Reasons for Designation
From the time of St Augustine's mission to re-establish Christianity in AD 597
to the reign of Henry VIII, monasticism formed an important facet of both
religious and secular life in the British Isles. Settlements of religious
communities, including monasteries, were built to house communities of monks,
canons (priests), and sometimes lay-brothers, living a common life of
religious observance under some form of systematic discipline. It is estimated
from documentary evidence that over 700 monasteries were founded in England.
These ranged in size from major communities with several hundred members to
tiny establishments with a handful of brethren. They belonged to a wide
variety of different religious orders, each with its own philosophy. As a
result, they vary considerably in the detail of their appearance and layout,
although all possess the basic elements of church, domestic accommodation for
the community, and work buildings. Monasteries were inextricably woven into
the fabric of medieval society, acting not only as centres of worship,
learning and charity, but also, because of the vast landholdings of some
orders, as centres of immense wealth and political influence. They were
established in all parts of England, some in towns and others in the remotest
of areas. Many monasteries acted as the foci of wide networks including parish
churches, almshouses, hospitals, farming estates and tenant villages.
Benedictine monasticism had its roots in the rule written about AD 530 by St
Benedict of Nursia for his own abbey at Monte Cassino. Benedict had not
intended to establish an order of monasteries and wider adoption of his rule
came only gradually. The first real attempt to form a Benedictine order came
only in 1216. The Benedictine monks, who wore dark robes, came to be known as
`black monks'. These dark robes distinguished them from Cistercian monks who
became known as `white monks' on account of their light coloured robes. Over
150 Benedictine monasteries were founded in England. As members of a highly
successful order many Benedictine houses became extremely wealthy and
influential. Their wealth can frequently be seen in the scale and flamboyance
of their buildings. Benedictine monasteries made a major contribution to many
facets of medieval life and all examples exhibiting significant surviving
archaeological remains are worthy of protection.
Tavistock Abbey is central to the history and character of the medieval town
which developed around it. The Saxon foundation of the abbey places it amongst
the earliest of the medieval religious houses founded in Britain, and it was
in continuous use by the same Benedictine order for over five and a half
centuries. Tavistock Abbey was closely linked with the Benedictine abbey at
Buckfast which was founded at the same time, and the pilgrim route across
Dartmoor which connected them can still be followed. Although the abbey
suffered heavily at the time of the Dissolution, its plan and extent, and the
positions of some of its major buildings are well known from previous studies
and from its standing remains which are the oldest buildings in Tavistock.
These buildings survive in good condition and they include two of the original
gateways, and a substantial length of the precinct wall, including a corner
tower.
The survival of archaeological deposits, including burials which have produced
medieval pewter chalices and cloth remnants, have been demonstrated by partial
excavation, in the case of the abbey church, to lie just below the surface
and below ground building remains are considered to be widespread. These
archaeological deposits will provide evidence of the development of the abbey
from simple timber-framed Saxon buildings through to the richly carved stone
architecture of the late Middle Ages and will provide further evidence about
the lives of the religious community within the abbey and their relationship
with the town just outside.
Details
The monument includes part of the standing, ruined, and buried remains which
together encompass the greater part of Tavistock Abbey. It is sited in the
centre of the town of Tavistock on the north side of the River Tavy, on the
south west edge of Dartmoor. The abbey, which was of the Benedictine Order,
was protected by a precinct wall which separated the religious community from
those outside and it was in occupation from AD 974 until 1539. The abbey
buildings were built in Hurdwick stone, mainly of random rubble construction,
with moulded detail in Roborough stone in the earlier period and Dartmoor
granite in the later period. The abbey conformed to a traditional monastic
plan in which an abbey church and three ranges of buildings were grouped
around a central open cloister. However, at Tavistock the usual Benedictine
plan for those buildings outside the claustral range was reversed with the
outer court lying to the east rather than to the west as was more common.
