Bedford style" of design, exemplified most strikingly in Tavistock Town Hall and "Bedford Cottages" ubiquitous across Tavistock and much of the local area to the north and west, where the Bedfords had their estate and summer "cottage" at Endsleigh House and Gardens, which since 2005 is the Hotel Endsleigh run by Alex Polizzi. Tavistock was deprived of one member of Parliament in 1867 and finally disenfranchised in 1885. The

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

came to the town in 1859, with connections to the

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, ...

and the

London and South Western Railway The London and South Western Railway (LSWR, sometimes written L&SWR) was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Originating as the London and Southampton Railway, its network extended to Dorchester and Weymouth, to Salisbury, Exete ...

(LSWR). At around this time the centre of town was substantially and ruthlessly remodelled by the 7th Duke of Bedford, including the construction of the current town hall and Pannier Market buildings, and the widening of the Abbey Bridge, first built in 1764, and a new Drake Road ramped up northwards from Bedford Square to the LSWR station. Tavistock North railway station opened to much acclaim and fanfare in 1890. The population had peaked at around 9,000. By 1901 the population had halved, recorded as 4,728. In 1968, following the

Beeching Report Beeching is an English surname. It is either a derivative of the old English ''bece'', ''bæce'' "stream", hence "dweller by the stream" or of the old English ''bece'' "beech-tree" hence "dweller by the beech tree".''Oxford Dictionary of English Sur ...

, Tavistock Station closed, and in 1999

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

listed the building as

Grade II 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 ...

. Kelly College, a co-educational public school, to the north-east of the town, was founded by Admiral Benedictus Marwood Kelly, and opened in 1877 for the education of his descendants and the orphan sons of naval officers, and is a

pastiche A pastiche () is a work of visual art, literature, theatre, music, or architecture that imitates the style or character of the work of one or more other artists. Unlike parody, pastiche pays homage to the work it imitates, rather than mocking ...

of the Bedford and High Victorian styles of building. It later amalgamated with Mount House to form Mount Kelly Foundation.

Early 20th and 21st centuries

In 1911, the Bedford influence on the town came to an end after over 450 years, when the family sold most of their holdings in the area to meet

death duties International tax law distinguishes between an estate tax and an inheritance tax. An inheritance tax is a tax paid by a person who inherits money or property of a person who has died, whereas an estate tax is a levy on the estate (money and prop ...

. West Devon Borough Council is based in Tavistock, about 500 metres north of Bedford Square at Kilworthy Park. There was a small police station under part of the Bedford building complex on Bedford Square; this has closed and a new one is in Abbey Rise. The adjacent historic Magistrates Court has also closed and the nearest criminal court is now at Plymouth Law Courts. In 1926 a meeting was held in Tavistock with representatives of the UK government and UK scientific instrument makers. A comparison was made on

between UK

theodolite A theodolite () is a precision optical instrument for measuring angles between designated visible points in the horizontal and vertical planes. The traditional use has been for land surveying, but it is also used extensively for building and ...

s and their European competition, especially the Swiss Wild T2 theodolite. One result of this conference was the 1930 "Tavistock" theodolite by Cooke, Troughton & Simms. In 1933 the long-disused canal was put to use providing

hydroelectric power Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

for the area. A

war memorial A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war. Symbolism Historical usage It has ...

in Bedford Square commemorates the townsfolk killed in the First and

Second The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...

World Wars. Many families across Britain exercised their right not to have their family members named on these public memorials. In 2006 it was planned to move the monument to a site in the graveyard of the Parish Church, but due to local opposition this did not happen.

World War 2

In May 1943, parts of the American 29th Infantry division were stationed in Tavistock, as well as other areas of the South West. From 1944 there were a number of high ranking visits to the division, including that of

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...

