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Coordinates: 50°35′35″N 3°40′19″W / 50.593°N 3.672°W / 50.593; -3.672
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{{Short description|Town in Devon, England}}
{{Refimprove|date=July 2007}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2015}}
{{infobox UK place|
{{Infobox UK place
|country = England
| static_image_name=Bovey Tracey town square - geograph.org.uk - 12072.jpg
|latitude= 50.593
| static_image_caption=Bovey Tracey town square
|longitude= -3.672
| country =England
|official_name= Bovey Tracey
| coordinates = {{coord|50.593|-3.672|display=inline,title}}
|population= 6929[http://www.devon.gov.uk/localstudies/111873/1.html]
| official_name=Bovey Tracey
|shire_district= [[Teignbridge]]
| population = 4,729
|shire_county = [[Devon]]
| shire_district=[[Teignbridge]]
|region= South West England
| shire_county =[[Devon]]
|constituency_westminster= [[Teignbridge (UK Parliament constituency)|Teignbridge]]
| region=South West England
|post_town= NEWTON ABBOT
| constituency_westminster=[[Central Devon (UK Parliament constituency)|Central Devon]]
|postcode_district = TQ13
| post_town=NEWTON ABBOT
|postcode_area= TQ
| postcode_district=TQ13
|dial_code= 01626
| postcode_area=TQ
|os_grid_reference= SX817784
| dial_code=01626
| os_grid_reference=SX817784
}}
}}
'''Bovey Tracey''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|b|ʌ|v|i|_|ˈ|t|r|eɪ|s|i}}) is a town and [[civil parish]] in [[Devon]], England. It is located on the edge of [[Dartmoor]], which gives rise to the slogan used on the town's boundary signs: ''The Gateway to the Moor''. It is often known locally as ''Bovey''. About {{convert|10|miles}} south-west of [[Exeter]], it lies on the [[A382 road (Great Britain)|A382 road]], about halfway between [[Newton Abbot]] and [[Moretonhampstead]]. The village is at the centre of the [[electoral ward]] of Bovey. At the [[United Kingdom Census 2011|2011 census]], the population of the ward was 7,721.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ukcensusdata.com/bovey-e05003593#sthash.5RDsxtSI.dpbs|title=Bovey ward population 2011|access-date=18 February 2015|archive-date=18 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150218142055/http://www.ukcensusdata.com/bovey-e05003593#sthash.5RDsxtSI.dpbs|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[Image:Bovey Tracey - The Church of St John the Evangelist - geograph.org.uk - 1030804.jpg|thumb|Bovey Tracey: The Church of St John the Evangelist.]]
[[Image:St Mary's Well, Bovey Tracey - geograph.org.uk - 931603.jpg|thumb|St Mary's Well, Bovey Tracey.]]
[[Image:Pink Cottages, Bovey Tracey - geograph.org.uk - 931048.jpg|thumb|Pink Cottages, Bovey Tracey.]]
'''Bovey Tracey''' is a small town in [[Devon]] on the edge of [[Dartmoor]], its proximity to which gives rise to the "slogan" used on the town's boundary signs, "The Gateway to the Moor". The locals just call the town "Bovey" (pronounced "Buvvy").


==History==
It is near the market town of [[Moretonhampstead]]. Roughly between the two lies the small village of [[North Bovey]].
Bovey Tracey was an established [[Saxons|Saxon]] community and takes its name from the [[River Bovey]]. The name first appears in [[Domesday Book]] as ''Bovi'' <ref>{{cite web|url=https://opendomesday.org/place/SX8278/bovey-tracey/|title=Open Domesday: Bovey|access-date=28 May 2023}}</ref> and possibly earlier as ''Buui''. The town gained its second name from the de Tracey family, who were lords of the manor after the [[Norman Conquest]], and was first documented as ''Bovitracy'' in 1309.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Watts |first=Victor |title=The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-names |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-521-16855-7 |edition=1st paperback |page=74}}</ref>


One member of the family, [[William de Tracy]], was implicated in the murder of Archbishop [[Thomas Becket]] in Canterbury Cathedral in 1170. It is thought that he rebuilt the parish church of St Peter, St Paul and St Thomas of Canterbury as penance for the murder. In the early 13th century, Henry de Tracey created a [[Ancient borough|borough]] here and, in 1259, was granted the right to hold a weekly market and an annual three-day fair.<ref name=HOS>{{cite book|last = Hoskins|first = W. G.|title = A New Survey of England: Devon|publisher = Collins|location = London|date = 1972|edition = New| isbn = 0-7153-5577-5|pages = 340–1}}</ref>
Bovey Tracey is [[town twinning|twinned]] with [[Le Molay-Littry]] in [[Normandy]].


