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fellmongering [fel-muhng-ger, -mong-]

Newton Abbot

Newton Abbot is a market town in Devon, England on the River Teign, with a population of 23,580 (2001 census).

Newton Abbot has a racecourse and boasts three country parks; Decoy, Stover and Bradley. Part of Newton Abbot's heritage is the historic Cheese and Onion Fayre, originally held on 5,6,7 November in honour of Saint Leonard. It is still held to this day, but earlier in the year at the beginning of September. The town grew very rapidly in the Victorian era as it was home to the South Devon Railway locomotive works. This later became a major steam engine shed and was retained to service British Railways diesel locomotives, although it has now closed and is the site of an industrial estate.

History

Early history

Traces of Neolithic people have been found at Berry's Wood Hill Fort near Bradley Manor. This was a contour hill fort that enclosed about 11 acres. Milber Down camp was built in the 1st century BC. Later it was occupied by the Romans - coins and a pavement have been found.

There are remains of a Norman motte and bailey castle on Highweek Hill. This was probably a lookout post to watch people coming up the Teign estuary. A village grew up around this castle which over the years became Highweek - the village on the high ground. On the low ground around the river Lemon arose another settlement which became part of Wolborough Manor.

The markets

The New Town of the Abbots (of Torre Abbey) was given the right to hold a weekly market on Wednesdays sometime between 1247 and 1251. By 1300 the two settlements were renamed as Newton Abbot (taking the low ground) and Newton Bushel (taking the high ground). On the strength of the market it quickly became a successful thriving town and a good source of income for the Abbots.

Over the river on the Highweek side another weekly market was created. This one ran on Tuesdays and because the Bushel family were the landowners then this community became known as Newton Bushel. Over the next 200 years Newton Bushel ran more annual fairs, a number of mills were set up and the leather and wool trades started. Newton Bushel was also a convenient place for travellers to stay. Torre Abbey was dissolved in 1539 and ownership of Wolborough was granted to John Gaverock who built himself a new house at Forde.

The twin markets of Newton Abbot and Newton Bushel continued until they were merged together in 1633 as a Wednesday weekly market under the ownership of Bradley Manor. By 1751 there was also a smaller Saturday market and 3 annual fairs – a cattle fair on June 24th, a cheese and onion fair in September and a cloth fair on 6th November. The markets continued to expand so in 1826 a new market was built. Over the next 50 years the buildings became dilapidated so a substantial new market was built in 1871. The buildings included a pannier market, a corn exchange and a public hall – the Alexandra (now a cinema). The river Lemon was also covered over. Further enlargement took place in 1938 as a new cattle market and corn exchange were built. There has been a thriving market in Newton Abbot for over 750 years.

Wool and Leather

In medieval times Devon was an important sheep rearing county. Many towns had their own wool and cloth industries and Newton Abbot had woolen mills, fullers, dyers, spinners, weavers and tailors. In particular, fellmongering (where wool is removed from the sheepskin) was well established in the town. In 1724 Daniel Defoe wrote that Newton Abbot had a thriving serge industry that sent goods to Holland via Exeter. The annual cloth fair was the town’s busiest fair. Over the 19th century Vicary’s mills became an important employer in the town and by the 1920’s they employed over 400 men. However, by 1972 business had declined and the works finally closed down.

Associated with the woolen industry was the leather one. The hides left after the fellmongering process were made into leather. Tanners, boot and shoe makers, glovers and saddlers were all in business in Newton Abbot. As with the wool industry business flourished over 600 years until after the Second World War.

The Newfoundland Trade

In 1583 Humphrey Gilbert – a local adventurer – landed at St John’s in Newfoundland and claimed the area as a British colony. The fisheries quickly developed. Between 1600 and 1850 there was a steady trade between Newton Abbot and the cod fisheries off Newfoundland. Every year men from the town would gather at the Dartmouth Inn or Newfoundland Inn in East Street in the hope of being hired for a season’s work. In the autumn the dried cod was stored in depots and sometimes used as payment. There was considerable economic spin off from this trade. Fish hooks, knives, waterproof boots were all made in the town as was rope making. The Rope Walk still remains in the town together with the names of Newfoundland Way and St John’s Street.

Ball clay and the Stover Canal

Just NW of Newton Abbot lie the ball clay workings of Bovey basin. This basin took millions of years to fill from rivers that flowed out of Dartmoor. The sediments included clay derived from the rotted granite. The natural deposition has resulted in a clay that is purer and more refined than many others. It has been used to make materials ranging from bricks to porcelain.