, in February of that year, and Army Lieutenant General Omar Bradley. The stationed division then left the town in May 1944 to be involved in the

Omaha Beach Omaha Beach was one of five beach landing sectors of the amphibious assault component of Operation Overlord during the Second World War. On June 6, 1944, the Allies of World War II, Allies invaded German military administration in occupied Fra ...

landings part of

Operation Overlord Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allies of World War II, Allied operation that launched the successful liberation of German-occupied Western Front (World War II), Western Europe during World War II. The ope ...

Later 20th and 21st centuries

Tavistock had two railway stations, both now closed. Tavistock South was the

's station, on the route between Launceston and Plymouth. This was closed and mostly dismantled between 1962 and 1965. The station was sited to the south of Bedford Square, just over the bridge and to the right—now a council depot: no trace of the station remains. Tavistock North was the Plymouth, Devonport and South Western Junction Railway's station, operated by the London and South Western Railway, on the route between Lydford and Plymouth via Bere Alston. This opened on 2 June 1890 and closed on 6 May 1968. The main station building survives as railway-themed bed and breakfast accommodation while the extensive goods yard is now known as Kilworthy Park and houses the offices of West Devon Borough Council. The railway for around a mile south of Tavistock North station is open to the public as a footpath and nature reserve and one can walk across the

viaducts A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide v ...

that overlook the town. The trackbed of the Tavistock North route is almost intact to Bere Alston, where it joins today's Tamar Valley Line. The possible re-opening of a rail link has been discussed for a number of years. Engineering assessment shows the rail-bed, bridges and tunnels to be in sound condition. In 2008 a housing developer offered to rebuild the railway to Bere Alston (from a new station slightly south of the town) if they were allowed to build 800 properties. This has also encouraged speculation about restoring the Tavistock-

Okehampton Okehampton ( ) is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in West Devon in the English county of Devon. At the 2021 census, the parish had a population of 7,313, which was slightly more than the 7,104 recorded at the 2011 census. Th ...

rail link, which could provide an alternative to the Devon coastal main line to link the South West Region with the rest of the country. In December 2010 the developer published an update on the possibility of reinstating the line between Tavistock and Bere Alston and hence providing a train service between Tavistock and Plymouth. In April 2010 the Liberal Democrats had suggested that a Tavistock-Plymouth service could be included in the rail expansion plans should they win the 2010 General Election. In 1986, the town's two newspapers, the Tavistock Gazette (founded in 1857) and the Tavistock Times (established in 1920) merged to form the current weekly publication, the Tavistock Times Gazette, with a circulation of around 8,000. The newspaper is owned by Tindle Newspaper Group. The newspaper celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2007, with a visit from the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...

and

Duchess of Cornwall The Duchess of Cornwall is a title held by the wife of the heir apparent to the British throne. The Duchess of Cornwall is usually also the Princess of Wales, and she uses that title. The current title-holder is Catherine, Princess of Wales, Ca ...

. In July 2006 Tavistock was named the eastern Gateway to the Cornish Mining

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

, which runs westward through the Tamar Valley and Great Consols Mine, down the spine of Cornwall to Lands End. This £75 million project is likely to bring more tourists to Tavistock. There has been no progress with proposals for a £1.1 million World Heritage Site Interpretation Centre, planned for 2007, to be built in the area of the Guildhall, and overlooking the River Tavy. A local community group known as "Tavistock Forward" have been negotiating to take over the Guildhall complex with police and

endorsement, with leaseback of the existing police station to Devon & Cornwall Police, while developing the Guildhall itself.

