Dartmoor…Devon.
Took a drive over Dartmoor during the first week in February towards Tavistock. The hills were covered in snow, a novelty for me as I live on the coast in the coastal town of Torquay and we rarely see snow despite the moors being a short drive away and visible from town.
Dartmoor Black-faced sheep and wild ponies, hardy and robust, roam alone or in pairs across the bleak moors.
As I took these photos a freezing gust of wind passed me by and literally took the breath from my lungs leaving me gasping. Any creature that can live out on these hills throughout the winter must truly be a tough breed.
The town of Tavistock …
Tavistock is a market town in Devon that is at least a thousand years old.
A royal charter was granted in 1105 to the monks to run a Pannier Market. The market is still going and now houses a hall filled with antique, nic-nacs, clothing and food stalls.
St Eustachius church was built between 1350 and 1450 on and close to the old abbey ruins which were founded in 961 AD. The church is a fine old building with some attractive last century windows. Below……
There is an interesting marble and alabaster monument to a Judge Glanville who died in 1600 after falling from his horse. He was a judge and MP.
His wife Alice kneels meekly beside her husband with the children who are unfortunately missing their heads. One child holds a skull meaning it predeceased its parents.
Five months after his death Alice married again and was widowed again shortly after.
As you enter the church there is a memorial stone to a Miss Rogers who died in 1844 at the ripe old age of 104 years old. ‘Shes gone we trust to god above’ appears to me more of a plea than a certainty.
On the way back across the moors to Torquay we passed Dartmoor Prison…a forbidding Victorian pile.
Built between 1806/1809 to house French and American prisoners of war.
The prison had a history of brutality and for a time housed serious criminals, but is now a prison that houses category C prisoners…non-violent offenders/white collar prisoners.
I never cease to be amazed at the thousands of years of history lying below our feet in England. Whether it be the standing stones erected by our pagan ancestors or the towns, prisons and churches built by our Christian ancestors…all are fascinating and show a progression to the civilised, thinking, society of today.
Gone are the gallows, stocks, blocks, and other instruments of death and torture…into museums where they belong….and the awful cruel punishments handed out to those who today would often be considered innocents, all gone.
Makes me glad to be British….
Some of St Eustachius gorgeous stained glass windows…
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