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Newton Abbot
Newton Abbot is a market town and civil parish on the River Teign in the Teignbridge District of Devon, England. Its population was 24,029 in 2011, and was estimated at 26,655 in 2019. It grew rapidly in the Victorian era as the home of the South Devon Railway locomotive works. This later became a major steam engine shed, retained to service British Railways diesel locomotives until 1981. It now houses the Brunel industrial estate. The town has a race course nearby, the most westerly in England, and a country park, Decoy. It is twinned with Besigheim in Germany and Ay in France.
Newton Abbot does not appear in the Domesday Book of 1086. It is first documented in the late 12th century in Latin as Nova Villa: "new farm". In 1201 it was recorded as Nieweton' abbatis: "New settlement belonging to the abbot". The land was granted to Torre Abbey by William de Briwere in 1196.
Robert Bussell acquired the area in the Highweek parish and Teignbridge Hundred, which was then Newton Bushel. The twin towns worked together and their markets were eventually combined. Local noted antiquarian Cecil Torr states that the town continued to be known simply as Newton or Newton Bushel to the majority of people prior to the arrival of the railway, which named the station Newton Abbot in order to distinguish it from other towns called Newton on the railway network.
Even after the arrival of the railway, the mononym "Newton" remained in common use, with Richard Nicholls Worth noting in 1880 that "Newton is a modern development of the ancient towns of Newton Abbot and Newton Bushell, which the railway has made into an important centre".
Traces of Neolithic inhabitants have been found at Berry's Wood Hill Fort near Bradley Manor. This was a contour hill fort that enclosed about 11 acres (4.5 ha). Milber Down camp was built before the 1st century BC and later occupied briefly by the Romans, whose coins have been found there.
Highweek Hill has the remains of a Norman motte-and-bailey castle, known as Castle Dyke. A village grew up around the castle, first called Teignwick, and later Highweek, implying a village on the high ground. Another settlement developed on the low ground around the River Lemon and would become part of Wolborough Manor.
There has been a thriving market in Newton Abbot for over 750 years – the first market charter was granted in 1220.
The New Town of the Abbots (of Torre Abbey) was given the right some time between 1247 and 1251 to hold a weekly market on Wednesdays. By 1300 the two settlements were renamed as Newton Abbot (taking the low ground) and Newton Bushel (taking the high ground). On the strength of the market, it quickly became a thriving town and a good source of income for the Abbots.
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Newton Abbot
Newton Abbot is a market town and civil parish on the River Teign in the Teignbridge District of Devon, England. Its population was 24,029 in 2011, and was estimated at 26,655 in 2019. It grew rapidly in the Victorian era as the home of the South Devon Railway locomotive works. This later became a major steam engine shed, retained to service British Railways diesel locomotives until 1981. It now houses the Brunel industrial estate. The town has a race course nearby, the most westerly in England, and a country park, Decoy. It is twinned with Besigheim in Germany and Ay in France.
Newton Abbot does not appear in the Domesday Book of 1086. It is first documented in the late 12th century in Latin as Nova Villa: "new farm". In 1201 it was recorded as Nieweton' abbatis: "New settlement belonging to the abbot". The land was granted to Torre Abbey by William de Briwere in 1196.
Robert Bussell acquired the area in the Highweek parish and Teignbridge Hundred, which was then Newton Bushel. The twin towns worked together and their markets were eventually combined. Local noted antiquarian Cecil Torr states that the town continued to be known simply as Newton or Newton Bushel to the majority of people prior to the arrival of the railway, which named the station Newton Abbot in order to distinguish it from other towns called Newton on the railway network.
Even after the arrival of the railway, the mononym "Newton" remained in common use, with Richard Nicholls Worth noting in 1880 that "Newton is a modern development of the ancient towns of Newton Abbot and Newton Bushell, which the railway has made into an important centre".
Traces of Neolithic inhabitants have been found at Berry's Wood Hill Fort near Bradley Manor. This was a contour hill fort that enclosed about 11 acres (4.5 ha). Milber Down camp was built before the 1st century BC and later occupied briefly by the Romans, whose coins have been found there.
Highweek Hill has the remains of a Norman motte-and-bailey castle, known as Castle Dyke. A village grew up around the castle, first called Teignwick, and later Highweek, implying a village on the high ground. Another settlement developed on the low ground around the River Lemon and would become part of Wolborough Manor.
There has been a thriving market in Newton Abbot for over 750 years – the first market charter was granted in 1220.
The New Town of the Abbots (of Torre Abbey) was given the right some time between 1247 and 1251 to hold a weekly market on Wednesdays. By 1300 the two settlements were renamed as Newton Abbot (taking the low ground) and Newton Bushel (taking the high ground). On the strength of the market, it quickly became a thriving town and a good source of income for the Abbots.