Geography

Tavistock lies on the edge of

, around north of

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

on the A386, with a population of 11,018. The town is centred on the paved amenity of Bedford Square, around which are found St. Eustachius' Church and the abbey ruins, to the west, the Grade 2-listed town hall, the disused former Guildhall/magistrates' court buildings, and Pannier Market buildings behind the town hall. Abbey Bridge crosses the River Tavy to the south, while West Street and Duke Street, on either side of the north end of the square, form the main

shopping Shopping is an activity in which a customer browses the available goods or services presented by one or more retailers with the potential intent to purchase a suitable selection of them. A Retail#Shopper profiles, typology of shopper types ha ...

areas, with the indoor anniermarket running behind Duke Street. Plymouth Road, the A386 heading west from the centre of the square, is home to much of the town's

tourist Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as being limited to holiday activity on ...

trade, with many

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

s and

bed and breakfast A bed and breakfast (typically shortened to B&B or BnB) is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast. In addition, a B&B sometimes has the hosts living in the house. ''Bed and breakfast'' is also used to ...

establishments, as well as the town's

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used ...

station. Between Plymouth Road and the Tavy is the

park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

, known locally as the Meadows, along with car parks, the Wharf

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

, cinema and culture centre, and a public recreation pool. West of the Meadows are found the substantial playing fields and buildings of Tavistock College, reached by an underpass below the A386. Further south along the Plymouth Road/A386 lie

industrial estate An industrial park, also known as industrial estate or trading estate, is an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development. An industrial park can be thought of as a more heavyweight version of a business park or office par ...

supermarket A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. Strictly speaking, a supermarket is larger and has a wider selecti ...

s and other large retail outlets. To the north and east of town lies Whitchurch Down, where Dartmoor begins immediately.

Climate

Tavistock has an

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''Cfb'').

Religious sites

* See also

* For the parish church of St Eustachius, see above,

Parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

* The Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady of the Assumption and St Mary Magdalene, Fitzford, was built at the expense of the Duke of Bedford in 1867. It is an ambitious building in the neo-transitional style and the tall spire is conspicuous from the high ground surrounding the town. This church was intended as a place of worship for miners. It fell into disuse and was bought in 1952 for use as a Roman Catholic church.

Education

Tavistock Roman Catholic Church - geograph

State

Most secondary education is provided by Tavistock College, a state-funded specialist Language College with approximately 2,000 pupils, drawn from a catchment area of about radius. The college has links with Japan,

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

, Spain and India where staff exchanges and student visits and projects take place. Some children who pass the optional

Eleven-Plus exam The eleven-plus (11+) is a Test (assessment), standardised examination administered to some students in England and Northern Ireland in their last year of primary education, which governs admission to grammar schools and other secondary schools ...

at a high level travel to one of the three remaining

grammar schools A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

in Plymouth. Others who leave school at 16 attend the City College C of F E there. Tavistock has a choice of primary schools:

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

St Peter's and also St Rumon's, together with Devon County Council's Tavistock Community Primary and Whitchurch Primary.

Independent

Mount Kelly School is the independent school in Tavistock. It has two main sites, the college which is situated on Parkwood Road and the Preparatory School which is situated on Mount Tavy Road. The school has 570 pupils between the ages of 3 and 18. Mount Kelly was formed in 2014 after two independent schools, Kelly College and Mount House School merged.

Life and events

Market village and shopping centre

Tavistock remains a small market town, providing shopping and entertainment for its residents, many small outlying villages and the local farming community. The town is now a centre for the West Devon and Dartmoor tourist trade. It is a fast-growing dormitory area for commuters working in Plymouth and has a sizeable

retired Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

population, perhaps drawn by the rural tranquillity and scenery, giving Tavistock an average resident age of 43. Markets were originally held in Bank Square. A specialist Corn Market was erected on the corner of West Street and King Street in 1835. The main market continues to operate in the large covered market building, the Pannier Market, completed in 1860; the main market is on Fridays, on other days the market hosts specialised events, such as

craft A craft or trade is a pastime or an occupation that requires particular skills and knowledge of skilled work. In a historical sense, particularly the Middle Ages and earlier, the term is usually applied to people occupied in small scale pr ...

fairs and

antiques An antique () is an item perceived as having value because of its aesthetic or historical significance, and often defined as at least 100 years old (or some other limit), although the term is often used loosely to describe any object that i ...

fairs. A Farmers' Market takes place in the Square fortnightly and has been voted Best Farmer's Market in the South West. In 2005 Tavistock was voted 'Best Market Town' in England and in 2006 'Best Food Town', largely on the strength of the many independent food shops and suppliers in the town and nearby, such as a long-established family grocer and delicatessen in Brook St and the cheese shop behind the Pannier market. The town also became Devon's second Fairtrade Town (in 2006). In 2006 the town was in the news for having successfully cold-shouldered to closure the local branch of McDonald's.

