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| Buckfastleigh | |
|---|---|
 Hamlyn House | |
  Buckfastleigh Location withinDevon | |
| Population | 3,326 (2011) |
| OS grid reference | SX7366 |
| Civil parish |
|
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | BUCKFASTLEIGH |
| Postcode district | TQ11 |
| Dialling code | 01364 |
| Police | Devon and Cornwall |
| Fire | Devon and Somerset |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| UK Parliament | |
| 50°28′53″N3°46′44″W / 50.48139°N 3.77889°W /50.48139; -3.77889 | |
Buckfastleigh is amarket town andcivil parish in theTeignbridge district, inDevon, England situated beside the Devon Expressway (A38) at the edge of theDartmoor National Park. For ecclesiastical purposes, lies within theTotnesDeanery. It is 18 miles (29 km) east-northeast ofPlymouth, 20 miles (32 km) southwest ofExeter and has a population of 3,661.[1] It is a centre of tourism and is home toBuckfast Abbey, theSouth Devon Railway, the Buckfastleigh Butterfly Farm and Otter Sanctuary, the Tomb of SquireRichard Cabell andThe Valiant Soldier Museum Heritage & Visitor Centre. With 13 letters, Buckfastleigh is one of the longest place names in England with no repeated letters, tied withBuslingthorpe, Leeds andBuslingthorpe, Lincolnshire, but exceeded byBricklehampton inWorcestershire with 14 letters.
Geographically, Buckfastleigh straddles theconfluence of two small streams fromDartmoor which feed into theRiver Dart just to the east of the town. About one mile to the north lies Buckfast, home ofBuckfast Abbey. To the northwest lieHolne andScorriton on the southern breastwork of the Dartmoorupland.Pridhamsleigh Cavern is nearby and is neighboured byAshburton and Lower Dean.
Historically Buckfastleigh has grown as a mill town known for its woollen mills, corn and paper mills and a tannery supported by the rivers Dart, Mardle and the Dean Burn – water being an essential natural resource used in the manufacturing of wool and other products.
Buckfastleigh is medieval in origin, as is still evident in the original layout of the town. By the seventeenth century, most of the properties had been rebuilt, but the medieval layout, particularly in Fore Street, is still visible today.
The name "Buckfast" means "stronghold" – traditionally a place where deer and buck were held, and "Leigh" would have been the pasture belonging to Buckfast – hence the meaning deer held in a pasture (buck-fast-leigh).
Buckfast probably existed before Buckfastleigh as it is mentioned in the Domesday Book and in 1018 a Benedictine Abbey was founded and endorsed byKing Canute at Buckfast.
Buckfastleigh town centre is now an area of mostly late eighteenth- to early twentieth-century buildings with an interesting collection of private dwellings, commercial and retail properties and public houses which retain many, if not all, of their original features, styles and character.
The town centre during the first half of the twentieth century was a lively almost self-sufficient community with locally based employment and a large building programme of local authority housing initiated by Buckfastleigh Urban District Council which commenced in the 1920s and extended the town to the south west and the north west. Census data shows that in 1801 the population was 1,525, and 2,781 in 1901.
The Hamlyn family were the owners of the largest of the woollen mills in the town.[2] In 1880 the Hamlyn family built Bossell - a large country house with 8 acres of land - as their family home in the town. The Hamlyn family monogram still adorns the front of the house. In 1887 they were instrumental in the buildingBuckfastleigh Town Hall to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria.[3]
Land was also made available at this time for further public facilities which included Victoria Park, the tennis courts and the swimming pool. The new primary school was built in 1875, while the railway line fromBuckfastleigh and Ashburton to Totnes had been opened in 1872 (it lost its passenger trains in 1958; and the goods service in 1962). Links toAshburton andTotnes are maintained byCountry Bus service 88 and which continues toNewton Abbot. In addition bus service 38 (operated byStagecoach South West provides links toExeter,Ivybridge and from September 2025Plymouth.
