Buckland Monachorum is a village and civil parish in the West Devon district of Devon, England, situated on the River Tavy, about 10 miles north of Plymouth.

In 2006 the neighbourhood had an estimated 1,511 residents and 654 dwellings. The electoral ward of the same name gave a population of 3,380 at the 2011 census.

Domesday Book (1086) records Buckland Monachorum (Bocheland) as having 46 households, land for 15 ploughs, a salt pan and a fishery. The estate was owned by William de Poilley, probably a Norman knight, although he is not listed in the rolls of the Battle of Hastings. William de Poilley held 17 estates in southern Devon as a tenant-in-chief of William the Conqueror, making him a person of regional significance.

Near to Buckland Monachorum is Buckland Abbey, home of Sir Francis Drake during the Elizabethan era. The village is the site of St. Andrew's, a 12th-century church with a Saxon baptismal font and the tombs of the Drake family and Lord Heathfield, the defender of Gibraltar, many historic buildings, and a complex of interesting gardens, known as "The Garden House". The Gift House, a seventeenth-century Almshouse, was built by a descendant of Sir Francis Drake.

CHAPTER XXIII.
BUCKLAND MONACHORUM.
One of the hundreds of the Exon Domesday,’ which neither the Lysonses nor any other general writers on Devonian history identified, is that of Walchentone, which appears again in the ‘ Exchequer Domesday ’ as Wachetone, with the appendant manors of Svdtone (now Plymouth), Tanbretone (Tamerton), and Macretone (Maker), all part of the royal demesne. Walchentone hundred is now represented by the hundred of Roborough; and Walchentone itself is to be found in the moorland
parish of Walkhampton, the identification being easy to anyone acquainted with the ancient and indeed current pronunciation—‘ Wackington.’ Nowhere in Devon has so great a change taken place in the relationships of manors — Walkhampton being quite an insignificant parish, important only in its association with Buckland Abbey, and Sutton the site of the largest town of the West. The Cistercian Abbey of Buckland was founded by Amicia, the widowed countess of Baldwin, seventh Earl of Devon, and the mother of Isabella de Fortibus. She acquired in 1273 lands for the purpose by purchase or gift from her daughter, and in 1280 signed the foundation deed, vesting in the monks and their successors the manors of Buckland, Bickleigh, and Walkhampton, with Buckland Monachorum. the advowsons, and the hundred of Roborough, for the use of the Abbey dedicated in honour of God and the blessed Mary, mother .of God, and the blessed Benedict. The monks came from the Abbey of Quarr in the Isle of Wight, founded by Baldwin, second Earl of Devon, and Robert was the first abbot. They were unfortunate enough to start by incurring episcopal censure, celebrating divine offices without the consent of the parish priest or the bishop’s license, and Bishop Bronescombe therefore laid them under interdict. This was relaxed at the solicitation of Queen Eleanor, and speedily removed. The data for the history of Buckland are very scanty. Soon after the foundation the title of the Abbey to the hundred was questioned, and judgment given for the King. Yet the abbot continued to exercise the jurisdiction, and in that right successfully resisted the attempt of Edward II. to grant a charter to the town of Plymouth, which came within his authority. When Plymouth was incorporated the Abbey was compensated with the church of Bampton. In 1336 the royal license was granted to crenellate the Abbey, Plymouth and its vicinity being at this time in constant peril from foreign descent. Having asserted their rights against the King, the convent were not likely to allow them to be infringed by a plain squire. James Derneford, lord of the manor of East Stonehouse, set up a pillory and tumbrel in his manor, and held a court of frankpledge there. This was resisted by the monks, and eventually referred to the arbitration of William Hylle, Prior of Plympton, and James Chudlegh. They, in 1448, decided in favour of the Abbey, and Derneford, besides removing the pillory and tumbrel, had to pay £20 as a fine. Thirty years later' the monks themselves were cast. They were sued at Lydford for encroachments upon the rights of the duchy of Cornwall within the forest of Dartmoor, and were found to have offended. None of the sixteen abbots of Buckland was a man of note; but Thomas Olyver, who succeeded in 1463, was a warm supporter of the Earl of Richmond, afterwards Henry VI, and was proscribed, without result, by Richard. The last abbot was John Toker. At the Dissolution the revenues were no more than £241 17s. 9 and 1/2d.; but then Toker had been mindful of ‘ those of his own household,’ and just prior to the surrender had leased the rectorial tithes of Buckland, Walkhampton, Bickleigh, Sheepstor, and Bampton, to his brother Robert, and his nephews William and Hugh Toker. The Abbey passed through various lay hands with unusual rapidity. George Pollard, of London, had a lease granted in 1539 for twenty-one years. In 1542 Sir Richard Grenville had a grant of the reversion. In 1580 the Grenvilles sold the property to John Hele and Christopher Harris, and nine months later it was conveyed to Sir Francis Drake, to whose representatives it still belongs. With the exception of the manor of Buckland, the Abbey lands at Bickleigh, Walkhampton, and elsewhere in the neighbourhood were purchased in 1546 by John Slanning. Buckland was bought by a London haberdasher, named Richard Crymes, in the same year; but in 1660 it also was sold to the Slannings. From the Slannings, through heiresses, the estates passed to the Heywoods ; from them, by purchase, to Sir Masseh Manasseh Lopes; and they are now the property of his grandson, Sir Massey Lopes. What is yet known as Buckland Abbey is really the
Abbey Church, converted by Grenville into a dwelling house. The chief interest of the place lies in its connection with the great sailor into whose hands it subsequently came. There are portraits of Drake and of his captive, Don Pedro de Valdez, Vice-Admiral of the Armada, for whom the Abbey became a prison pending the payment of his ransom; shields of arms of the Drake and allied families; and personal relics of Sir Francis—as his drum, his Bible, sword, and shield I Another noted warrior with whom Buckland is associated is General Elliot, Lord Heathfield, defender of Gibraltar, whose monument is in the church. Buckland parish, now from the Abbey known as Buckland Monachorum, was in ‘Domesday’ the most populous manor between Tavistock and the sea—held by William de Pollei, in .succession to Brismar—and had both a saltwork and a fishery. Brismar had also held, and William had succeeded to, the adjacent manors of Bickleigh and Sampford, now Sampford Spiney. The added name, in this latter case, is said to have been derived from its possession by the family of Spinet or De Spineto; but as the neighbouring parish of Shaugh takes its title from the Saxon sceacga, ‘rough coppice,’ it is quite as probable that the Spiney here may be simply the allied word spinney. Between Sampford and Shaugh lies the parish of Meavy, made up of four Domesday manors of that name, all of which passed from their Saxon holders to Judhel of Totnes. To this fact is probably due the foundation of a Norman church here, whereof some trace yet remains in the present edifice. Either one of the Meavys (the ancient form is Mewi, and the river, whence the name is taken, is called the Mew in the older records), or an unidentified manor of Metwi, is in all probability the modern parish of Sheepstor; but one of them has been identified by Mr. Davidson in half a mansa granted by Cnut in 1031 to a thane named AEtheric. The boundaries can still be traced, even to a cleaca or set of stepping-stones across the river. Sheepstor alone of all the group, apart from Buckland, has any historical connection. It was the ancient home of the Elfords, and one of these, a staunch Royalist, is said to have found refuge from his enemies in a cavity amidst the confused heap or " clatter' of detached rocks that clothes the precipitous side of Sheepstor Hill, and possibly named it Schittis or Schattis Tor—the older form—from its shattered aspect. The cavity is now commonly called the Pixies’ Hole. Elford is said to have employed his time in painting its rocky sides, but of this there is no trace. .
At Bickleigh there still remains the old house of the Slannings, as at Sheepstor, its daughter parish, that of the Elfords, and at Meavy the manor-house of the Strodes and Drakes. South Devon has a large number of ancient mansions, degraded to farms.