During the [[English Civil War]], on 9 January 1646, [[Oliver Cromwell]] and a contingent of his Roundhead army entered Bovey Tracey after dark and caught part of [[Lord Wentworth's Regiment]] by surprise, catching a number of officers playing cards in an inn. Many of Wentworth's Royalist troops escaped, but Cromwell did capture about 400 horses.<ref>{{cite book|last=Andriette|first=Eugene A|title=Devon and Exeter in the Civil War|publisher=David & Charles|location=Newton Abbot|year=1971|isbn=0-7153-5256-3|page=[https://archive.org/details/devonexeterinciv0000andr/page/159 159]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/devonexeterinciv0000andr/page/159}}</ref> If local legend is to be believed, the Royalists escaped by throwing coins from the windows in order to distract the poorly paid Roundhead troops. The next day a battle was fought on nearby [[Bovey Heath]] ending in victory for Cromwell's army.
== History ==
Bovey Tracey was an established [[Saxons|Saxon]] community and was known as Boffa by 500 AD. The town gained its second name from the de Tracey family who were "lords of the manor" after the [[Norman Conquest]]. One member of the family, [[William de Tracy|William de Tracey]], was implicated in the murder of Archbishop [[Thomas Becket]] in [[Canterbury Cathedral]] in 1170. It is thought that de Tracey rebuilt the parish church of St Peter, St Paul and St Thomas of Canterbury as penance for the murder. The church still stands today and has an unbroken list of vicars from 1258. Amongst other things, the church also contains three 15th century [[misericord]]s.


The name of Cromwell lives on in the town today in both the [[public house]], ''The Cromwell Arms'', and the remains of a nearby stone arch, known locally (and incorrectly) as ''Cromwell's Arch''. The arch is actually what is left of a priory that stood previously on the site of the nearby Baptist Church. It has been shown through many historical documents that this is a local myth perpetuated by local historians and that there is no evidence that a priory once stood in the centre of Bovey Tracey.
During the [[English Civil War]] in 1646, Royalist troops were attacked in a local inn by members of [[Oliver Cromwell]]'s Roundhead army. If local legend is to be believed, the Royalists escaped by throwing coins from the windows in order to distract the poorly paid Roundhead troops. The next day a battle was fought on nearby [[Bovey Heath]] ending in victory for Cromwell's army.


The [[Bovey Tracey Potteries]] operated from the 1750s for about 200 years.
The name of Cromwell lives on in the town today in both the popular pub "The Cromwell Arms" and the remains of a nearby stone arch, known locally (and incorrectly) as "Cromwell's Arch". The arch is actually what is left of a priory that stood previously on the site.


Bovey Tracey was [[town twinning|twinned]] with [[Le Molay-Littry]] in [[Normandy]], [[France]]; however, in February 2018, local councillors discovered surprisingly that the French town had unexpectedly twinned with another location, [[Theydon Bois]] in Essex.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/devon-town-shocked-after-finding-1259159|title=Devon town shocked after finding out its twin town in France had ditched them|first=Daniel|last=Clark|date=24 February 2018|website=devonlive|access-date=3 March 2018|archive-date=3 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180303225606/https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/devon-town-shocked-after-finding-1259159|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[Bovey railway station]] was opened on [[26 June]] [[1866]] with the new [[Moretonhampstead and South Devon Railway]] on a site to the west of the town. It closed to passengers on [[28 February]] [[1959]], but goods trains continued to operate until [[6 July]] [[1970]].


== Things to see==
==Geography==
Bovey Tracey lies in the valley of the [[River Bovey]] at the junction of the [[A382 road (Great Britain)|A382 road]] (between Newton Abbot and Moretonhampstead) and the B3387 road ([[Chudleigh Knighton]] to [[Haytor Vale]]).
* Bovey Tracey Heritage Centre in the old [[Bovey railway station]]
* House of Marbles — free visitor attraction on the site of the historic old pottery with [[marbles|marble]] runs, marble manufacturing and glass blowing demonstrations
* Devon Guild of Craftsmen headquarters
* Headquarters of the Dartmoor [[National Park Authority]] at Parke
* A [[Devon Wildlife Trust]] nature reserve at [[Bovey Heath]]
* The church has a tower dating from the 14th century, many 15th-century carvings and a screen described by [[Arthur Mee]] as "one of the finest in this county of fine screens".<ref>Mee, A. ''The King's England:Devon'' (Hodder and Stoughton, 1965), p.47.</ref>


