From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Tavistock is a town in Devon, England, lying on the River Tavy on the edge of Dartmoor. It became a Stannary town by a Royal Decree in 1305, processing the tin mined from nearby Dartmoor. Copper was later mined in the Victorian period.
The town still possesses the remains of a Benedictine abbey, which was founded in 974 AD by Ordulph, the Earl of Devonshire. The Abbey was attacked around 997 AD by the Vikings. The Abbey continued to be of significant importance until Henry VIII's infamous Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539.
Tavistock is also notable as the birthplace of Sir Francis Drake in 1542, whose statue stands in Bedford Square.
Tavistock is twinned with the German town of Celle and the French town of Pontivy.
