BOVEY-TRACEY

[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868)]

"BOVEY-TRACEY, (or South Bovey), a parish in the hundred of Teignbridge, in the county of Devon, 4 miles to the W. of Chudleigh. Newton Abbott is its post town. It is situated on the banks of the Wrey, or West Teign river, and contains Bovey-Heathfield, an extensive level common, lying very low, and surrounded by hills. On this common are found beds of lignite, or wood coal, called generally Bovey coal, formed of trees which have sunk into the swamp. Its bad smell while burning unfits it for household purposes. The clay used in the pottery works is brought from King's-Teignton. Near the village is a manufactory of earthenware. Antimony and basalt occur in small quantities. Many of the inhabitants are employed in working the coal and in the pottery. Bovey was formerly a market town, under a grant to the lord of the manor by Henry III. The living is a vicarage* in the diocese of Exeter, of the value of £450, in the patronage of the crown. The church is dedicated to St. Thomas a Becket. It is an ancient building, and contains a stone pulpit decorated with colour and gilding. There is also a small district church, recently built for the use of the pottery district, dedicated to St. John the Evangelist. The Baptists and Wesleyans have chapels in the village. There is a free school, endowed by several persons with an income of £40 per annum, and some other charities worth about £10 a year. An alien priory once existed here. The building was converted into a manufactory in 1772. In the village are some remains of an old cross. Fairs for the sale of cattle are held on Easter Monday, Holy Thursday, and the first Thursday in June and in November.