Morwellham Quay - The Victorian mining village

Today, a visit to Morwellham Quay. Firstly, a brief description of today's destination which is an historic river port in Devon that was developed to support the local mines. The port had its peak in the Victorian era and is now run as a tourist attraction and museum. It is the terminus of the Tavistock Canal and has its own copper mine. The open-air museum includes the restored 19th-century village, the docks and quays, a restored ship, the George and Charlotte copper mine which is toured by a small train, a Victorian farm and a nature reserve with trails.

In July 2006, UNESCO (the cultural arm of the United Nations) awarded World Heritage Site status to the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape area. Morwellham is strategically sited at the centre of the Tamar Valley Mining District which, together with nearby Tavistock, forms the easternmost gateway area to the rest of the World Heritage Site.

The site has been imaginatively preserved to give an impression of Victorian industrial and rural life. The assayers' offices have been carefully preserved and Victorian cottages, farm and schoolrooms presented. The ore-crushing plants driven by a 32-foot overhead waterwheel can be seen. A battery electric-powered tramway, constructed as part of the tourist attraction in the 1970s, takes visitors for tours on a single level of the copper mine. Old lime kilns can also be seen.

The day that we visited was dull and overcast for most of the day. However, we enjoyed immersing oursel;ves in the history of the place. We did go on the train into the mines, which was certainly worth doing. How did people spend their lives underground and working in those conditions?

Now for a small piece of history:

The port was originally set up by the Benedictine monks of Tavistock Abbey, which was founded in 961, to carry goods to and from Plymouth on the River Tamar, since the River Tavy was unnavigable. From this point it grew and grew.

By the 12th century, tin ore was being transported through the quay, followed by lead and silver ores in the 13th century.Later, copper deposits were also discovered at the Quay itself and the George and Charlotte Mine opened in the 18th century. In addition, by 1800, manganese deposits were being extracted from the northern and western edges of Dartmoor and being brought to Morwellham.

By the end of the 18th century, the trail of pack horses across the rugged terrain was too much, and in 1817 the 4.5-mile-long Tavistock Canal was opened. The canal included a 1.5-mile tunnel which ended 237 feet above the quay at Morwellham. From here an inclined plane was constructed to bring the iron barges down to the quay, powered by a water wheel.

Morwellham Quay was at its peak during the time Devon Great Consols (the copper mine) was in production. The mine was only four miles north of the port and shipped copper and later arsenic via the quay for a period of almost 60 years beginning in 1844. Morwellham became known as the "richest Copper port in Queen Victoria's Empire", and the queen herself visited in 1856. Another inclined plane was built to transport the ore down the hill and a new quay was added to handle the 30,000 tons of ore that were exported each year. Arsenic was also extracted, and it became the world's largest supplier of the mineral in the latter part of the century. However, by 1903 the Consols' wealth was exhausted and the mines closed.

By this stage, the railways had taken over and Morwellham's usefulness was also ended. The canal tunnel was used as a water supply for a hydroelectric plant and the inclined planes were abandoned.

The Victorian school - I don't think it would go down too well today!

The privy

Some barrels outside the blacksmiths

The village pub where we had a great meal

This small lime kiln it thought to have built around 1787 and worked up until 1857, by that time the centre of the village where the kiln is situated was congested with buildings and the canal inclined railway ran alongside the kiln, not the best place to burn lime, so the kiln fell into disrepair. The kiln was restored in the 1990’s.

The 32 ft (9.8 m) overshot water wheel, which once powered a mill for crushing locally mined manganese.

Victorian Shop interior

The Garlandstone

The Garlandstone today can be seen in dry dock at Morwellham awaiting the go ahead for a major restoration project.

It is a gaff-rigged sailing ketch, typical of the kind of craft that carried copper from Morwellham round to Wales for smelting. Built by James Goss, in his boat yard, about 2 miles downriver near Calstock, her design was based on the boats carrying cargo up and down the Tamar in the mid 19th Century. Launched in 1909, she was the last cargo-carrying sailing vessel to have been built in the West Country. She was named ‘Garlandstone’ by her first Captain after a rock off the coast of Pembrokeshire and is considered to be a masterpiece of subtle design; elegant, yet strong and serviceable. She is 76 feet long, 20 feet wide, draws 4 feet unladen and 9 feet when fully laden, with an unladen weight of 75 tons and a cargo capacity of 100 tons. She carries eight sails in total: two on the mizzen, two on the main, a stay-sail and three on the bowsprit. She had a crew of just three men. Garlandstone had a varied life mainly carrying cargo between Ireland and the Bristol Channel. She is a rare survivor of Goss’s work, having continued to work through two world wars and up until the 1960’s.

