A Resurrected Abbey, a Fine Local Museum and a Historic Castle
A Brief Introduction
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| Devon |
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| Torbay |
They live in a spacious third floor apartment with a fabulous view of the sea from their living room window, and a sheltered sun-trap
of a balcony on the landward side. There was, though, precious little sun to trap this year.
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| B & H's sea view, Torquay |
Never mind, we got about between the showers. The following visits took place on the 23-25 of May in roughly the order below.
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| Buckfast Abbey is near Buckfastleigh, and Compton Castle is roughly half way between Newton Abbot and Paignton |
Buckfast Abbey
The little village of Buckfast and its larger neighbour Buckfastleigh, sit on the edge of Dartmoor a 40-minute drive from Torquay.
A Benedictine Abbey was founded in or near Buckfast in 1018. The site of the Saxon church is unknown, but by Benedictine standards it
was ‘poor and unprosperous’ (Buckfast
Abbey History). In 1136 King Stephen gave Buckfast to the Savignacs, who
merged with the Cistercians in 1146 who could easily afford to build a sizeable Abbey on the current site.
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| The modern Buckfast Abbey, not the 1146 version (photographed on a sunny day in April 2017) |
The abbey thrived, and by the 14th century fishing and the wool trade had made it one of the wealthiest in south-west England.
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| Buckfast Abbey interior |
In 1539 the Dissolution of the Monasteries saw the lead stripped from the roof and the walls demolished, the stone being eagerly re-used
by local builders.
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| The hair shirt of St Thomas More, above the altar of a side-chapel, Buckfast Abbey |
In 1882 a group of French Benedictine monks bought the site with the intention of re-founding the monastery. The Abbey was formally reinstated
in 1902 and Abbot Anscar Vonier, finding materials and expertise where he
could, set about building a new church on the footprint of the former abbey
church. The work was completed in 1938 and the Abbey has continued to the
present day, now having about a dozen monks.
One of the delights of previous visits has been the shop, with handicrafts from abbeys all over Europe and, more to my taste, treats like
Trappist beers from Belgian monasteries and rillettes – strangely difficult to
find in this country – from an abbey in France. This time the shop was almost
empty, the treats vanished. There was no clear explanation, but this is another of the ‘advantages’ of Brexit.
Coleton Fishacre and a Picnic
The full story of Coleton Fishacre is told in Torquay (1), but we also visited the garden in 2017 and again this year. The house, just
outside Brixham, is owned by the National Trust, but was built for the D’Oyly
Carte family in the 1920s. It is a fine example of an early 20th century
country house.
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| Coleton Fishacre |
The garden tumbles down a narrow valley to the sea. Aided by a warm microclimate the gardeners have produced something special,
though there was more colour in our visits in the April sunshine than on this dank
May day.
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| Gunnera - huge and heavily armed it feels a most threatening plant, Coleton Fishacre |
We had taken a picnic, so braving the weather, we drove up nearby Scabbacombe Lane to a suitable spot. For a brief while the clouds obligingly
parted and the sun shone, though with negligible warmth. Even this half-hearted reprieve
was short lived and we opted out of the planned coastal walk.
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| Cool Picnic, Scabbacombe Lane |
Newton Abbot
For most visitors, Newton Abbot is the gateway to Torquay. Whether arriving from Exeter on the A380 or Okehampton on the A382,
you have to deal with all or part of the town. On a couple of occasions, I have
spent more time traversing Newton Abbot than I considered reasonable, and I did
not think fondly of the town. However, when a visit was suggested, I went with
an open mind. I had set wheel in Newton Abbot but never foot, so it deserved
another chance.
The Newton Abbot Town and GWR Museum
Recently rehoused in a 19th century church in the town centre, the cunningly designed and well thought out museum packs a great deal
into a relatively small space.
