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Buckfastleigh
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Buckfastleigh is a small market town in Devon, England situated beside the Devon Expressway (A38) at the edge of the Dartmoor National Park. It is part of Teignbridge District Council and South Hams District Council and (for ecclesiastical purposes) lies within the Totnes Deanery. It has a population of about 5,000. It is a centre of tourism, and is home to Buckfast Abbey, the South Devon Railway, and the Buckfastleigh Butterfly Farm and Otter Sanctuary.
raphically, Buckfastleigh straddles the confluence of two small streams from Dartmoor which feed into the River Dart just to the east of the town.
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Encyclopedia
Buckfastleigh is a small market town in Devon, England situated beside the Devon Expressway (A38) at the edge of the Dartmoor National Park. It is part of Teignbridge District Council and South Hams District Council and (for ecclesiastical purposes) lies within the Totnes Deanery. It has a population of about 5,000. It is a centre of tourism, and is home to Buckfast Abbey, the South Devon Railway, and the Buckfastleigh Butterfly Farm and Otter Sanctuary.
Geography
Geographically, Buckfastleigh straddles the confluence of two small streams from Dartmoor which feed into the River Dart just to the east of the town. About one mile to the north lies Buckfast, home of Buckfast Abbey. To the northwest lie Holne and Scorriton on the southern ramparts of the Dartmoor massif. Pridhamsleigh Cavern is nearby and is neighboured by Ashburton and Lower Dean.
History
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 however, most of the properties had been rebuilt, but the medieval layout particularly in Fore Street are 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 by King 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 and District Council which commenced in the 1920's 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 most prominent benefactors of the town were the Hamlyn family who were the original owners of the woollen mills up until 1920 and together with other philanthropists in the town, new cottages were erected. In 1887 they were instrumental in the building of a new Town Hall and community building to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria. 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 and the railway line from Buckfastleigh and Ashburton to Totnes was opened.
South Devon Railway Trust
The South Devon Railway Trust is a charitable organization 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 the Buckfastleigh, Totnes and South Devon Railway and first opened on 1 May 1872. Originally the line connected Totnes with Ashburton but in recent years the passing between Buckfastleigh and Ashburton was demolished to make way for the A38 expresway. 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.
Buckfast Abbey
Buckfast Abbey was founded by Earl Aylward in the reign of King Canute in 1018. In 1147 it became a Cistercian abbey and was rebuilt in stone. In medieval times, the abbey became rich through fishing and trading in sheep wool, although the Black Death killed two abbots and many monks — 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 of King Henry VIII. The Dissolution 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, six Benedictine monks arrived at Buckfast having been exiled from France. The land had been leased by monks from the St. Augustine's Priory in Ramsgate and it was later bought for £4,700. The first new abbot was Boniface Natter, who died in a shipwreck in 1906. His travelling companion Anscar Vonier became the next abbot and pledged to fulfil his dying wish, namely to rebuild the abbey.
Buckfastleigh Ranger’s Football Club
Buckfastleigh Rangers are a football club based in Buckfastleigh, Devon. They were established in the early 1900s, playing in the South Devon League. During recent years Rangers has enjoyed league promotion and cup success. The teams have successfully won the Lidstone, Greenaway, Harry Treeby and the Devon Senior Cups.
From Buckfastleigh
Through the ages several residents of Buckfastleigh families have earned a place in history, scholarship or commerce. One such person is Professor William Hosking, who became, in 1840, the first Professor of Architecture at King's College in London.
The curly-coated Devon Rex cat breed was first discovered in Buckfastleigh in the 1960s and is named after the county in which the town is situated.
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