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Buckland Abbey - The home of Sir Frances Drake

Buckland Abbey is a Grade I listed 700-year-old house in Buckland Monachorum, near Yelvertn, Devon, noted for its connection with Sir Richard Grenville the Younger and Sir Francis Drake. It is owned by the National Trust.

It was founded as a Cistercian abbey in 1278] by Amicia, Countess of Devon and was a daughter house of Quarr Abbey, on the Isle of Wight. It was one of the last Cistercian houses founded in England and also the most westerly. The remains of the church are about 37.6 metres (123 ft) long. The width across the transepts is 28 metres (92 ft). The nave and presbytery is 10.1 metres (33 ft) wide.

The Exeter diocese episcopal registers show the abbey managed five granges at Buckland plus the home farm at the abbey. A market and fair at Buckland and Cullompton were granted in 1318. In 1337 King Edward III granted the monks a licence to crenellate - that is to build battlements on the walls.

In the 15th century the monks built a Tithe Barn which is 180 feet (55 m) long and survives to this day. It is Grade I listed

Buckland Abbey’s time as a monastery ended with the Dissolution of the Monasteries under the reign of King Henry VIII. The Buckland estate was sold to Sir Richard Grenville in 1541, though it seems that his son, Roger, was the one to live here.

However, Roger didn’t live to inherit Buckland as he died aboard the Mary Rose, which famously sank off Portsmouth in 1545.

Eventually it was Roger’s son, Sir Richard Grenville (The Younger), who inherited the estate from his grandfather when he was just 21. He set about modifying the Abbey, pulling down many of the monastery buildings and converting the body of the main church into a Tudor mansion home.

Sir Richard was also drawn to the sea, undertaking many early and exploratory voyages with the aim of colonising lands in North America.

The house was later sold to Sir Francis Drake – Elizabethan Hero, Sea Captain, Privateer and Slave Trader. He was the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe and was able to purchase Buckland Abbey using a fraction of the treasure from the voyage. His later role in the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 cemented his fame.

Drake was rarely at home during his ownership of Buckland Abbey. With thoughts always of the sea, his last voyage was in 1595. After plans to attack the Spanish again in Panama, a fever broke out aboard his ship and Drake died of dysentery in 1596. He had no children, so the ownership of Buckland Abbey passed to his brother, Thomas Drake.

Buckland remained in the ownership of the Drake family and their descendants until 1946. During this time, the family split their time between Buckland and other houses, principally Nutwell Court in Devon. In the 18th century, the agricultural improver William Marshall advised the family on farming improvements. In the early 19th century, the architect Samuel Pepys Cockerel was employed to remodel parts of the building and estate.

Buckland Abbey was acquired by the National Trust in 1946 at the instigation of Lady Astor. It was seen as a ‘National responsibility’ to save Buckland Abbey as ‘an important symbol of our heritage, the home of one of Plymouth’s famous sons, Sir Francis Drake.

Statue of Sir France Drake and picture of his ship The Golden Hind - the galleon captained by him in his circumnavigation of the world between 1577 and 1580. Both on display in the part of the house we looked at.

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Plymouth - a day by the Ho

We had been looking forward to visiting Plymouth and found ourselves blessed with lovely weather today. We left the car at a Park & Ride and got off at The Barbican, which is the name given to the western and northern sides of Sutton Harbour, the original harbour of Plymouth in Devon, England.

Boats in Sutton Harbour

The Mayflower Steps is a commemoratve area in honour of Pilgrim Fathers who set sail for the New World in 1620. I think this spot is symbolic rather than the actual spot.