==Sport==
===Climate===
Since 1990, the highest recorded temperature was 27&nbsp;°C (81&nbsp;°F) in July 2018 and the lowest was -5&nbsp;°C (23&nbsp;°F) in February 1991 and March 2018.
Bovey Tracey is noted in the [[cycling]] community as the start point of the '''Dartmoor Devil'''
{{Weather box
[[bicycle]] ride, an annual [[Audax]] [[UK]] ''Brevet Populaire'' event held in late October taking in over 2000 m of climbing and over 100km around and across [[Dartmoor]]. The ride ends in nearby [[Manaton]].
|location = Bovey Tracey (Yarner Wood) 120m amsl (1991–2020 averages) (extremes 1990–present)
|metric first = Yes
|single line = Yes
|Jan record high C= 13
|Feb record high C= 13
|Mar record high C= 14
|Apr record high C= 20
|May record high C= 23
|Jun record high C= 25
|Jul record high C= 27
|Aug record high C= 25
|Sep record high C= 22
|Oct record high C= 20
|Nov record high C= 16
|Dec record high C= 14
|year record high C=
|Jan high C = 7.9
|Feb high C = 8.3
|Mar high C = 10.5
|Apr high C = 13.3
|May high C = 16.1
|Jun high C = 19.0
|Jul high C = 20.8
|Aug high C = 20.5
|Sep high C = 18.0
|Oct high C = 14.2
|Nov high C = 10.9
|Dec high C = 8.5
|year high C =
|Jan low C = 2.7
|Feb low C = 2.6
|Mar low C = 3.6
|Apr low C = 4.9
|May low C = 7.5
|Jun low C = 10.0
|Jul low C = 12.0
|Aug low C = 12.1
|Sep low C = 10.3
|Oct low C = 8.0
|Nov low C = 5.4
|Dec low C = 3.3
|year low C =
|Jan record low C= -3
|Feb record low C= -5
|Mar record low C= -5
|Apr record low C= 1
|May record low C= 3
|Jun record low C= 8
|Jul record low C= 10
|Aug record low C= 8
|Sep record low C= 6
|Oct record low C= 5
|Nov record low C= 1
|Dec record low C= 0
|year record low C=
|unit rain days= 1.0&nbsp;mm
|Jan rain mm = 178.8
|Feb rain mm = 133.0
|Mar rain mm = 111.9
|Apr rain mm = 93.6
|May rain mm = 80.1
|Jun rain mm = 83.1
|Jul rain mm = 73.6
|Aug rain mm = 91.9
|Sep rain mm = 93.9
|Oct rain mm = 158.7
|Nov rain mm = 154.6
|Dec rain mm = 185.7
|year rain mm= 1438.8
|Jan rain days = 16.4
|Feb rain days = 13.9
|Mar rain days = 12.3
|Apr rain days = 11.7
|May rain days = 10.4
|Jun rain days = 9.5
|Jul rain days = 9.4
|Aug rain days = 11.1
|Sep rain days = 10.1
|Oct rain days = 15.2
|Nov rain days = 16.2
|Dec rain days = 16.9
|year rain days=
|Jan sun = 54.5 |Jan percentsun =
|Feb sun = 79.8 |Feb percentsun =
|Mar sun = 123.7 |Mar percentsun =
|Apr sun = 179.3 |Apr percentsun =
|May sun = 203.6 |May percentsun =
|Jun sun = 203.8 |Jun percentsun =
|Jul sun = 209.1 |Jul percentsun =
|Aug sun = 188.0 |Aug percentsun =
|Sep sun = 148.7|Sep percentsun =
|Oct sun = 99.2 |Oct percentsun =
|Nov sun = 68.3 |Nov percentsun =
|Dec sun = 47.4 |Dec percentsun =
|year sun = 1605.2
|source 1 = Met Office<ref name = metoffice>{{cite web
| url = https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/climate/gbvru6ntd
| title = Bovey Tracey Climate Period: 1981–2010
| publisher = Met Office
| access-date = 11 November 2018
| archive-date = 12 November 2018
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181112021755/https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/climate/gbvru6ntd
| url-status = live
}}</ref>
|source 2 = MSN<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.msn.com/en-gb/weather/records/bovey-traceyenglandunited-kingdom/we-city?q=bovey-tracey-england&form=PRWLAS&iso=GB&el=0rCVVOduIKLMJu1cHB7bBg==|title=Records and Averages|website=www.msn.com|access-date=29 May 2020|archive-date=24 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210724113537/https://www.msn.com/en-gb/weather/records/bovey-traceyenglandunited-kingdom/we-city?q=bovey-tracey-england&form=PRWLAS&iso=GB&el=0rCVVOduIKLMJu1cHB7bBg%3D%3D|url-status=live}}</ref>
|date=November 2018}}