Events

The biggest event in the town's calendar is the annual Tavistock Goose Fair (known locally as the " Goosey Fair") which has existed since 1116. It occurs on the second Wednesday of October, and takes over much of the town for several days either side, drawing crowds which far outnumber the resident population. Traditionally, the Fair was an opportunity to buy a Christmas goose, with plenty of time to fatten the bird before Christmas; nowadays, along with a multitude of gypsy street vendors selling a vast range of wares, there are all the rides and games associated with

funfair A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks. Fairs showcase a wide range of go ...

s, such as fortune tellers. There is an annual two-day garden festival held on the Spring Bank Holiday weekend and a carnival with a two-day Balloon Fiesta each August bank holiday weekend. In May there is an annual Tavistock Music & Arts Festival. In 2010, the town was chosen to be a stage depart town in the Tour of Britain cycle race. On the first Sunday in October, the annual Abbots Way Walk finishes in Tavistock. Started in 1962, this challenge walk starts at Buckfast Abbey and participants walk across Southern Dartmoor to finish at Tavistock.

Transport

Buses

The main bus operator in Tavistock is Stagecoach South West, which runs the following key routes: * 1 to Plymouth * 87 to Bere Alston * 89 Town Service. Plymouth Citybus run rural services onto Dartmoor. Dartline operates route 118 to Okehampton.

Railway

The nearest

National Rail National Rail (NR) is the trading name licensed for use by the Rail Delivery Group, a group representing passenger train operating companies (TOCs) of England, Scotland, and Wales. The TOCs run the passenger services previously provided by ...

stations are at: * for local services to , operated by

* for local and

inter-city Inter-city rail services are Express train, express trains that run services that connect cities over longer distances than Commuter rail, commuter or Regional rail, regional trains. They include rail services that are neither short-distance co ...

services to , , , , , and ; services are operated by Great Western Railway and

CrossCountry CrossCountry (legal name XC Trains Limited) is a British train operating company owned by Arriva UK Trains, operating the current CrossCountry franchise. The CrossCountry franchise was restructured by the Department for Transport (DfT) in 2006, ...

. The town was once served by two railway stations: and ; both closed in the 1960s. There are plans to open a new station in the town; if successful, this would reinstate a rail connection between Tavistock railway station and Plymouth, about to the south.

Roads

The A386 connects Tavistock to the A30 in the north and to the A380 in the south.

Culture and sport

Tavistock's coat of arms is blazoned "Per pale, gules and azure, a fleece banded; a chief, dexter a lion passant gardant, sinister a fleur-de-lys, all or". The earliest record of these arms is in 1684. The fleece refers to the wool trade and the fleur-de-lys probably to Our Lady, joint patron of Tavistock Abbey. The town's motto is "Crescit sub pondere virtus", meaning "virtue flourishes under a burden".

Tavistock Penny Token

Bigbury Mint Ltd, medal makers based near Plymouth in Devon, produce a semi-reproduction of the Tavistock Penny Token which is distinguished from the original by the Bigbury Mint mark stamped on both sides of the coin. There is an example of the original coin held in the Science Museum Collection. The Bigbury Mint reproduction coin is struck in copper as a celebration of the proud mining history of the town, the obverse of the coin features the Tavistock fleur-de-lys and the reverse of the coin has a carving of the mine, along with the words "Devon Mines, 1811".