Of the Slannings, who were somewhat intimately connected with Plymouth, and who were settled at Shaugh before Bickleigh, the most: distinguished member was Sir Nicholas, one of the " four: wheels of Charles’s wain,’ who was killed at the siege of Bristol, 1643. Two important parishes lie at the junction of the Tavy with the Tamar, one On either side—Beer Ferrers and Tamerton Foliott. Beer is the Birland which before the Conquest belonged to Ordulf, and is entered in * Domesday ’ as held by Reginald de Valletort under the Count of Moreton. It was a very extensive manor, and had seven-salt-works. Henry, the common ancestor of the Ferrerses, whence its distinctive name, held it as early as the reign of Henry II, Sir William de Ferrers had a license for castellating his House here in 1337; but before the end of that century the coheiress of the Ferrerses brought the manor to the Champernownes, and they to the Willoughbys, Lords Broke. In the latter half of the fifteenth century one of this family was Lord High Steward of Plymouth, and engaged in sharp controversy with his neighbours the Edgcumbes at Cotehele, concerning which some amusing records are still extant. Curiously enough the Earl of Mount Edgcumbe is now the owner of this property, by descent from the coheiress of the Earls of Buckinghamshire; they in their turn had it by descent in the female line from Sir John Maynard, who purchased it of the Broke successors. Ley, here, is said to have been the original seat of the Leys, Earls of Marlborough. So far back as the reign of Edward I, and probably much earlier, it had been discovered that Beer contained mineral treasures of no little value ; and there are extant records of 1298 which show that Edward I was then
working silver lead-mines in Byr or Birlond on his own account, and that the process of extracting and refining the silver was well understood. The mines have been worked at intervals ever since; and were in extensive operation when the principal workings were drowned out by the Tamar breaking through its bed. 140 ounces of silver have been extracted per ton of lead; and 6,000 ounces of silver are said to have been produced in six weeks. . It was probably in consequence of mining prosperity that the little town of Beer Alston in Beer Ferrers gradually acquired importance. It had a market granted about 1294, and was made a Parliamentary borough by Elizabeth. It returned two members in right of certain burgage tenures until 1832. Risdon derives the distinctive name Alston from Alencon, to whom he says the manor was given by the Conqueror; but as the latter statement is wrong, the former need not trouble us. Beer Ferrers Church was rebuilt by William de Ferrers, and contains his monument, with other memorials of the family. He also founded here a collegiate chantry. Matthew Tindal, the Deist, was born here in 1657, his father being rector of the parish. For something like a century at least Beer Ferrers has
been noted for its orchards and fruit-gardens, and it sends away enormous quantities of fruit every season by rail. Tamerton Foliott, once a market-town and occasionally called a borough, takes name from the Foliotts, who had their residence at Warleigh. The heiress of the Foliotts brought it to the Gorges, and from them it passed, by female heirs, to Bonvile, Coplestone, and Bampfylde. For some century and a half it has been the seat of the Radcliffes. The Coplestone oak, which stood on the green by the church, was the traditional scene of a murder by one of the Coplestones, the 'fatal oak’ of Mrs. Bray’s Gilbert Foliott, successively Abbot of " Warleigh.’ Gloucester, Bishop of Hereford (1149), and Bishop of London (1161), was a native of Tamerton. One of the most learned men of his day, he was also a steady opponent of A Becket, and was excommunicated by that primate and the Pope accordingly, but relieved by a synod which he called. He held the See of London twenty years.
Maristow in this parish, the seat of Sir Massey Lopes, was the site of the ancient chapel of St. Martin (whence the name) belonging to the canons of Plympton. After the Dissolution it came to the Champernownes, who sold it in 1550 to John Slanning of Shaugh. Thence it descended with the rest of the Slanning estates, and was bought by Sir Masseh Manasseh Lopes in 1798. It seems probable that Maristow was the chapel of St. Martin de Blakestane (the next Domesday manor to Tamerton),
held by the Priory temp. Henry I, and given by Paganel. It is also said to have been the gift of Williamde Pin and his daughter Sibella.

