Encyclopedia
Newton Abbot is a market
town in
Devon ,
England on the
River Teign, with a population of 23,580 . Newton Abbot has been on a main highway since Roman times. Its position at the head of the Teign estuary and the confluence of several valleys favoured the development of a trading centre. The New Town of the Abbots was given the right to hold a weekly market on Wednesdays sometime between 1247 and 1251. On the strength of the market it quickly became a successful thriving town and a good source of income for the Abbots. It then grew very rapidly in the
Victorian era as home to the
Great Western Railway trainworks depot. Newton Abbot has a racecourse and boasts three country parks; Decoy, Stover and Bradley. Part of Newton Abbot's heritage is the historic Cheese and Onion Fayre, originally held on 5,6,7 November in honour of Saint Leonard. It is still held to this day, but earlier in the year at the beginning of September.
History
Traces of Neolithic people have been found at Berry's Wood Hill Fort near Bradley Manor. This was a contour hill fort that enclosed about 11 acres. Milber Down camp was built in the 1st century BC. Later it was occupied by the Romans - coins and a pavement have been found. There are remains of a Norman motte and bailey castle on Highweek Hill. This was probably a lookout post for raiders coming up the Teign estuary. A village grew up around this castle which over the years became Highweek - the village on the high ground. On the low ground around the river Lemon arose another settlement which became part of Wolborough Manor. By 1220 the local abbey was granted a charter to hold a weekly Wednesday market beside the Lemon as well as an annual November fair. This settlement became Newton Abbot. The evolution of Newton Abbot is firmly linked to its market.
Over the river on the Highweek side another weekly market was created. This one ran on Tuesdays and because the Bushel family were the landowners then this community became known as Newton Bushel. Over the next 200 years Newton Bushel ran more annual fairs, a number of mills were set up and the leather and wool trades started. Newton Bushel was also a convenient place for travellers to stay. Torre Abbey was dissolved in 1539 and ownership of Wolborough was granted to John Gaverock who built himself a new house at Forde.
The twin markets of Newton Abbot and Newton Bushel continued until they were merged together in 1633 as a Wednesday weekly market under the ownership of Bradley Manor. By 1751 there was also a smaller Saturday market and 3 annual fairs – a cattle fair on June 24th, a cheese and onion fair in September and a cloth fair on 6th November. The markets continued to expand so in 1826 a new market was built. Over the next 50 years the buildings became delapidated so a substantial new market was built in 1871. The buildings included a pannier market, a corn exchange and a public hall – the Alexandria . The river Lemon was also covered over. Further enlargement took place in 1938 as a new cattle market and corn exchange were built. Up to 2005 there has been a thriving market in Newton Abbot for over 750 years.
Wool and Leather
In medieval times Devon was an important sheep rearing county. Many towns had their own wool and cloth industries and Newton Abbot had woolen mills, fullers, dyers, spinners, weavers and tailors. In particular, fellmongering was well established in the town. In 1724
Daniel Defoe wrote that Newton Abbot had a thriving serge industry that sent goods to Holland via Exeter. The annual cloth fair was the town’s busiest fair. Over the 19th century Vicary’s mills became an important employer in the town and by the 1920’s they employed over 400 men. However, by 1972 business had declined and the works finally closed down.
Associated with the woolen industry was the leather one. The hides left after the fellmongering process were made into leather. Tanners, boot and shoe makers, glovers and saddlers were all in business in Newton Abbot. As with the wool industry business flourished over 600 years until after the Second World War.
The Newfoundland Trade
In 1583
Humphrey Gilbert – a local adventurer – landed at St John’s in Newfoundland and claimed the area as a British colony. The fisheries quickly developed. Between 1600 and 1850 there was a steady trade between Newton Abbot and the cod fisheries off Newfoundland. Every year men from the town would gather at the Dartmouth Inn or Newfoundland Inn in East Street in the hope of being hired for a season’s work. In the autumn the dried cod was stored in depots and sometimes used as payment. There was considerable economic spin off from this trade. Fish hooks, knives, waterproof boots were all made in the town as was rope making. The Rope Walk still remains in the town together with the names of Newfoundland Way and St John’s Street.
Ball clay and the Stover Canal
Just 2 miles NW of Newton Abbot lies the clay workings of Bovey basin. This basin took millions of years to fill from rivers which flowed out of Dartmoor. The sediements included clay which is derived from the rotted granite. The natural deposition has resulted in a clay that is purer and more refined than many others. It has been used to make materials ranging from bricks to porcelain.
Bovey clay was being used to make pipes with around 1680. By 1700 it was being shipped from
Teignmouth and its incorporation in the Wedgwood pottery business made it a success. The clay was extracted by simply digging out the lumps on courses – rather like peat cutting. The bulky clay was transported by packhorse.
Towards the end of the 18th century the ball clay industry was steadily expanding. A local landowner called James Templar built the Stover canal in 1792 to help ship clay from the Bovey beds to Newton Abbot and thence by barge to the port of Teignmouth. Coal, manure and agricultural produce was also freighted along the canal. By 1820 the granite quarries of Hey Tor were being used to supply stone for major works like the new London bridge. The canal was extended to cope with this and the industry fared well until 1858 when they were outcompeted by the more economic Cornish coastal quarries. The Stover canal reverted back to shipping ball clay - which only really stopped by 1939.
The ball clay industry is now highly mechanised and very successful. Road haulage takes most of the clay traffic.