The Leviathan or Barbican Prawn

The Barbican Prawn standing 33ft tall and unveiled in 1996. Official name The Leviathon

El Galeon. 17th Century Spanish Galleon Replica

The huge ship which sailed into Plymouth in September and moored at Barbican Landing Stage. The full-size replica of a 17th century Spanish galleon was original due to visit the city in August, but it was postponed due to the bad weather. Since September 13, visitors have been exploring the 'living museum', which was scheduled to leave on September 17. But as Plymouth is its last port of call on its summer-long tour of some of Europe's most important ports, it was able to extend the visit. Lucky to see this as it was still there on the day we visited.

Then we continued our walk along Plymouth Hoe as there were plenty of attractions we thought.

The two guns situated on the Hoe are restored ships’ cannons from the 19th century. They may have seen action during the Crimean War (1853 – 1856) or during one of the many Naval expeditions that Britain undertook during the 19th century. The gun carriages are replicas.

Part of the old citadel walls

Drake Island

Tinside Lido - what a fabulous spot.

Royal Marine Memorial

There are several memorials in this area as I guess it's a good visitor and viewing area.

Welcome to Plymouth

A centrepiece on Plymouth's Hoe, Smeaton's Tower has become one of the South West's most well-known landmarks. The lighthouse was originally built on the Eddystone reef in 1759 at a cost of £40,000 but was taken down in the early 1880s when it was discovered that the sea was undermining the rock it was standing on. Approximately two thirds of the structure was moved stone by stone to its current resting place on the Hoe.

RAF and Allied Air Forces memorial

Armada memorial

Frances Drake

Sir Francis Drake (c. 1540 – 28 January 1596) Born in Tavistock.was an English explorer and privateer best known for his circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition between 1577 and 1580. This was the first English circumnavigation, and third circumnavigation overall. He is also known for participating in the early English slaving voyages of his cousin, Sir John Hawkins, and John Lovell. Having started as a simple seaman, in 1588 he was part of the fight against the Spanish Armada as a vice-admiral. He served as mayor of Plymouth in 1582. and MP/in 1583

Plymouth Navel Memorial

Then we walked past a bowling Green (Frances Drake?) and back toward our bus stop. As luck would have it, we came upon an enormous statue which I had spotted on the way in.

Messenger - Outside Theatre Royal

Just to give an idea of its size, Rosey is almost underneath when I took this image. Messenger is a large statue in Plymouth, UK, created by the Cornish artist Joseph Hillier, depicting a female actor crouching in preparation to run onstage. It was commissioned by and installed outside the Theatre Royal, Plymouth in 2019 in preparation for the city's Mayflower 400 celebrations.

A really interesting day with plenty of historic reminders.

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Dartmoor and around

Unfortunately, this was a wet holiday, although we had a reasonable day or two, the weather was mainly dull and damp. 

Our accommodation was in a small village called Cudlipptown, just above Peter Tavey and not many miles from Tavistock. We stayed in a converted barn on a rare breeds farm in the `back of beyond` called Broadmoor Farm.

Access to the farm was up a very narrow track of at least three quarters of a mile from the main road, which itself was mostly single track!

From near the top, the view was magnificent - when not raining, albeit a bit misty.

However, we did have some time on the moor and had a few images to record it!

The nearest access to the moor was from just above Tavistock and so we drove onto the moor and stopped at one of the first parking spots to take in the view of Coxtor. The sky did help the view although it was still threatening to rain.

Another similar view of Coxtor with a few locals in the picture.

Just along the road was the village of Merrivale which looked really dramatic in its surroundings, I thought.

Then onto the wonderful clapper bridge at Postbridge, thought to be one of the finest in the country. It is believed to date back to medieval times and would probably have replaced stepping stones to help packhorses cross the river. The bridge has two central piers spanned by three large granite slabs, or clappers.

The main road today crosses the river on this bridge.

Wending our way back on our short excursion, we passed Dartmoor, the village, complete with high security prison. What a dreary looking place.

Just before we returned to the main road we stopped at Vixen Tor.  A little walk and some pictures and we returned - still dry!

One last place we managed to see was on the day we were starting to travel home - and that was Lydford Gorge. We were reasonable lucky with the weather and did just a portion of the walk which can be done all round the gorge. It was spectacular I must say.

Here we are at the flattest part of our walk and before we started to climb the steps to view some of the more spectacular views.

Once we managed to get over our nervousness, the views were spectacular. Well worth a visit if you are in the area.

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