Bovey Tracey

This ancient market town takes its name from the River Bovey and the de Tracy family who received the manor from William the Conqueror. The best-known member of the family is Sir William Tracy, one of the four knights who murdered Thomas à Becket in Canterbury Cathedral. To expiate his crime, Sir William is said to have endowed a church here, dedicated to St Thomas. That building was destroyed by fire and the present church is 15th century with a 14th-century tower. Its most glorious possession is a beautifully carved screen of 1427, a gift to the church from Lady Margaret Beaufort, the new owner of the manor and the mother of King Henry VII.

Bovey Tracey, unlike so many Devon towns and villages, has never suffered a major fire. This is perhaps just as well since its fire-fighting facilities until recent times were decidedly limited. In 1920, for example, the town did have an engine, and five volunteers to man it, but no horses to draw it. The parish council in that year issued a notice advising “all or any persons requiring the Fire Brigade with Engine that they must take the responsibility of sending a Pair of Horses for the purpose of conveying the Engine to and from the Scene of the Fire”.

For such a small town, Bovey Tracey is remarkably well-supplied with shops as well as the Riverside Mill, which is run by the Devon Guild of Craftsmen. This is also the southwest’s leading gallery and craft showroom with work selected from around 240 makers, many with national and international reputations. The Guild presents changing craft exhibitions and demonstrations and the mill also houses a study centre, gallery and a café with roof terrace.

A rather unusual shop is the House of Marbles, a working glass and games factory set in an historic pottery. They have been manufacturing their range of traditional games, puzzles, toys, marbles and glassware for many years. Visitors can wander around the old pottery buildings with their listed kilns, explore the museums of glass, games and marbles, watch glass-blowing demonstrations, and be entertained by the wonderful collection of marble runs and the giant floating marble amongst other amusements.

Walkers will enjoy the footpath that passes through the town and follows the track bed of the former railway from Moretonhampstead to Newton Abbot, which runs alongside the River Bovey for part of its length

Just to the north of Bovey Tracey is Parke, formerly the estate of the Tracy family but now owned by the National Trust and leased to the Dartmoor National Park as its headquarters.