Local History
Between 1246 and 1251 the New Town of the Abbot (that’s the Abbot of Torre in Torquay, not
Buckfast, there were plenty to choose from in those days) was given the right
to hold a weekly market on Wednesdays. Across the little River Lemon, Newtown
Bushell (the Bushells were local landowners) gained the same right for
Tuesdays. There was enough trade for both to flourish and the arrangement
continued until 1633 when the markets and towns combined under the name of
Newton Abbott. The Lemon, rising on the flank of Haytor on Dartmoor and 10
miles later flowing into the head of the Teign estuary, now runs beneath
the centre of Newton Abbot in a 400m long tunnel. Lemon is derived from
a Celtic word for elm, the citrus groves of Devon remain just a potential
benefit of global warming.
The South Devon and the GWR
The South Devon Railway arrived in Newton Abbot in 1846. Brunel used the Teignmouth – Newton Abbot stretch to experiment with an ‘atmospheric
railway’, a train driven by air pressure. It was a popular idea at the time and
the small-scale model in the museum works perfectly but even Brunel could not
make it work at large scale.
By 1876 most railways serving the southwest had become part of the Great Western Railway. The GWR developed repair and maintenance
sheds at Newton Abbot and by 1930 they employed 1,000 workers. The sheds have
all gone now and Newton Abbot’s days as a railway town are over, but the museum
has a mock up of an old signal box, and where signals along the line were
changed by pulling levers directly connected to them. Anyone can have a go, it
is great fun for children of all ages, and for children of my age (70+) it is a
comforting moment of 1950s nostalgia.
Two other exhibits to catch my eye were the ‘diving machine’ and the ‘foeffee chest’.
John Lethbridge’s Diving Machine
Wool merchant turned inventor, John Lethbridge perfected his diving machine in his garden pond in Newton Abbot before
taking it to London and displaying it to the masses. On that occasion he was
lowered into the water from a boat and stayed there for half an hour. He could
see, downwards at least, through a glass ‘window’ and could use his arms inside the leather sleeves. To what purpose? One might ask. In
his first commercial venture off Cape Verde, he retrieved 27 cases of silver,
868 slabs of lead, 64 cannons and 11 anchors.
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| Modern replica of John Lethbridge's diving engine |
‘Silver fishing’ was big business, but highly dangerous. Fishers were dependent on being hauled up at the right time, and failures
of the winch, ropes, pulleys or seals were usually fatal.
John Lethbridge died in his bed in 1759 aged 83, having made his last dive two years earlier
Feoffee Chest
A wonderful word and a wonderful chest: the Parish of Woolborough (long ago absorbed into Newton Abbot) kept its important documents
in this chest. It has eight locks and each of the eight feoffees (trustees) had
a key to one of them so all had to be present to open it. Eventually it was replaced
by a dull but efficient safe and was lost. It was rediscovered in the attic of Newton
Abbot workhouse in 1896. Over the centuries the many feoffees included
Parliamentarian General Sir William Waller and the diver John Lethbridge.
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| Feoffee chest, Newton Abbot Musuem |
After the museum, we had intended to explore Newton Abbott on foot, but the weather had other ideas, so we drove south to Compton Castle.
Compton Castle
Getting There
Newton Abbot to Compton is 4 mile down the A380 to the delightfully named village of Ipplepen, then left toward Paignton (silent ‘g’) along the less charmingly monikered Gropers Lane.
Ipplepen Info claims the name has Celtic origins and has been variously spelled
over the years (where hasn’t?) The more authoritative Nottingham University Key to English Place Names says it is Old English, and it was here Ipela penned his animals. But
for the village, Ipela would have been as forgotten as the unfortunately named Snot
who donated his name to Nottingham (I jest not).
I have found no information about Gropers Lane, but such names and more vulgar variations (sniff the smelling salts, Fanny, before
looking at Wikipedia) were common in medieval cities and denoted a street of brothels. Sensibilities change and so do names, over time many morphed into Grove Lane or Grape Lane.
But this was an urban phenomenon, and every one of the 1,945 metres (streetlist.co.uk) of Gropers Lane is relentlessly rural.
The Gilbert’s Castle
Compton Castle, now owned by the National Trust, is more of a fortified manor house than a castle, but it is a magnificent fortified manor.
