Tavistock
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- This article is about the town in Devon. For the square in London, see Tavistock Square.
Tavistock is a market town in west Devon, England. It lies on the River Tavy, from which its name derives, and has a population of around 11,000. It traces its history back at least to 974 A.D., when the Benedictine Abbey, whose ruins lie in the centre of the town, was founded. Its most famous son is the sailor, privateer and circumnavigator Sir Francis Drake.
There are other places called Tavistock in New Jersey, U.S.A. and Ontario, Canada.
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Tavistock Today
Location and Layout
Tavistock lies on the edge of Dartmoor, around 15 miles north of Plymouth on the A386. The town is centred on Bedford Square, around which are found St. Eustachius' church and the Abbey ruins, to the west, and the Town Hall and Pannier Market buildings to the east. 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 areas, with the indoor market running behind Duke Street. Plymouth Road, heading west from the centre of the square, is home to much of the town's tourist trade, with many hotels and bed and breakfast establishments, as well as the town's bus station. Between Plymouth Road and the Tavy lies a long strip of public park, known locally as the Meadows, along with car parks, the Wharf theatre, cinema and culture centre, and a public swimming pool. West of the Meadows are found the substantial playing fields and buildings of Tavistock College. Further south along the Plymouth Road lie industrial estates, supermarkets and other large retail outlets. To the north and east of town, the moor begins almost immediately.
Life and events
The town is no longer a bustling industrial centre, but remains a market town providing shopping and entertainment for its many outlying villages and the local farming community, as well as forming a centre for the West Devon and Dartmoor tourist trade. It is home to Tavistock College, a state-funded specialist Language College with over 1,850 pupils from a very wide catchment area; there is also a private school, Kelly College, situated just outside town to the east. There is a sizeable retired community, drawn by the rural tranquility and scenery.
The market continues to operate from the large covered market building, the Pannier Market; the main market is on Fridays, with other days playing host to various more specialised events, such as craft fairs, farmers' markets, antiques etc.
The biggest event in the town's calendar is the annual Goose (or "Goosey") Fair, which has existed since 1116. Originally scheduled to take place on the feast-day of St. Rumon, it now 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 for locals to purchase their Christmas goose, allowing plenty of time to fatten the bird before Christmas came; nowadays, along with a multitude of street vendors selling a vast range of wares, there are all the rides and games associated with funfairs; geese can still be purchased. There is a song associated with the fair.
The town maintains twinning links with Pontivy in France (Brittany) since 1958 and with Celle in Germany.
Culture
Tavistock was the birthplace of the poet William Browne.
The town is mentioned in some of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes adventures, including The Hound of the Baskervilles and Silver Blaze.
It is also receives a passing mention in R. D. Blackmore's classic Lorna Doone.
Tavistock is also mentioned in Neal Stephenson's novel, The System Of The World.
History
Early days
The area around Tavistock (formerly Tavistoke), where the River Tavy runs wide and shallow allowing it to be easily crossed, and near the secure high ground of Dartmoor, was inhabited long before the historical record. The surrounding area is littered with archeological remains from the Bronze and Iron ages, and it is believed a hamlet existed on the site of the present town long before the town's official history began, with the founding of the Abbey.
The abbey of Saint Mary and Saint Rumon was founded in 961 by Orgar, Earl of Devon. After destruction by Danish raiders in 997 it was restored, and among its famous abbots was Aldred, who crowned Harold II and William I, and died Archbishop of York. There is evidence to suggest that local specialty the cream tea was first served here, to workers during the restoration. The abbey church was rebuilt in 1285 and the greater part of the abbey in 1457-58.
Market town
In 1105 a Royal Charter was granted by Henry I to the monks of Tavistock to run a weekly "Pannier Market" (so called after the baskets used to carry goods) on a Friday, which still takes place today. In 1116 a three-day fair was also granted to mark the feast of Saint Rumon, another tradition that is still maintained in the shape of the annual "Goosey" fair. In 1552 two fairs on April 23 and November 28 were granted by Edward VI to the Earl of Bedford, then lord of the manor. 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, Epiphany, Saint Mark, and the Decollation of John the Baptist. The charter of Charles II instituted a Tuesday market, fairs on the Thursday after Whitsunday and at the feast of Saint Swithin. In 1822 the old fairs were abolished in favour of six fairs on the second Wednesdays in May, July, September, October, November and December.
