Bovey Tracey takes its name from the River Bovey which was named for a saxon Theign called Bofa or Boui. Originally called South Bovey, the "Tracey" was added when the manor of Bovey came into the possession of Sir William de Tracey. William de Tracey is renowned for his part in the murder of Archbishop Beckett.

Later Bovey Tracey had a thriving pottery industry. This began here because of the clay basin in which the town is located.

There was a skirmish here during the Civil War in January 1646. This ended in victory for the Parliamentarians.

Our collection features all aspects of life in and around the town backed up by a large archive of material relating to the history of the area.

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A short length of standard gauge railway track has been laid at Bovey Tracey Heritage Centre in preparation for the eventual aquisition of a railway wagon. It is believed that a section of the original track is still in position at the same location but about a metre below the surface. The location was called 'the dock' and was used to load cattle wagons with animals and flatbed wagons with pit props.

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This year, 2010 Bovey Tracey Celebrates the 750th anniversary of the granting of the Town's Royal Charter.
The Charter was Granted in 1260 to Henry de Tracey and his heirs, by King Henry III.
The Charter permitted a weekly market and three day annual fair to be held in the manor of Bovey Tracey.

The donation of a Uniform Cap, Jacket and Trousers in 2010, enables us to show this exhibit, thanks are given to Mr and Mrs G Wills for the donation.

The main pottery exhibit for 2010 is of Toby Jugs and some other items from Liverton Pottery.
Liverton pottery opened in 1913/14 but closed during the 1st World War, in 1922 it restarted and continued manufacturing Devon Art Pottery until 1981.
The Bottle Kiln is the only part of the pottery still visible and can be seen from the street in Liverton.

Darwin Exhibit

A cabinet of items relating to the work of Charles Darwin who was born 200 years ago this year.
Darwin and the Tree of Life Display with a range of Jurrasic Coast Fossils and the Prehistory of man, showing Stoneage artiacts up to 500,000 years old.



Of particular interest are some fossils of a plesiosaur, two vertebrae, two foot/fin bones and a rear upper leg bone, which has the toothmarks of reptilian predator on it.

The remains of a Salt Glaze Pottery Kiln, dating from about 1760.

The kiln was discovered at Fore Street Bovey Tracey in 1932, with several unfinished and kiln-damaged salt-glazed pots.

The kiln was  moved, in the 1930's, to the Candy Tile works at Heathfield and has now been moved back to Bovey Tracey; where it has been installed in the car park of the Heritage Centre. Please see the NEWS pages for more details of the installation and opening ceremony.

This ancient granite cross once stood at a crossroads on the old trackways leading from Bovey Tracey to Moretonhampstead and Hennock. It can now be found in Mary Street and is part of the Town Trail, an easy walk around points of interest in Bovey Tracey. The Town Trail leaflet is available from the Heritage Centre.

 

Granite was extracted from the Haytor Quarry area of Dartmoor for use in buildings such as London Bridge, it was moved from the quarry by loading the granite blocks on to horse drawn trolleys which ran on a tramway, made of granite, to the Stover canal. Where the it was transferred to barges which carried it to Teignmouth docks. It was then transhipped to coastal vessels for distribution.

Parts of the tramway are still in place and can be seen at various places along its route, such as Chappel Road, Brimley and Yarner Wood.

Some blocks from the Haytor Granite Tramway are exhibited at the Heritage Centre, with examples of some of the tools used and explanation of how the granite blocks were  split using the ‘tare and feather method’.

A static model of the
station, showing the building
and surrounding area, as it was in the 1950's can be seen in the main exhibition room.

 

 

 

Railway artefacts, maps, pictures and related items are on view in the ‘Railway room'.
Books about the Moretonhamsted branch line and other nearby lines, are for sale. As is a leaflet about the history of Bovey station.

 

This civil war breast-plate was found in the local primary school when a small boy jumped over a fence and injured his knee on it.

Other civil war artifacts are on show.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This re-enactment of the Civil War skirmish of 1646 took place during the Millenium celebrations.

This successful event was held at Parke, Bovey Tracey the headquarters of the Dartmoor National Park.

As a part of the celebrations Bovey Tracey was granted a coat of arms.

The sales area is quite small, but income from sales of items helps with costs of running the centre.

New Books, Cards, Notelets, Leaflets, Plants, some local pottery and locally made 'Knitted hats' and 'Thumb sticks' for Dartmoor walkers are available.


Second hand books and some old railway timetales are also on sale for the cost of a voluntary donation.

In 1904 a Government Act meant that councils were responsible for fire fighting. The picture shows Bovey Tracey’s first Dennis motor fire engine with solid rubber wheels in 1928. The picture is one of an extensive collection of photographs held at the Heritage Centre.

To see more pictures from the Bovey Tracey archive please go to the Dartmoor Archive website at http://www.ex.ac.uk/dartmoor-archive/ and click on search, click on advanced search in the drop down box, and enter Bovey as the subject. You may also search individual collections from other sources.

More information about the town is available in the 250 page Bovey Book (ISBN 1-897785-11-9), compiled by Veronica Kennedy for the Bovey Tracey Heritage Trust. The book was published in 2004 and in addition to many pictures it includes maps and chapters on local buildings, churches, industry, inns, organisations, people, schools, sports, transport, war and work, it is available from the Bovey Tracey Heritage Centre.

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