Significant remains of the abbey church are known from excavation whilst
standing remains also exist in the form of a number of ruined or adapted
structures many of which are Grade I or II Listed Buildings. The monastic
precinct wall survives over much of its southern and western circuit and the
positions of two gateways are known.
The greatest building within the abbey would have been its church, the buried
remains of which have been located to the south of the parish church of
St Eustachius and in Bedford Square. Excavations in Bedford Square in 1997
revealed walls of the choir and aisles to the north and south belonging to the
east end of the abbey church. Three burials discovered at the same time appear
certain to be those of high ranking members of the abbey's religious
community; pewter chalices had been placed at the heads of two of the burials.
They had been buried within the walls of their abbey church in a privileged
position close to the altar. To the west of Bedford Square, an excavation in
1920 in St Eustachius' graveyard established the location of a wall
interpreted as the north wall of the nave; a small inscribed stone marks its
position. About 11m to its south is a small part of the south wall of the nave
and part of the inner wall of the west claustral range which survive as
Grade I Listed standing masonry remains. From these fragmentary remains, and
from William of Worcestre's measurements of 1478, the abbey church can be
estimated to have been about 67m in length although observations in 1999
suggest that the east end of the church was extended at some time during its
life prior to the Dissolution of 1539. The nave of the church would have been
about 11m wide providing the north range of a claustral suite which would have
enclosed a cloister garden perhaps 25m square. Opposite St Eustachius'
graveyard, on the south side of Plymouth Street, lies the Bedford Hotel which
occupies the position once filled by the south range of the cloisters.
Immediately behind it, to its south, is a Grade II Listed Building which is
considered to be the monastic infirmary hall or possibly the Abbot's hall (it
is now commonly known as the Abbey Chapel). The structure has the character of
a large medieval open hall and it was entered from the north by a two-storied
porch; the building has been in use as a non-conformist chapel since the 17th
century. The porch tower (Abbey Porch) of two stories, which is a Grade I
Listed Building, was added to the north facade of Abbey Chapel in the late
15th or early 16th century. The entrance of the porch was on the north side
and its outer arch is fitted with a massive granite frame which was infilled
with rubble in the 19th century. Elsewhere, studies undertaken in 1998 have
demonstrated that the four walls of the rectangular Trowte's House (a Grade II
Listed Building lying in a position just inside the suspected location of the
east precinct wall) retains extensive medieval walling and external features.
Small below ground sections of walling identified with the positions of what
appear to have been the Chapter House and the reredorter (latrine block) of
the abbey have also been located in 1929 and 1998 respectively, while in 1996
the position of the monastic Great Kitchen was identified in documentary
evidence, lying to the south east of the abbey church.
Two gateways of the abbey survive. The more easterly gateway, and probably the
main entrance into the abbey, is known as Court Gate (also as Higher Gate or
Town Gate); it is a Grade I Listed Building. A study of the two storey
gatehouse in 1993 identified five structural phases beginning in the late 12th
century, although it is considered that the 12th century gatehouse is encased
in a later structure and the first floor of the building is considered to
belong to the later medieval and later phases. The building was restored in
1824 when additions were made to its east and west walls. The West Gate, a
Grade I Listed Building (known more commonly as Betsy Grimbal's Tower), was
the west gate of the Abbey precinct. It comprises an entrance archway flanked
by projecting demi-octagonal stair turrets; there is a first floor room over
the gate passage, and a two-storied structure of continuous construction to
the north.