==Mansion Party==
==Transport==
Bovey Tracey is served by [[Newton Abbot railway station]], which lies on the [[Exeter-Plymouth line]]. [[Great Western Railway (train operating company)|Great Western Railway]] operates local services to {{rws|Exmouth}}, {{rws|Exeter St Davids}}, {{rws|Dawlish}}, {{rws|Teignmouth }} and {{rws|Paignton}}; it also provides inter-city services to {{rws|London Paddington}}, {{rws|Reading}}, {{rws|Plymouth}} and {{rws|Penzance}}.<ref>{{Cite web |work=Great Western Railway |title=Train Times |date=2 June 2024 |access-date=18 August 2024 |url= https://www.gwr.com/travel-information/train-times |quote=}}</ref>
On Friday [[14 March]] [[2008]], a party in a Grade II-listed [[mansion]] near the town gained national and international coverage after up to 2,000 people [[wikt:gatecrash|gatecrashed]] it. The family blame Radio 1 DJ Pete Tong on his Radio 1 show. In a shout-out item in which he quoted: "We're getting ready for a huge mansion party - 500 plus people going - it's in Bovey Tracey in Devon tipping us off on that, anyone who's listening can come along, apparently, just say 'hi' to Marilyn Monroe on the door". <ref>Crowds wreck Devon mansion after BBC party "shout-out" http://uk.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUKL1624916120080316</ref>


The town was once served by [[Bovey railway station]]; it opened on 26 June 1866 with the new [[Moretonhampstead and South Devon Railway]], on a site to the west of the town. It closed to passengers on 28 February 1959, but goods trains continued to operate until 6 July 1970.<ref name=ds>{{cite web| url=http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/b/bovey/index.shtml| title=Station name: Bovey| website=Disused Stations |last=Holman |first=Dave |date=4 June 2017 |access-date=18 August 2024}}</ref>
==Thatched Fire==

On Sunday [[6 July]] [[2008]], emergency services were called to a fire at the Old Thatched Inn in Station Road, Bovey Tracey, at 0250 BST. Around 90 firefighters attended. The building was almost completely destroyed.
The main bus operators in the area are [[Stagecoach South West]] and Country Bus (Newton Abbot). Key routes link the town with [[Exeter]], [[Newton Abbot]], [[Moretonhampstead]], [[Tavistock]] and [[Ivybridge]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bovey Tracey Bus Services |work=Bus Times |date=2024 |access-date=18 August 2024 |url= https://bustimes.org/localities/bovey-tracey |quote=}}</ref>
Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service said six people, including a child, had been taken to hospital. They were not believed to have been seriously injured. It is still not known what caused the fire.{{fact|date=July 2008| Citation required to support claim and also demonstrate noteworthyness of this event. }}

==Notable features==
[[File:Bovey Tracey - East Street (geograph 3597252).jpg|thumb|left|Bovey Tracey Town Hall]]
[[File:Bovey Tracey church - geograph.org.uk - 153846.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Church of St Peter, St Paul and St Thomas of Canterbury]]
[[File:Rood Screen, Church of St Peter, St Paul and St Thomas of Canterbury - geograph.org.uk - 932133.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Original paintings of apostles and prophets on the wainscot of the [[rood screen]], restored by Anna Hulbert, dated to the early 16th century]]

The town has over a hundred [[listed building]]s.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/england/devon/bovey+tracey |title=Listed Buildings in Bovey Tracey, Devon, England |publisher=britishlistedbuildings.co.uk |access-date=26 June 2013 |archive-date=14 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130514022912/http://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/england/devon/bovey+tracey |url-status=live }}</ref> The parish church, at the top of the town, is grade I listed.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-84486-church-of-st-peter-and-st-paul-and-st-tho |title=Church of St Peter and St Paul and St Thomas of Canterbury, Bovey Tracey |publisher=britishlistedbuildings.co.uk |access-date=22 January 2014 |archive-date=1 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201170909/http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-84486-church-of-st-peter-and-st-paul-and-st-tho |url-status=live }}</ref> It has a tower dating from the 14th century, many 15th-century carvings including three [[misericord]]s and a screen described by [[Arthur Mee]] as "one of the finest in this county of fine screens".<ref>Mee, A. ''The King's England:Devon'' (Hodder and Stoughton, 1965), p.47.</ref> The screen was restored in 1887 with the central panels the work of [[Charles Edgar Buckeridge]].<ref>{{Cite news|date=19 August 1887|title=Restoration of Bovey Tracey Church|work=Exeter and Plymouth Gazette|url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/GR3222622853/BNCN?u=rtl_ttda&sid=BNCN&xid=7ab63ac8|access-date=9 October 2020|via=British Library Newspapers|archive-date=24 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210724113600/https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=BNCN&u=rtl_ttda&id=GALE{{!}}GR3222622853&v=2.1&it=r&sid=BNCN&asid=7ab63ac8|url-status=live}}</ref> The church has an unbroken list of vicars from 1258. On Hind Street, the East Dartmoor Baptist Church was built in 1824 and is now grade II listed. The church was founded by workers in the Bovey Potteries.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-84475-east-dartmoor-baptist-church-bovey-tracey |title=East Dartmoor Baptist Church, Bovey Tracey |publisher=britishlistedbuildings.co.uk |access-date=26 June 2013 |archive-date=1 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201170906/http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-84475-east-dartmoor-baptist-church-bovey-tracey |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Bovey Tracey Town Hall]] was completed in 1866.<ref>{{NHLE|desc=Town Hall, Town Hall Place|num=1165878|access-date=27 December 2021}}</ref>