EGGBUCKLAND,or Buckland-Egg, a parish in Plympton-Saint Mary district, Devon; on the Dartmoor railway, adjacent to the Tavistock railway, and near the river Plim, 3 miles North North East of Plymouth. It contains Crabtree hamlet, and part of KnackersKnowle village; and its post town is KnackersKnowle, Devon. ...The church is ancient: consists of nave, south aisle, and chancel, with a tower; and is in fair condition.Eggbuckland is a suburb of the city of Plymouth in the county of Devon, England. Before the Second World War Eggbuckland was a small village a few miles north of Plymouth. During the reconstruction of Plymouth many new suburbs were built and soon a new estate was built within one mile to the south east of Eggbuckland. During the 1970s the areas in between and surrounding the old village were all developed and the whole area is now referred to by the name Eggbuckland. The development of the A38 just south of Eggbuckland in the 1980s led to the area becoming very popular with commuters.Bocheland is of Saxon origin and means "Royal land held by charter". The Domesday Book of 1086 recorded that this manor was held by the King, William of Normandy, but was granted to the Saxon Heche or Ecca, thus the land was known as Heche or Ecca's Bocheland. This was the site of a Saxon church which was replaced by the present church of St Edward in 1470. The village was held by the Royalist Cavaliers during the Civil War against the Parliamentarian Roundheads and was badly damaged. During the 19th century the area was host to new Palmerston Forts built as part of a northern defence line around Plymouth. Much of the structures remain but are privately owned and used for differing purposes. Over time the name has been corrupted and by 1685 was Egg Buckland. By 1902, it was one word -Eggbuckland although the older usage is still seen around the city. In the 1870s, the original village was described thus in John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales:

Widey Court here was the headquarters of Prince Maurice during his siege of Plymouth, and was visited by the king. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Exeter. Value, £474.* Patron, the Lord Chancellor. The church is ancient: consists of nave, south aisle, and chancel, with a tower; and is in fair condition. Several of the forts surrounding Plymouth were built as a result of a decision in Lord Palmerston's premiership to deter the French from attacking naval bases in the south of the country. The Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom reported in 1860 and resulted in a huge building programme. Examples of the forts are:

