Discover Tavistock, Devon

Tavistock town center: Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tavistock_town_centre.jpg
Author: Ron Strutt


Tavistock is a market town in the district of West Devon, in Devon, England. It is famous for being the birthplace of Sir Francis Drake. The town has a population of 11,000 people (2012 estimate).

The area around Tavistock has been inhabited long before recorded history. Prehistoric remains from the Bronze and Iron Ages have been recovered here, providing glimpses of life from long past.

The history of Tavistock goes back to the founding of Tavistock Abbey in AD 961. In 1105 the town received a royal charter from King Henry I, giving it the rights to hold a weekly market on Fridays. This market is still being held today. In 1116, an annual three-day fair was also granted to the town, to mark the feast of Saint Ruman, while annual Goosey Fair was held on the second Wednesday of October.

Tavistock, Devon, England: Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tavistock_01.jpg
Author: Calips


Sir Francis Drake was born here in 1540 (or 1542, according to some sources). The farmhouse where he was born has long been dismantled, but a Blue Plaque is mounted on the current farmhouse located in front of the original building. At the roundabout to the west of town is the original statue of Drake, a replica of which is the famous one in Plymouth Hoe.

Today Tavistock relies on tourism as one of its chief income earners. It was named the gateway to the Cornish Mining World Heritage Site in 2006, helping bring more tourists to the town.

Visiting Tavistock

Take the M5 motorway from Manchester to Exeter, then continue on the A30 road until Sourton Down, where you take the A386 road heading south till you reach Tavistock.

Tavistock Abbey: Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tavistock_Abbey_from_south_east.jpg
Author: Raggatt2000

Places of Interest in Tavistock

 Latest updates on Penang Travel Tips

About this website

Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.

While I try my best to provide you information as accurate as I can get it to be, I do apologize for any errors and for outdated information which I am unaware. Nevertheless, I hope that what I have described here will be useful to you.