A significant section of the monastic precinct wall survives whilst elsewhere
its course can be predicted with reasonable confidence. North of Betsy
Grimbal's Tower it lies beneath Plymouth Road whilst a long stretch to its
south, where it borders The Vicarage, appears to have been replaced by a
post-medieval wall on a slightly different alignment. However, an approximate
26m length of precinct wall on its lower western side survives up to wall walk
level, and over 85m of the southern precinct wall which flanks the River Tavy
is considered to be largely medieval although rebuilt in places; the southern
stretch of wall is Listed Grade II. Where it survives, the precinct wall is 1m
thick, of Hurdwick stone, and has the pseudo-defensive character of a late
medieval monastic boundary wall with a string course and a crenellated parapet
(partly rebuilt in the 19th century) fronting a wall walk 3.2m above ground
level. At the junction of the south and west precinct walls in the extreme
south west corner is a small, square, two-storied tower known as the Still
Tower or Still House which is a Grade II Listed Building. It is about 6m high
and 4.8m square, built of Hurdwick stone, shillet, and some granite, with a
crenellated parapet. Although it may be pre-15th century, the use of granite
in an original doorway suggests the probability of a later date. The tower was
converted into a summerhouse or gazebo in the late 19th century and some of
its features are of this date.
Tavistock Abbey has a well known and recorded history. It was founded in
AD 974, probably at the instigation of the Saxon King Edgar (959-75), by
Ordulf, Earl of Devon, who granted the manor of Tavistock to the Benedictine
Order. The abbey was dedicated to St Mary and St Rumon, and in 981 received
its foundation charter from King Ethelred (979-1016). In 997 the abbey was
destroyed by the Danes but was subsequently rebuilt and at the time of the
Domesday survey of 1086 it was the richest religious house in Devon. The
foundation of the abbey provided the impetus for the development of the town
which grew around it and around 1105 a market was granted to the abbey,
followed in 1116 by the granting of the annual three-day Goose Fair. However,
the abbey fell victim to Henry the VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries in
1539 and it was granted to Lord John Russell. In about 1725 many of the
buildings of the abbey were demolished to facilitate the construction of
Bedford Square, a large house (later the Bedford Hotel), Bedford Place and
Abbey Place. Between 1803-17 a canal was constructed to link Tavistock with
the port and mines at Morwellham in the Tamar Valley and a canal feeder was
cut through the area of the former abbey precinct in a course more or less
parallel to the River Tavy. Further development in the 19th century led to the
construction of Plymouth Road which provided a main thoroughfare from the west
of the town through to Bedford Square, the Abbey Church having all but
disappeared by this stage. Various commentators have produced plans and
drawings of the abbey's appearance before it was demolished, the best known
being Lady Radford's plan and Finberg's reconstruction drawing which forms
part of a detailed history; the latest attempt at a plan using all the
information gathered until 1998 was produced by Blaylock, building upon the
earlier work, and it is considered that the extent of the abbey and the
location of many of its buildings in the medieval period is now particularly
well researched and known.
A number of features are excluded from the scheduling; these are Abbey Chapel,
the Bedford Hotel and all of its outbuildings, the West Devon Club and its
steward's house, the National Rivers Authority hut in the garden of the West
Devon Club, the Post Office, Bedford Chambers, the Guildhall/Magistrates
Court, the Police Station (also known as Trowte's House), the Sergeant's
House, the building immediately east of Court Gate, and any other buildings
constructed after the Dissolution, although the ground beneath all of these
buildings is, however, included.
Also excluded from the scheduling are; the war memorial, the Duke of Bedford's
statue, the canal footbridge, all telephone boxes, lamposts, bollards, and
fixed traffic signs, all fixed information boards, all modern paving and
surfacings, all fencing, fixed benches and street furniture, the perimeter
walls of St Eustachius' graveyard, and all burial monuments within
St Eustachius' graveyard and the Abbey Chapel graveyard, and all other walling
wholly of the post-Dissolution period, where this can be demonstrated. The
ground beneath all of these features is, however, included.
The canal, where it runs through the southern part of the monument behind the
Bedford Hotel and West Devon Social Club, is totally excluded from the
scheduling.
The standing building of Court Gate (but not the 19th century buildings on
either side of it) and the standing remains of the corner of the abbey church
and cloister in St Eustachius' graveyard are included in the scheduling.
MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