The Railway
The South Devon railway reached Newton Abbot in 1846 and changed the town from being just a market town with associated trades to become a base for industry. Brunel used the Teignmouth / Newton Abbot section to experiment with his atmospheric railway – an ingenious way of using air pressure to move trains. Unfortunately, the experiment failed but the remains of the buildings still survive. In 1876 the GWR bought up the railways and developed the repair and maintenance sheds into a substantial works that employed over 600 people to start with but by 1930 over 1000 men were involved. Extensive sidings were also built making a large marshalling yard. The present station was built in 1926. Newton Abbot was a railway town.
Many other industries were set up beside the railway station – a timber yard, iron and brass foundries, engineering works. The town’s population increased from 1,623 in 1801 to 12,518 by 1901. Terraced streets were built to house the workers and attractively styled villas sprang up around the town for the wealthier professionals and retirees.
Buildings
St Leonard's Tower
The centre of the town features the ancient tower of Saint Leonard. The tower is all that remains of the medieval chapel of St. Leonard, founded in 1220 and first referred to in 1350 in a document of the Bishop de Grandisson of Exeter, the main chapel being demolished in 1836. Adjacent to the tower is a plaque; marking the spot where the first declaration of the newly arrived William III, Prince of Orange was read in 1688. It reads "
The first declaration of William, Prince of Orange, the glorious defender of the Protestant Religion and the liberties of England, was read on this pedestal by the Rev John Reynall, Rector of this parish, on November 5th 1688". Although William arrived in Brixham on the 5th November he did not reach Newton Abbot until the 6th November when he stayed overnight in the town at Forde House as he made his way to London to assume the English throne.
Forde House
Located in the south east corner of the town, was built with an 'E' shaped floor plan, in honour of Queen Elizabeth I, by Sir Richard Reynell in 1610. The grounds were originally quite extensive and included the whole of what is called Decoy and also a deer park. King Charles I stayed at the house in 1625 for some days. In 1648 Forde House gave shelter to
Oliver Cromwell and Colonel Fairfax while they were on their way to besiege a Royalist Dartmouth. William of Orange stayed there on his way to London in 1688. It now houses the offices of Teignbridge District Council.
Bradley Manor
At the opposite end of Newton Abbot is the National Trust run property, Bradley Manor. This is 13th century manor house in its own secluded woodland setting, with a notable great hall - emblazoned with the royal coat of Arms of Elizabeth I. In the woodland, close to the manor house you will find the 'Puritan Pit' - a natural hollow where non-conformists held their secret meetings to avoid persecution from around 1660 onwards. The pit is particularly associated with a dissenting minister called William Yeo who took his duties very seriously indeed after having been ejected from his living in 1662. Apparently he would walk around the town after Sunday service with a constable to ensure that the sabbath was kept holy.
The Passmore Edwards Public Library
The Victorian philanthropist
John Passmore Edwards originally wanted to have a hospital built for the Town in memory of his mother . However as the Town already had a hospital and wanting to give something for the benefit of Newton Abbot, he decided on a Public Library which was opened in 1904 by Redvers Buller. The building is one of the most impressive in Newton Abbot and originally it housed both the library and a Science, Art and Technical School . The building was designed by the architect Sylvanus Trevail. The style is elaborate Renaissance and much use is made of terracotta mouldings over the windows and doorways. Passmore Edwards donated 2500 pounds while the County Council and a public subscription paid for the rest of the building.
Almshouses
There are several sets of almshouses in Newton Abbot.
- Gilbert’s in Exeter Road were endowed in 1538 by John Gilbert of Compton Castle to house lepers. There were 5 houses and they reputedly had sloping floors to help in washing out the houses.
- In 1576 Robert Hayman set up a number of houses for poor people in East Street. These were rebuilt in 1845 and can still be seen opposite the entrance to Newton Abbot hospital.
- Reynell’s almhouses were originally built in 1640 beside Torquay Road to house 4 clergy widows
- Mackrell’s almhouses in Totnes Road were built in 1874. Mackrell was a native of Newton Abbot who made his fortune as a chemist in Barnstaple.
The Workhouse
The original Newton Abbot poorhouse was based in East Street and the cellar of the Devon Arms was used as the oakum picking room where paupers were set the unpleasant job of untwisting old rope to provide oakum that was used to seal the seams of wooden boats. Newton Bushel had its own poorhouse not far from present day Dyrons.
The 1834 Poor Law Act required changes and incorporation so in 1839 a new workhouse was built in East Street and was used to house paupers from the surrounding areas. Over time the workhouse became more of a hospital for the sick, infirm and aged poor. By 1890 there were nearly 400 inmates and there were reports of cruel treatment. A new infirmary was built and during the wars some of the buildings were used as a military hospital. By 1950 the workhouse buildings were incorporated into the present day hospital.
Tucker's Maltings
Close to the railway station is Tucker's Maltings, the only traditional malthouse in the U.K. open to the public. The malthouse which offers the visitor hour long guided tours from the barley to beer discovery centre, produces malt for over 30 breweries and enough to brew 15 million pints of beer per annum. In April every year the maltings hosts a three day beer festival, one of the finest in the country where over 200 different real ales can be sampled.
Newton Abbot Town and G.W.R. Museum
This fine little museum next to the Town Hall is well worth a visit. In addition to the history of Newton Abbot it has plenty of information about the Great Western Railway.
Old Phillpott's House
Old Philpott's house is located in Abbotskerswell, a village to the south of Newton Abbot. It is an old-time cider making facility,
and has been making fine Devon cider since 1666.
Famous people
- John Lethbridge who invented a diving salvage machine in 1715
- Oliver Heaviside the physicist lived in Newton Abbot from 1897 to 1909
External links