Literature

Tavistock was the birthplace of the poet William Browne. The town is mentioned in some of Sir

Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Hol ...

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a Detective fiction, fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a "Private investigator, consulting detective" in his stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with obser ...

adventures, including ''

The Hound of the Baskervilles ''The Hound of the Baskervilles'' is the third of the four Detective fiction, crime novels by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle featuring the detective Sherlock Holmes. Originally serial (literature), serialised in ''The Strand Magazine'' from ...

'' and " The Adventure of Silver Blaze". It is also receives a mention in R. D. Blackmore's classic'' Lorna Doone'' and

Neal Stephenson Neal Town Stephenson (born October 31, 1959) is an American writer known for his works of speculative fiction. His novels have been categorized as science fiction, historical fiction, cyberpunk, and baroque. Stephenson's work explores mathemati ...

's novel, '' The System of the World''. Anna Eliza Bray was the author of '' The Borders of the Tamar and the Tavy'' (1836), an account of the traditions and superstitions of the neighbourhood of Tavistock in the form of letters to

Robert Southey Robert Southey (; 12 August 1774 – 21 March 1843) was an English poet of the Romantic poetry, Romantic school, and Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate from 1813 until his death. Like the other Lake Poets, William Wordsworth an ...

Sport

Tavistock has one senior football team, Tavistock A.F.C. and two junior football teams, Tavistock Town and Tavistock Thistles. Together the three clubs form Tavistock Community Football Club offering coaching and competition to players of all ages from 5 years old to veterans. There is also a rugby team with a large and active minis and junior section, Tavistock Rugby Football Club.

Media

Local TV coverage is provided by BBC South West and ITV West Country. Television signals are received from the Caradon Hill and the local relay TV transmitters. Tavistock's local radio stations are

BBC Radio Devon BBC Radio Devon is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Devon. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios in the Mannamead area of Plymouth. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audience of ...

on 103.4 FM, Heart West on 96.6 FM, and Greatest Hits Radio South West (formerly The Breeze) on 105.5 FM. The '' Tavistock Times Gazette'', published on Thursdays, is the town's local newspaper.

Twin towns

The town has had twinning links with

Pontivy Pontivy (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Morbihan Departments of France, department in Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in north-western France. It lies at the confluence of the river Blavet and the Canal de Nantes à Brest. ...

in France since 1958 and Celle in Germany.

Notable people

* Mary Colling, poet and domestic servant of Tavistock. *Sir

Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( 1540 – 28 January 1596) was an English Exploration, explorer and privateer best known for making the Francis Drake's circumnavigation, second circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition between 1577 and 1580 (bein ...

was born nearby, and was mayor of, Tavistock * Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, a model, grew up on a farm near Tavistock. *

Pete Quaife Peter Alexander Greenlaw Quaife (born Kinnes; 31 December 1943 – 23 June 2010) was an English musician, artist and author. He was a founding member and the original bassist for the Kinks, from 1963 until 1969. He also sang backing vocals on s ...

, the

Kinks The Kinks were an English rock band formed in London in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies, and Pete Quaife. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhythm ...

bass player, was born in the town. *Olympians Kate Allenby and Heather Fell both have ties with Tavistock. * Graham Dawe (England, Sale and Bath rugby hooker) and Rob Baxter (the Exeter Chiefs and England rugby coach) were both born in Tavistock. *The hymn writer Elizabeth Parsons was also born in the town.J. C. Hadden, 'Parsons, Elizabeth (1812–1873)', rev. Rosemary Mitchell, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 200
accessed 17 Jan 2016
* Michael Howat (born 1958), cricketer * William Thomas Goode (died 1932), journalist and academic

References

Sources

External links

Tavistock Town Council
{{Authority control Market towns in Devon Towns in Devon Civil parishes in Devon Monasteries dissolved under the English Reformation Deaneries of the Church of England Borough of West Devon