Category: Discover

Tavistock lies on the western edge of Dartmoor National Park, about 15 miles north of Plymouth. Its name is derived from the River Tavy, which flows through the town, and ‘stoc’ which is an Old English word for settlement. For over 900 years Tavistock was dominated by two wealthy and powerful institutions: the medieval Benedictine abbey and the Dukes of Bedford. Under the patronage of the abbey, Tavistock grew to become a market town, a significant producer of woollen cloth, a parliamentary borough and one of Devon’s three original stannary towns.…