Ashburton, Alexander Baring, 1st Baron: see Baring, family.

Ashburton, John Dunning, 1st Baron: see Dunning, John, 1st Baron Ashburton.

(1842) Treaty between the U.S. and Britain establishing the northeastern boundary of the U.S. Negotiated by U.S. secretary of state Daniel Webster and Britain's ambassador Lord Ashburton, it also provided for Anglo-U.S. cooperation in the suppression of the slave trade. It fixed the present boundary between Maine and New Brunswick, granted the U.S. navigation rights on the St. John River, provided for extradition in nonpolitical criminal cases, and established a joint naval system for suppressing the slave trade off the African coast.

Learn more about Webster-Ashburton Treaty with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Ashburton is a small town on the edge of Dartmoor in Devon, adjacent to the A38 Devon Expressway.

It was formerly important as a stannary town (a centre for the administration of tin-mining), and remains the largest town within the National Park, with a population of around 3,500. Ashburton has six pubs within the centre of town, and two restaurants.

History

The name is recorded in the Domesday Book (1086) as Essebretone. During the English Civil War, Ashburton was a temporary refuge for Royalist troops fleeing after their defeat by General Fairfax at nearby Bovey Tracey.

The town was the terminus of the Buckfastleigh, Totnes and South Devon Railway that opened on 1 May 1872. Ashburton railway station closed to passengers in November 1958 although goods traffic on the line continued until 7 September 1962.

Ashburton Carnival is one of the oldest, possibly the oldest, surviving in Devon. Written records date it back to 1891, but it is believed to have been started in the mid 1880s to raise funds for a new hospital.

Politics

Ashburton was the first place to elect a candidate of the Official Monster Raving Loony Party to public office. The candidate was Alan Hope, a local publican, who was elected unopposed to Ashburton Town Council in 1989. He subsequently became Deputy Mayor and later Mayor of Ashburton.

The town is one of a few to still nominally appoint a Portreeve or 'port warden'. Others are Beccles, Callington (where the name is given to the council chairman), Cheevel, and Yeovil.

Architecture

The fifteenth century church tower features sculptures by Herbert Read, who also carved the oak reredos. The porch is partly Norman.

References

External links

• Official town website
• Ashburton (DMOZ.org)