Since 1986, the Devon Guild of Craftsmen contemporary crafts gallery has occupied a building known as Riverside Mill, on the bank of the River Bovey.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.crafts.org.uk/About/About-the-Guild|title=About the Guild - The Devon Guild of Craftsmen|website=www.crafts.org.uk|access-date=9 March 2020}}</ref> The building, dating from 1854, has an [[undershot]] waterwheel that was used to pump water up to a tank in its tower. The stored water was used as the supply for a nearby house owned by John Divett and to water its stable yard and gardens.<ref>{{cite book
|last=Minchington|first=Walter|title=Devon at Work: Past and Present|year=1974|publisher=David & Charles |location=Newton Abbot |isbn=0-7153-6389-1|page=23}}</ref> Nearby, the ''Bovey Tracey Heritage Centre'' in the disused Bovey railway station is run by volunteers and is open in the summer months.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.devonmuseums.net/Bovey-Tracey-Heritage-Centre/Devon-Museums/ |title=Bovey Tracey Heritage Centre
|publisher=Devon Museums |access-date=26 December 2011
|archive-date=17 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120117141547/http://www.devonmuseums.net/Bovey-Tracey-Heritage-Centre/Devon-Museums/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

On the outskirts of the town are the ''House of Marbles'', a visitor attraction on the site of the historic pottery;<ref>{{cite web|last=Dowling |first=Rod |url=http://www.kalendar.demon.co.uk/pountbovey.htm
|title=The Bovey Pottery Company Limited |access-date=22 January 2014 |archive-date=4 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140204010143/http://www.kalendar.demon.co.uk/pountbovey.htm
|url-status=live}}</ref> and the headquarters of the [[Dartmoor National Park Authority]] at [[Parke, Bovey Tracey|Parke]], a large house which is leased to the authority by the [[National Trust]].<ref name=BTTC /> Also nearby are a [[Devon Wildlife Trust]] nature reserve at [[Bovey Heath]] and the [[Haytor Granite Tramway]], the route of which runs through the parish, west of the town.

According to the town council, the town has a "good mixture of shops" and there is a [[farmers' market]] on alternate Saturday mornings.<ref name=BTTC>{{cite web
|url=http://www.boveytracey.gov.uk/ |title=Welcome to the Bovey Tracey website |publisher=Bovey Tracey Town Council
|access-date=26 December 2011 |archive-date=1 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111001071002/http://www.boveytracey.gov.uk/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

The town also hosts multiple events throughout the year for both tourists and the local community, including:
* ''Nourish'', a food and gin festival held in September<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nourishfestival.org/|title=Home Page|website=www.nourishfestival.org|access-date=10 September 2019|archive-date=11 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190911032824/http://www.nourishfestival.org/|url-status=live}}</ref>
* ''Green Man Festival'' of morris dancers and other folk traditions, at the end of April.
* ''Contemporary Craft Festival'', held in June.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.craftfestival.co.uk:443/|title=Craft Festival |last=Festival |first=Craft |website=www.craftfestival.co.uk|language=en |access-date=10 September 2019 |archive-date=12 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210712100129/https://www.craftfestival.co.uk/|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Historic estates==
Within the parish of Bovey Tracey are various historic estates, including:
*[[Indio, Bovey Tracey|Indio]], long a seat of the [[Southcott family]],<ref>[[Nikolaus Pevsner|Pevsner, Nikolaus]] & Cherry, Bridget, The Buildings of England: Devon, London, 2004; [[John Lambrick Vivian|Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L.]], (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, pp.697-701, pedigree of Southcott; [[Tristram Risdon|Risdon, Tristram]] (d.1640), Survey of Devon, 1811 edition, London, 1811, with 1810 Additions, p.134</ref> later of Bentinck. The ''Indeo Pottery'' was established here between about 1766 and 1785.
*[[Parke, Bovey Tracey|Parke]], seat of Nicholas Eveleigh (d.1620) whose monument with effigy survives in Bovey Tracey Church. His widow married [[Elize Hele]], whose monument and effigy faces that of Eveleigh. There are several inscribed tablets to later owners in Bovey Tracey Church. Now the headquarters of the [[Dartmoor National Park]] Authority.

==Sport==
Bovey Tracey is the start point of the Dartmoor Devil [[bicycle]] ride, an annual [[Audax (cycling)|Audax]] UK ''Brevet Populaire'' event held in late October that takes in over 2,000&nbsp;m of climbing and over 100&nbsp;km around and across [[Dartmoor]],<ref>{{cite web|title=The Dartmoor Devil|url=http://www.aukweb.net/events/detail/14-674/|publisher=Audax UK|access-date=3 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140915015200/http://www.aukweb.net/events/detail/14-674/|archive-date=15 September 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> the ride ends in nearby [[Manaton]].