Bovey clay was being used to make pipes around 1680. By 1700, it was being shipped from Teignmouth, and its incorporation in the Wedgwood pottery business made it a success. The clay was extracted by simply digging out the lumps on courses – rather like peat cutting. The bulky clay was transported by packhorse.

Towards the end of the 18th century, the ball clay industry was steadily expanding. A local landowner called James Templar built the Stover Canal in 1792 to help ship clay from the Bovey beds to Newton Abbot, and thence by barge to the port of Teignmouth. Coal, manure and agricultural produce was also freighted along the canal. By 1820 the granite quarries of Haytor were being used to supply stone for major works like the new London bridge. The canal was extended to cope with this, and the industry fared well until 1858 when they were out-competed by the more economic Cornish coastal quarries. The Stover canal reverted back to shipping ball clay - which only really stopped by 1939.

The ball clay industry is now highly mechanised and very successful. Road haulage takes most of the clay traffic.

The railway

Newton Abbot railway station is situated at the east end of Queen Street. It is served by both local and long distance services.

The South Devon railway reached Newton Abbot in 1846 and changed the town from being just a market town with associated trades (leather and wool) to become a base for industry. The station was opened by the South Devon Railway Company on 30 December 1846. A branch to Torquay was added on 18 December 1848 and one to Moretonhampstead on 26 June 1866, although the latter has since closed to passengers. Isambard Kingdom Brunel used the Teignmouth / Newton Abbot section to experiment with his atmospheric railway. Unfortunately, the experiment failed but the remains of pumping house buildings still survive at Starcross and the old Dairy Crest milk processing factory in Totnes. In 1876 the GWR bought up the railways and developed the repair and maintenance sheds into a substantial works that employed over 600 people to start with but by 1930 over 1000 men were involved. Extensive sidings were also built making a large marshalling yard. The present station was rebuilt to its current form in 1926. The large clock was gifted by the people of the town.

Many other industries were set up beside the railway station – a timber yard, iron and brass foundries, engineering works. The town’s population increased from 1,623 in 1801 to 12,518 by 1901. Terraced streets were built to house the workers and attractively styled villas sprang up around the town for the wealthier professionals and retirees.

Recent history

The town was bombed twice in air raids during World War II, killing a total of 21. There was a severe flood in December 1979, the latest in a long series, when the River Lemon burst its banks after prolonged rain.

Hospital

A new hospital is currently being built at the end of Jetty Marsh Road, and is set to be finished in the spring of 2009.

Education

Newton Abbot College is a comprehensive school, located on Old Exeter Road, that was established on 1 September 2008 by the renaming of Knowles Hill School. The school, a specialist Technology College, educates around 1,200 pupils, aged 11-18.

Notable Buildings

St Leonard's Tower

The centre of the town features the ancient tower of Saint Leonard. The tower is all that remains of the medieval chapel of St. Leonard, founded in 1220 and first referred to in 1350 in a document of the Bishop de Grandisson of Exeter, the main chapel being demolished in 1836. Adjacent to the tower is a plaque; marking the spot where the first declaration of the newly arrived William III, Prince of Orange was read in 1688. It reads "The first declaration of William, Prince of Orange, the glorious defender of the Protestant Religion and the liberties of England, was read on this pedestal by the Rev John Reynall, Rector of this parish, on November 5th 1688". Although William arrived in Brixham on the 5th November he did not reach Newton Abbot until the 6th November when he stayed overnight in the town at Forde House as he made his way to London to assume the English throne.

Forde House

Forde House (now known as Old Forde House) is situated in the southeast corner of the town. The present house was built in 1610 by Richard Reynell (who later became Sir Richard Reynell) and his wife Lucy. The house was built with an 'E' shaped floor plan, which is thought to be in honour of Queen Elizabeth I, who had recently died. The grounds were originally quite extensive, and included the whole of what is called Decoy (so named, because wildfowl were decoyed there to extend the house's larder), as well as a deer park.

In 1625 King Charles I stayed at the house overnight on his way to inspect the fleet at Plymouth. He returned a few days later and stayed for a further 2 nights.

Forde House gave shelter to Oliver Cromwell and Colonel Fairfax while on their way to besiege Royalist Dartmouth in 1646.

In 1648 the estate passed onto the Courtenay family via the marriage of Margaret (the only daughter of Jane Reynell and Sir William Waller) to Sir William Courtenay, who was the lord of nearby Powderham Castle.

William of Orange stayed at the house in 1688 on the way to his coronation in London, having landed in Brixham a few days earlier. The house remained the main residence of a succession of Courtneys until 1762 when the house was let to a succession of occupiers.

