DISCOVERING Bovey Tracey

As winter starts to recede and days get a little longer, there’s a new eagerness to get outside. EMMA PEARCY took time out to visit Bovey Tracey

- EMMA PEARCY

A glance around tells you Bovey Tracey has huge pride in its heritage but is looking, excitedly, towards its future.

There’s a general buzz here. A new community centre is being built and the former King of Prussia pub is being transformed into a new artistic space complete with 100-seat cinema, art gallery, studios, and cafe restaurant.

Almost every building tells a story and there’s no better way than to wander around, pop into shops and take in what you see. One stand-out feature is the Cromwell Arch, tucked off Fore Street, believed to be the remains of a monastery which was pulled down in 1822.

Dartmoor’s granite can be found in houses, doorways, walls, and paving. A section of the granite tramway, built in 1820 and used to transport granite from the quarries at Haytor to Teignmouth, passes through the town, remnants of which can be seen at Brimley and Pottery Pond. On East Street, set into a wall near St Peter, St Paul and St Thomas of Canterbury Church, you’ll find a water trough, known as St Mary’s Well, hewn from a single piece.

Even if you are not religious, the church, known as PPT, makes for an intriguing if a little mysterious visit. It boasts a possible connection with one of history’s most significant and dramatic incidents: the murder of Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral in 1170.

One of the murderous knights was William de Tracy. It is thought the church, built during 13th Century, was commissioned by a member of his family or on William’s own orders as an act of penance. Inside you’ll find an exquisite gilded pulpit, a 15th Century brass eagle lectern and a chancel screen dating from 1450.