Buckland-Monachorum (Holy Trinity)

BUCKLAND-MONACHORUM (Holy Trinity), a parish, and formerly a market-town, in the union of Tavistock, hundred of Roborough, Midland-Roborough and S. divisions of Devon, 4 miles (S. by E.) from Tavistock; containing 1411 inhabitants. This place acquired the adjunct to its name from an abbey founded in 1278, by Amicia, Countess Dowager of Devonshire, in honour of the Virgin Mary and St. Benedict; to which she removed a society of Cistercian monks from the Isle of Wight. In 1337, the abbot obtained permission to castellate his monastery; and during the parliamentary war it was garrisoned by Sir Richard Grenville. The revenue of the society, in the 26th of Henry VIII., was estimated at £241. 17. 9. The estate came by purchase into the possession of the renowned Sir Francis Drake; and a modern mansion, beautifully situated on the banks of the Tavy, has been erected, called Buckland Abbey, now the property of Sir T. T. F. E. Drake, Bart.; but there are still some interesting remains of the abbey. The parish comprises 6386 acres, of which 1889 are common or waste. The village, which contains some curious old houses, a mutilated stone cross, and a few ancient inscriptions, is mean in appearance, but picturesquely situated. A fair is held on Trinity-Monday. The Plymouth and Dartmoor railway crosses the parish on the east. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £19. 8. 9., and in the gift of the family of Nichols: the great tithes, belonging to Sir T. Drake, have been commuted for £175. 8.; and those of the incumbent for £291. 10., with a glebe of 52 acres. The church consists of a nave, two aisles, and two small transepts, with a fine tower supporting four octagonal turrets, embattled, and surmounted by pinnacles; it contains, among several others, a finely executed monument by Bacon, to the memory of Baron Heathfield, the brave defender of Gibraltar.