Blue Plaques
Tavistock's Blue Plaques - front cover
This charming little book is invaluable for anyone planning a visit to the delightful market town of Tavistock, to learn more of its history. The book summarises the history of Tavistock with excellent accompanying photographs for each of the selected blue plaque sites. The book originated from a list of fifty-six sites of special interest which were identified by the late Gerry Woodcock, respected local historian. Twenty-eight of these sites now have blue plaques. Using the included map, visitors could walk around all the blue plaque sites in a day, reading the summarised history at each one which also provides an overview of the history of Tavistock and its buildings through the ages.
Of particular interest is the way in which some of the buildings have changed use over the years. The Guildhall and police station are good examples, as they have recently been refurbished to become a heritage centre for visitors to learn more about the Tavistock’s history. It was also interesting to discover that the Still Tower was where the monks from the abbey distilled their herbs into medicines. The other remaining parts of the abbey are Betsy Grimbal’s Tower, Abbey Chapel, Court Gate and the remaining arch of the abbey cloisters. From this the reader can get some idea of the extent of the original abbey, and an overview of the history of the abbey, which became part of the Bedford estate after the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Many of the buildings, which had nineteenth-century industrial use, are now shops or housing, like the town mill which is a shop and the Victorian grammar school in Plymouth Road which is now housing. The Bedford cottages and villas were built by the Bedford estate - the former housed workers, while the villas were built between 1840 and 1880, and leased to the gentry, professional classes and shop owners.
The section on Tavistock Canal is also an interesting historical summary; the canal was built with a gentle slope over its length, so the water diverted from the River Tavy at Abbey Bridge flows well and it ends as a power source for the hydroelectric station at Morwellham - a port on the navigable River Tamar where copper ores were transported down the canal, and shipped to the smelters in South Wales.
This informative book was compiled by the Tavistock Museum and is available for sale at the museum for £3.00. I can thoroughly recommend it as an essential read for anyone interested in the history of Tavistock.
Review by Dr Ann Pulsford