By 1185 Tavistock had achieved borough status and in 1295 became a parliamentary borough, sending two members to parliament. It was deprived of one member in 1867 and finally disenfranchised in 1885. In 1305, with the growing importance of the area as one of Europe's richest sources of tin, Tavistock was one of the four stannary towns appointed by charter of Edward I, where tin was stamped and weighed and monthly courts were held for the regulation of mining affairs.
The church of Saint Eustachius dates from 1318 and was dedicated by Bishop Stapledon. It was further rebuilt and enlarged into its current form between 1425 and 1450, at which time the Clothworkers' Aisle was included, an indication of the growing importance of the textile industry to the local economy - the trade was protected by a 1467 statute. It possesses a lofty tower supported on four open arches. Within are monuments to the Glanville and Bourchier families, besides some stained glass, one window being the work of William Morris.
The town continued to prosper under the charge of the abbots, acquiring one of England's first printing presses 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 this 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; the Bedford name can still be seen in many place names around the town.
Francis Drake
Around 1540 (some sources state 1542 as the exact year), Sir Francis Drake was born at Crowndale Farm, just to the west of what is now Tavistock College; a Blue Plaque marks the house in which he is believed to have been born. He became a prominent figure of his age, a champion of Queen Elizabeth, the first Englishman to circumnavigate the world and winner of a famously decisive victory against the Spanish Armada in 1588. The famous statue of Drake on Plymouth Hoe is thought to be a copy of that on a roundabout near the school, and he later made his home at nearby Buckland Abbey, now a museum to Drake.
Industry
Mines of copper, manganese, lead, silver and tin were previously in the neighborhood and the town possessed a considerable trade in cattle and corn, and industries in brewing and iron-founding.
By the 17th century, tin 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 in 1625 (though 52 townspeople died). In the English Civil War 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 Bradock Down.
The woollen industry decayed at Tavistock and was attributed by the inhabitants in 1641 to the dread of the Turks at sea and of Popish Plots at home.
In 1694, William Russell, 5th Earl of Bedford became the first Duke of Bedford.
By 1800, cloth was heading the same way as tin had done a century earlier, but copper was starting to be seriously mined in the area, to such an extent that by 1817 a canal had been dug (most of the labour being done by French prisoners of war from the Napoleonic Wars), to carry copper to Morwellham Quay on the River Tamar, where it could be loaded into ships weighing up to 200 tonnes.
In the mid-nineteenth century, with nearby Devon Great Consols mine at Blanchdown one of the biggest mining operations in the world, Tavistock was booming again, and the Duke of Bedford built a 50,000 imperial gallon (230 m³) reservoir to supply the town in 1845, as well as a hundred miners' houses at the southern end of town, between 1845 and 1855. The railway came to the town in 1859, with the town being connected to the Great Western Railway and the London and South Western Railway. At around this time the centre of town was substantially remodelled, including the construction of the current Town Hall and Pannier Market buildings, and the widening of the Abbey Bridge, first built in 1764; the population had peaked at around 9,000. In 1901 the population was recorded as 4,728.
Kelly College, near 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.
The 20th Century
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.
In 1933 the long-disused canal was put to use providing hydroelectric power for the area.
A war memorial in Bedford Square commemorates and lists the townsfolk killed in the First and Second World Wars.
The rail connection to the town was closed, and mostly dismantled, between 1962 and 1965.
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.
References
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition{{#if:{{{article|}}}| article {{#if:{{{url|}}}|[{{{url|}}}}} "{{{article}}}"{{#if:{{{url|}}}|]}}{{#if:{{{author|}}}| by {{{author}}}}}}}, a publication now in the public domain.