Name and Place Index

To

Some Bits of an Old Borough

Trans. Devon. Assoc. vol. XXXV, (1903), pp. 646-653.

by

George M. Doe

Prepared by Michael Steer

The Paper was presented at the Association’s July 1903 Sidmouth meeting. “Toriton” was designated a borough in the 12th century under the control of a succession of local barons. The Normans and their successors built a castle and fortifications to control the area. Records indicate that all remained peaceful until the 17th century, when in 1646, the Cromwellian faction under Sir Thomas Fairfax defeated Lord Hopton and his Royalists at the Battle of Torrington. Among the few records of Great Torrington that escaped destruction are two Sessions Books containing minutes of the town’s Quarter Sessions from 1687 to 1810. The Paper is primarily based on the contents of these important documents. Its author George Mark Doe was a local historian who was mayor of Torrington in 1923 and 1924.
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