Pennywell Farm is an organic farm andtourist attraction just outside the town.[4]
To the west of the town is themanor house of Brook, agrade II* listed building, built in 1656 byRichard Cabell (d. 1677),lord of the manor of Brook.[5] He was the subject of a local legend which relates that on the night of his death, black hounds breathing fire and smoke raced over Dartmoor and surrounded Brook House, howling. Cabell's unusual tomb was allegedly designed to keep hisrestless spirit from roaming Dartmoor.[6]Sir Arthur Conan Doyle based hisSherlock Holmes novelThe Hound of the Baskervilles (1901–1902) on this legend. The story's description of Baskerville Hall, however, is based onCromer Hall[citation needed] in Norfolk.
The South Devon Railway Trust is a charitable organisation that operates a heritage railway from Totnes to Buckfastleigh in Devon, alongside the River Dart. The heritage railway itself is known as the South Devon Railway, named in honour of the South Devon Railway Company that originally built much of Devon's railway infrastructure, although its previous name of the Dart Valley Railway is sometimes still heard.
The line was built by theBuckfastleigh, Totnes and South Devon Railway and first opened on 1 May 1872. Originally the line connected Totnes with Ashburton but in recent years the line passing between Buckfastleigh and Ashburton was demolished to make way for the A38 expressway. The line was worked by the larger South Devon Railway Company until 1 February 1876 when this was amalgamated into the Great Western Railway.
Vintage steam locomotives and carriages in the tradition of a bygone age are used; it offers unique scenery only seen from the railway. The South Devon Railway has an interesting collection of both steam and diesel locomotives. There are many former Great Western engines and industrial locomotives, the South Devon Railway Trust work with National Railway Museum.
| Climate data for Buckfastleigh, 1981–2010 normals | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 9 (48) | 9 (48) | 11 (52) | 13 (55) | 16 (61) | 19 (66) | 21 (70) | 21 (70) | 18 (64) | 15 (59) | 12 (54) | 10 (50) | 15 (58) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 4 (39) | 4 (39) | 5 (41) | 6 (43) | 8 (46) | 11 (52) | 13 (55) | 13 (55) | 11 (52) | 9 (48) | 6 (43) | 5 (41) | 8 (46) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 126.3 (4.97) | 97.0 (3.82) | 93.7 (3.69) | 74.7 (2.94) | 77.3 (3.04) | 65.7 (2.59) | 68.4 (2.69) | 72.9 (2.87) | 81.5 (3.21) | 123.6 (4.87) | 122.3 (4.81) | 140.8 (5.54) | 1,144.2 (45.04) |
| Source:Chelsa Climate[7] | |||||||||||||
Buckfast Abbey was founded by Earl Aylward in the reign ofKing Canute in 1018. In 1147 it became aCistercianabbey and was rebuilt in stone. Inmedieval times, the abbey became rich through fishing and trading in sheepwool, although theBlack Death killed twoabbots and manymonks – by 1377 there were only fourteen monks at Buckfast.
On 25 February 1539,William Petre arrived at Buckfast and declared the abbey to be dissolved by the order ofKing Henry VIII. TheDissolution of the Monasteries left monks compelled to leave and the buildings were looted and then destroyed. The abbey then stood in ruins for over two hundred years.
On 28 October 1882, sixBenedictine monks arrived at Buckfast having been exiled from France. The land had been leased by monks from theSt. Augustine'sPriory inRamsgate and it was later bought for £4,700. The first new abbot was Boniface Natter, who died in a shipwreck in 1906. His travelling companionAnscar Vonier became the next abbot and pledged to fulfil his dying wish, namely to rebuild the abbey.
Buckfastleigh Rangers is a Football and Social Club based in Buckfastleigh,Devon. They were established in 1903, playing in the South Devon League. During recent years Rangers has enjoyed league promotion and cup success. The teams have won the Lidstone, Greenaway, Harry Treeby and the Devon Senior Cups. Over the years Buckfastleigh Rangers Football Club have played hosts to other league clubs including Torquay United, Plymouth Argyle, Watford F.C and Leyton Orient.
Through the ages several residents of Buckfastleigh families have earned a place in history, scholarship or commerce. One such person is ProfessorWilliam Hosking, who became, in 1840, the first Professor of Architecture atKing's College in London.
The curly-coatedDevon Rex cat breed was first discovered in Buckfastleigh in the 1960s and is named after the county in which the town is situated.
Caves in Buckfastleigh include:
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