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| Compton Castle |
Sir Maurice de la Pole had a castellated house here in the reign of King Henry II (1154–1189). Later, the manor passed into the hands of the Compton family who built an undefended manor house in the mid-14th century. The Comptons gave way to the Gilberts who added the fortress-like front in the 1520s.
Through the forbidding gatehouse with double
portcullises…
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| Gatehouse, Compton Castle |
…is a quadrangle with a chapel on the right...
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| Courtyard, Compton Castle |
...which appears to still be in use.
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| Chapel, Compton Castle |
Sir Humphrey Gilbert
Best known of the Gilberts was Sir Humphrey Gilbert (1539–1583). He and his half-brother Sir Walter Raleigh are alleged to have shared the first pipe of tobacco
smoked in England at Compton.
Sir Humphrey was a complex character. His
brutality in Ireland where he was involved in putting down the First Desmond Rebellion (1569-73) was extreme even by the standards of the time, while in the
mid-1570s he devoted himself to writing and promoting education and the arts. Thereafter
he turned to exploration and adventuring, applying himself with more enthusiasm
than skill.
In 1583 he led a small fleet to Newfoundland in HMS Squirrel, a ship that had featured in some of his earlier adventures. The way the story is spun one might assume he discovered Newfoundland though John Cabot had been there 90 years earlier and St John’s was a well-established port occupied, if only seasonally, by fishermen.
Gilbert arrived, claimed Newfoundland and all surrounding land for Queen Elizabeth, accepted the gift of a dog from the locals and then he set off home. HMS Squirrel foundered in a storm off the Azores and Gilbert drowned. In his memory, squirrel motifs abound at Compton Castle.
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| A Squirrel on one of the chapel pews |
And in memory of all the Tudor adventurers and legitimised pirates there is usually a volunteer somewhere on the premises in Tudor costume.
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| There is still at least one Tudor at Compton Castle |
After the Tudors
The Gilberts sold the estate in 1785. The need for fortified manors had passed, the castle was allowed to deteriorate and eventually
the Great Hall roof fell in. Walter Raleigh Gilbert, a young naval officer and a
Gilbert descendant bought the ruin in 1931. In 1951, after much rebuilding and restoration,
he donated Compton to the National Trust on the condition that members of the
family should continue to occupy the castle. They still do, administering it
for the Trust.
The Rest of the Castle
The chapel and Great Hall form opposite sides of a quadrangle. The Great Hall with Sub Solar and Solar behind are open to the public.
The private residence is in a large wing forming the end of the quadrangle and
continuing behind, leaving the rest of the enclosed space as a garden.
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| Walled Garden, Compton Castle |
Sadly, no photographs were allowed inside. The Great Hall, filled with Gilbert memorabilia, has the feel of a medieval hall, despite
the new roof. With modern furniture the Sub Solar has a veneer of modern
comfort, while the Solar, reached by a vertiginous 15th century spiral
staircase, feels more spartan. There is a small ‘snug’ beyond, but the vast
fireplace and modern heating equipment are a reminder of how difficult it is to
heat a building of this age to modern standards.
The kitchen is at the end of the main wing. A warm if rather smoky place, it was once a separate building so any inadvertent fire
could be easily contained. The trade-off was that, in winter at least, the castle’s
inhabitants would never get a hot a meal.
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| Kitchen, Compton Castle |
The Last Evening and Beyond
Hilary had cooked two splendid dinners during our stay so on the last evening she deserved a rest. We ventured out on foot to a harbour
side bar for a drink. Despite the ecologically indefensible space heaters on
the terrace, the nippy breeze made inside the only sensible choice.
Afterwards we walked round to the Junjaow Thai restaurant. Between the four of us we ate prawn and chicken pad thais, a green
curry and two red curries. It is few years since we have been to Thailand and
the flavours were authentic enough to bring back pleasant memories.
The next morning, we took our leave. Despite the uncooperative weather, we had spent a very pleasant and convivial few days with Brian and Hilary,
eaten and drunk well and visited some interesting places. Thanks to both for their
hospitality, and particularly to Hilary for all the hard work in the kitchen and
the excellent dinners that work produced.