The town has a [[Non-League football]] club [[Bovey Tracey A.F.C.]] who play at The Western Counties Roofing Ground in the [[South West Peninsula League]].


==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Reflist}}


==External links==
==External links==
{{Commons category|Bovey Tracey}}
* [http://www.rds.brown.ukgateway.net/page40.html Robert Brown's page about the church bells]
* [http://www.edbc.co.uk/ East Dartmoor Baptist Church Home Page]
* [https://www.boveytracey.gov.uk/ Bovey Tracey Town Council]
* [http://www.misericords.co.uk/bovey_tracey.html A photo album and description of the misericords at St Peter, St Paul and St Thomas of Canterbury.]


{{Devon}}
{{Geographic location
| title = '''Settlements and geographic features near Bovey Tracey'''
|Centre = Bovey Tracey
|North = [[Dunsford]]<br />[[Christow]]
|Northeast = [[Haldon]]<br />[[Trusham]]
|East = [[Chudleigh]]<br />[[Chudleigh Knighton]]
|Southeast = [[Kingsteignton]]<br />[[Newton Abbot]]
|South = [[Bickington]]<br />[[Totnes]]
|Southwest = [[Ilsington]]<br />[[Ashburton, Devon|Ashburton]]
|West = [[Dartmoor]]<br />[[Widecombe in the Moor]]
|Northwest = [[Moretonhampstead]]<br />[[Lustleigh]]
}}
{{Settlements of Dartmoor}}
{{Settlements of Dartmoor}}
{{Authority control}}


[[Category:Bovey Tracey| ]]
[[Category:Towns in Devon]]
[[Category:Dartmoor]]
[[Category:Dartmoor]]
[[Category:Villages in Devon]]
[[Category:Civil parishes in Devon]]
[[Category:Teignbridge]]

[[de:Bovey Tracey]]
[[it:Bovey Tracey]]

Latest revision as of 04:29, 19 October 2024

Bovey Tracey
Bovey Tracey town square
Bovey Tracey is located in Devon
Bovey Tracey
Bovey Tracey
Location within Devon
Population4,729 
OS grid referenceSX817784
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townNEWTON ABBOT
Postcode districtTQ13
Dialling code01626
PoliceDevon and Cornwall
FireDevon and Somerset
AmbulanceSouth Western
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Devon
50°35′35″N 3°40′19″W / 50.593°N 3.672°W / 50.593; -3.672

Bovey Tracey (/ˌbʌvi ˈtreɪsi/) is a town and civil parish in Devon, England. It is located on the edge of Dartmoor, which gives rise to the slogan used on the town's boundary signs: The Gateway to the Moor. It is often known locally as Bovey. About 10 miles (16 km) south-west of Exeter, it lies on the A382 road, about halfway between Newton Abbot and Moretonhampstead. The village is at the centre of the electoral ward of Bovey. At the 2011 census, the population of the ward was 7,721.[1]

History

[edit]

Bovey Tracey was an established Saxon community and takes its name from the River Bovey. The name first appears in Domesday Book as Bovi [2] and possibly earlier as Buui. The town gained its second name from the de Tracey family, who were lords of the manor after the Norman Conquest, and was first documented as Bovitracy in 1309.[3]

One member of the family, William de Tracy, was implicated in the murder of Archbishop Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral in 1170. It is thought that he rebuilt the parish church of St Peter, St Paul and St Thomas of Canterbury as penance for the murder. In the early 13th century, Henry de Tracey created a borough here and, in 1259, was granted the right to hold a weekly market and an annual three-day fair.[4]

During the English Civil War, on 9 January 1646, Oliver Cromwell and a contingent of his Roundhead army entered Bovey Tracey after dark and caught part of Lord Wentworth's Regiment by surprise, catching a number of officers playing cards in an inn. Many of Wentworth's Royalist troops escaped, but Cromwell did capture about 400 horses.[5] If local legend is to be believed, the Royalists escaped by throwing coins from the windows in order to distract the poorly paid Roundhead troops. The next day a battle was fought on nearby Bovey Heath ending in victory for Cromwell's army.

The name of Cromwell lives on in the town today in both the public house, The Cromwell Arms, and the remains of a nearby stone arch, known locally (and incorrectly) as Cromwell's Arch. The arch is actually what is left of a priory that stood previously on the site of the nearby Baptist Church. It has been shown through many historical documents that this is a local myth perpetuated by local historians and that there is no evidence that a priory once stood in the centre of Bovey Tracey.

The Bovey Tracey Potteries operated from the 1750s for about 200 years.

Bovey Tracey was twinned with Le Molay-Littry in Normandy, France; however, in February 2018, local councillors discovered surprisingly that the French town had unexpectedly twinned with another location, Theydon Bois in Essex.[6]

Geography

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Bovey Tracey lies in the valley of the River Bovey at the junction of the A382 road (between Newton Abbot and Moretonhampstead) and the B3387 road (Chudleigh Knighton to Haytor Vale).