The Courtney family sold the house in 1936 to Mr Stephen Simpson, who sold it two years later to Mrs M Sellick. Teignbridge District Council bought the house in 1978 and remain the current owners. It has been refurbished by the Council and is now used as office and conference space as well as being used for weddings and other events.

Bradley Manor

At the opposite end of Newton Abbot is the National Trust property, Bradley Manor. This is a 15th century (circa 1420) manor house in its own secluded woodland setting, with a notable great hall - emblazoned with the royal coat of Arms of Elizabeth I.

The Passmore Edwards Public Library

John Passmore Edwards originally wanted to have a hospital built for the Town in memory of his mother. However as the Town already had a hospital, and since he wanted to give something for the benefit of Newton Abbot, he decided on a Public Library, which was opened in 1904. The building is one of the most impressive in Newton Abbot, and originally housed both the library and a Science, Art and Technical School (which the Council wanted to include). The building was designed by the architect Sylvanus Trevail. The style is elaborate Renaissance, and much use is made of terracotta mouldings over the windows and doorways. Passmore Edwards donated £2500, while the County Council and a public subscription paid for the rest of the building.

Almshouses

There are several sets of almshouses in Newton Abbot.

Gilbert’s in Exeter Road were endowed in 1538 by John Gilbert of Compton Castle to house lepers. There were 5 houses and they reputedly had sloping floors to help in washing out the houses.

In 1576 Robert Hayman set up a number of houses for poor people in East Street. These were rebuilt in 1845 and can still be seen opposite the entrance to Newton Abbot hospital.

Reynell’s almhouses were originally built in 1640 beside Torquay Road to house 4 clergy widows (‘the relicts of preaching ministers, left poor, without a house of their own’)

Mackrell’s almhouses in Totnes Road were built in 1874. Mackrell was a native of Newton Abbot who made his fortune as a chemist in Barnstaple.

The Workhouse

The original Newton Abbot poorhouse was based in East Street, and the cellar of the Devon Arms was used as the oakum picking room — where paupers were assigned the unpleasant job of untwisting old rope to provide oakum, used to seal the seams of wooden boats. Newton Bushel had its own poorhouse, not far from present day Dyrons.

The 1834 Poor Law Act required changes and incorporation, so in 1839, a new workhouse was built in East Street and was used to house paupers from the surrounding areas. Over time, the workhouse became more of a hospital for the sick, infirm, and aged poor. By 1890 there were nearly 400 inmates, and reports of cruel treatment. A new infirmary was built, and during the wars some of the buildings were used as a military hospital. By 1950, the workhouse buildings were incorporated into the present-day hospital.

Tucker's Maltings

Close to the railway station is Tucker's Maltings, the only traditional malthouse in the UK open to the public. The malthouse — which offers the visitor hour-long guided tours, from the barley to beer discovery centre — produces malt for over 30 breweries, and enough to brew 15 million pints of beer per annum. In April every year, the maltings hosts a three-day beer festival, one of the finest in the country, where over 200 different real ales can be sampled.

Ye Olde Cider Bar

Said to be one of only three remaining cider houses in the United Kingdom and winning 'Best Cider House' in Summer 2007. The Cider Bar in East Street sells only cider, perry, country wines and soft drinks. Its interior and the simple wooden furniture have remained relatively unchanged for over thirty years.

Newton Abbot Town & G.W.R. Museum

A small museum adjacent to the Town Hall details the history of Newton Abbot and of the Great Western Railway.

Famous people

John Lethbridge, who invented a diving salvage machine in 1715.
William Knox D'Arcy, a founder of the petrochemical industry in Persia, born here in 1849.
Frank Matcham, the theatrical architect, born here in 1854.
Ivy Williams, the first woman to be called to the English bar, born here in 1877.
Oliver Heaviside, the physicist, lived in Newton Abbot from 1897 to 1909.
Norah Baring, movie actress, born here in 1907.
Len Coldwell, cricketer, born here in 1933.
Sergio Pizzorno, guitarist with Kasabian, born here in 1980.
Jon Lee, singer from S-Club 7, born here in 1981.

References

Roger Jones (1986). A Book of Newton Abbot. Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire [Eng.]: Ex Libris Press.
Derek Beavis (1985). Newton Abbot, The Story of the Town's Past. Buckingham [Eng.]: Barracuda Books.
W. G. Hoskins (1954). A New Survey of England - Devon. London [Eng.]: Collins.
Mary O'Hagan (1990). A History of Forde House. Frome [Eng.]: Butler & Tanner Ltd.