Climate

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Since 1990, the highest recorded temperature was 27 °C (81 °F) in July 2018 and the lowest was -5 °C (23 °F) in February 1991 and March 2018.

Climate data for Bovey Tracey (Yarner Wood) 120m amsl (1991–2020 averages) (extremes 1990–present)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 13
(55) 		13
(55) 		14
(57) 		20
(68) 		23
(73) 		25
(77) 		27
(81) 		25
(77) 		22
(72) 		20
(68) 		16
(61) 		14
(57) 		27
(81)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 7.9
(46.2) 		8.3
(46.9) 		10.5
(50.9) 		13.3
(55.9) 		16.1
(61.0) 		19.0
(66.2) 		20.8
(69.4) 		20.5
(68.9) 		18.0
(64.4) 		14.2
(57.6) 		10.9
(51.6) 		8.5
(47.3) 		14.0
(57.2)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 2.7
(36.9) 		2.6
(36.7) 		3.6
(38.5) 		4.9
(40.8) 		7.5
(45.5) 		10.0
(50.0) 		12.0
(53.6) 		12.1
(53.8) 		10.3
(50.5) 		8.0
(46.4) 		5.4
(41.7) 		3.3
(37.9) 		6.9
(44.4)
Record low °C (°F) −3
(27) 		−5
(23) 		−5
(23) 		1
(34) 		3
(37) 		8
(46) 		10
(50) 		8
(46) 		6
(43) 		5
(41) 		1
(34) 		0
(32) 		−5
(23)
Average rainfall mm (inches) 178.8
(7.04) 		133.0
(5.24) 		111.9
(4.41) 		93.6
(3.69) 		80.1
(3.15) 		83.1
(3.27) 		73.6
(2.90) 		91.9
(3.62) 		93.9
(3.70) 		158.7
(6.25) 		154.6
(6.09) 		185.7
(7.31) 		1,438.8
(56.65)
Average rainy days (≥ 1.0 mm) 16.4 13.9 12.3 11.7 10.4 9.5 9.4 11.1 10.1 15.2 16.2 16.9 153.1
Mean monthly sunshine hours 54.5 79.8 123.7 179.3 203.6 203.8 209.1 188.0 148.7 99.2 68.3 47.4 1,605.2
Source 1: Met Office[7]
Source 2: MSN[8]

Transport

[edit]

Bovey Tracey is served by Newton Abbot railway station, which lies on the Exeter-Plymouth line. Great Western Railway operates local services to Exmouth, Exeter St Davids, Dawlish, Teignmouth and Paignton; it also provides inter-city services to London Paddington, Reading, Plymouth and Penzance.[9]

The town was once served by Bovey railway station; it opened on 26 June 1866 with the new Moretonhampstead and South Devon Railway, on a site to the west of the town. It closed to passengers on 28 February 1959, but goods trains continued to operate until 6 July 1970.[10]

The main bus operators in the area are Stagecoach South West and Country Bus (Newton Abbot). Key routes link the town with Exeter, Newton Abbot, Moretonhampstead, Tavistock and Ivybridge.[11]

Notable features

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Bovey Tracey Town Hall
Church of St Peter, St Paul and St Thomas of Canterbury
Original paintings of apostles and prophets on the wainscot of the rood screen, restored by Anna Hulbert, dated to the early 16th century

The town has over a hundred listed buildings.[12] The parish church, at the top of the town, is grade I listed.[13] It has a tower dating from the 14th century, many 15th-century carvings including three misericords and a screen described by Arthur Mee as "one of the finest in this county of fine screens".[14] The screen was restored in 1887 with the central panels the work of Charles Edgar Buckeridge.[15] The church has an unbroken list of vicars from 1258. On Hind Street, the East Dartmoor Baptist Church was built in 1824 and is now grade II listed. The church was founded by workers in the Bovey Potteries.[16] Bovey Tracey Town Hall was completed in 1866.[17]

Since 1986, the Devon Guild of Craftsmen contemporary crafts gallery has occupied a building known as Riverside Mill, on the bank of the River Bovey.[18] The building, dating from 1854, has an undershot waterwheel that was used to pump water up to a tank in its tower. The stored water was used as the supply for a nearby house owned by John Divett and to water its stable yard and gardens.[19] Nearby, the Bovey Tracey Heritage Centre in the disused Bovey railway station is run by volunteers and is open in the summer months.[20]

On the outskirts of the town are the House of Marbles, a visitor attraction on the site of the historic pottery;[21] and the headquarters of the Dartmoor National Park Authority at Parke, a large house which is leased to the authority by the National Trust.[22] Also nearby are a Devon Wildlife Trust nature reserve at Bovey Heath and the Haytor Granite Tramway, the route of which runs through the parish, west of the town.

According to the town council, the town has a "good mixture of shops" and there is a farmers' market on alternate Saturday mornings.[22]

The town also hosts multiple events throughout the year for both tourists and the local community, including:

  • Nourish, a food and gin festival held in September[23]
  • Green Man Festival of morris dancers and other folk traditions, at the end of April.
  • Contemporary Craft Festival, held in June.[24]

Historic estates

[edit]

Within the parish of Bovey Tracey are various historic estates, including:

  • Indio, long a seat of the Southcott family,[25] later of Bentinck. The Indeo Pottery was established here between about 1766 and 1785.
  • Parke, seat of Nicholas Eveleigh (d.1620) whose monument with effigy survives in Bovey Tracey Church. His widow married Elize Hele, whose monument and effigy faces that of Eveleigh. There are several inscribed tablets to later owners in Bovey Tracey Church. Now the headquarters of the Dartmoor National Park Authority.

Sport

[edit]

Bovey Tracey is the start point of the Dartmoor Devil bicycle ride, an annual Audax UK Brevet Populaire event held in late October that takes in over 2,000 m of climbing and over 100 km around and across Dartmoor,[26] the ride ends in nearby Manaton.

The town has a Non-League football club Bovey Tracey A.F.C. who play at The Western Counties Roofing Ground in the South West Peninsula League.

References

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  1. ^ "Bovey ward population 2011". Archived from the original on 18 February 2015. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
  2. ^ "Open Domesday: Bovey". Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  3. ^ Watts, Victor (2010). The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-names (1st paperback ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 74. ISBN 978-0-521-16855-7.
  4. ^ Hoskins, W. G. (1972). A New Survey of England: Devon (New ed.). London: Collins. pp. 340–1. ISBN 0-7153-5577-5.
  5. ^ Andriette, Eugene A (1971). Devon and Exeter in the Civil War. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. p. 159. ISBN 0-7153-5256-3.
  6. ^ Clark, Daniel (24 February 2018). "Devon town shocked after finding out its twin town in France had ditched them". devonlive. Archived from the original on 3 March 2018. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
  7. ^ "Bovey Tracey Climate Period: 1981–2010". Met Office. Archived from the original on 12 November 2018. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  8. ^ "Records and Averages". www.msn.com. Archived from the original on 24 July 2021. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  9. ^ "Train Times". Great Western Railway. 2 June 2024. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  10. ^ Holman, Dave (4 June 2017). "Station name: Bovey". Disused Stations. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  11. ^ "Bovey Tracey Bus Services". Bus Times. 2024. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  12. ^ "Listed Buildings in Bovey Tracey, Devon, England". britishlistedbuildings.co.uk. Archived from the original on 14 May 2013. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  13. ^ "Church of St Peter and St Paul and St Thomas of Canterbury, Bovey Tracey". britishlistedbuildings.co.uk. Archived from the original on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 22 January 2014.
  14. ^ Mee, A. The King's England:Devon (Hodder and Stoughton, 1965), p.47.
  15. ^ "Restoration of Bovey Tracey Church". Exeter and Plymouth Gazette. 19 August 1887. Archived from the original on 24 July 2021. Retrieved 9 October 2020 – via British Library Newspapers.
  16. ^ "East Dartmoor Baptist Church, Bovey Tracey". britishlistedbuildings.co.uk. Archived from the original on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  17. ^ Historic England. "Town Hall, Town Hall Place (1165878)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  18. ^ "About the Guild - The Devon Guild of Craftsmen". www.crafts.org.uk. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  19. ^ Minchington, Walter (1974). Devon at Work: Past and Present. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. p. 23. ISBN 0-7153-6389-1.
  20. ^ "Bovey Tracey Heritage Centre". Devon Museums. Archived from the original on 17 January 2012. Retrieved 26 December 2011.
  21. ^ Dowling, Rod. "The Bovey Pottery Company Limited". Archived from the original on 4 February 2014. Retrieved 22 January 2014.
  22. ^ a b "Welcome to the Bovey Tracey website". Bovey Tracey Town Council. Archived from the original on 1 October 2011. Retrieved 26 December 2011.
  23. ^ "Home Page". www.nourishfestival.org. Archived from the original on 11 September 2019. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
  24. ^ Festival, Craft. "Craft Festival". www.craftfestival.co.uk. Archived from the original on 12 July 2021. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
  25. ^ Pevsner, Nikolaus & Cherry, Bridget, The Buildings of England: Devon, London, 2004; Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, pp.697-701, pedigree of Southcott; Risdon, Tristram (d.1640), Survey of Devon, 1811 edition, London, 1811, with 1810 Additions, p.134
  26. ^ "The Dartmoor Devil". Audax UK. Archived from the original on 15 September 2014. Retrieved 3 July 2016.
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