Agaton FortFort AustinFort BovisandBowden FortBrownhill BatteryCawsand FortCrownhill FortDrake's Island BatteryEgg Buckland KeepErnesettle FortFort EffordForder BatteryHawkins BatteryKnowles BatteryLaira BatteryMount Edgcumbe Garden BatteryPenlee BatteryPicklecombe FortPlymouth Breakwater FortPolhawn BatteryRaleigh BatteryFort ScraesdonStaddon FortStamford FortYou can raise a hornet's nest discussing the spelling of this village name! In 1905 its Vicar wrote " It is more correct and best preserves the history of the name to write it as one word" but both forms still exist and are freely interchanged on maps and street signs and names of buildings. The Domesday Book says "Bocheland. Held by deed by the Saxon Lord Heche." And so it became known orally as "Heche's Bookland" (i.e. land held by deed or charter). The earliest written spelling seems to be Heckebokelonde and that is all we have to say on this controversial subject!Eggbuckland circa 1823For over 300 years, Eggbuckland was under the control of the monks of Plympton Priory. This came to an end when King Henry VIII seized its tithes when the monasteries were broken up in the 16th century. When Widey Court was built in Elizabeth's reign, Eggbuckland village and land known as Knackersknowle were incorporated to form the third largest estate in Plymouth. The hill at Knackersknowle, known as Crownhill and the village of Eggbuckland, eventually came to be grouped as the Parish of Knackersknowle*.In the middle of the 19th century a great system of fortifications was built throughout Plymouth. Five of the forts built in Plymouth were constructed on high ground in the Parish of Knackersknowle: Crownhill Fort (now restored and open to the public), Bowden Battery (now a Garden Centre), Eggbuckland Keep, Austin Fort and Efford Fort. Used as defensive ack-ack batteries in the Second War, this area of Plymouth attracted more than its fair share of bombing, one bomb causing damage to the ancient church in the village.Known as "Palmerston Follies" after the then Prime Minister, heavily-fortified buildings were constructed at many places along England's south coast in the late 1850s and early 1860s as defence against a much-feared potential invasion of the French. In spite of the British victory at Waterloo and the defeat of Emperor Napoleon, there was still considerable tension between the two countries, fanned by popular dislike here of Napoleon III, his successor and by inflammatory articles in the popular press.'O where is he, the simple fool,Who says that wars are over?What bloody portent flashes there,Across the straits of Dover?'

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

Monastic history

Buckland Abbey 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. The abbey of Quarr had close connections with the family, having been founded by Baldwin de Redvers, 1st Earl of Devon.^[3]It has been suggested that Buckland was founded as a monument to her husband,Baldwin de Redvers, 6th Earl of Devon(d. 1245) and her son, also Baldwin(d. 1262).^[3]Amicia started to make arrangements for the foundation in 1273.^[3]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 are 10.1 metres (33 ft) wide. For its late date, the church was unusually simple, being without aisles.^[3]Most of this church survives within the present house - the arches supporting the tower can be seen in the top floor, and one of the transept chapels retains its vault. The monks would have lived in buildings around a cloister to the north of the church. These have disappeared, but the building now called Tower Cottage may have been part of the abbot's house.^[3]

The initial endowment was large - as well as the manors of Buckland, Bickleigh and Walkhampton, and the estate at Cullompton, the Exeter diocese episcopal registers show the abbey managed five granges at Buckland plus the home farm at the abbey. In total, this amounted to over 20,000 acres (8097 hectares). A market and fair at Buckland and Cullompton were granted in 1318. In 1337 King Edward III granted the monks a licence to crenellate, allowing them to fortify the abbey.

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 Another survival is a building now known as the Guest House, but probably originally 14th or 15th century stabling.

It remained an abbey until the Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII. At this time the revenues were placed at £241 17s. 9d. per annum^[5](equivalent to £194,200 in 2023).^[6]This put it among the larger houses that survived the first wave of closures. At the eventual suppression in 1539, Abbot John Toker was given a yearly pension of £60 (equivalent to £48,200 in 2023),^[6]and the remaining twelve monks shared £54 10s. 6d.

TheBritish Libraryholds the Buckland Book (BL Harley MS 2931), a 15th-century "customary" from the abbey that was acquired by the British Museum library in 1753. In 2025 it was reported that the book was found to contain a collection of plainchant that had been copied into it in the early 16th century and that would have been used by Robert Derkeham, the abbey’s choir master and organist.^[7]

Abbots

• Robert
• Galfridus ca. 1304
• Thomas ca. 1311
• William ca. 1333
• Thomas Wappelegh ca. 1356
• John Bryton 1385
• Walter ca. 1392
• Wiliam Rolff ca. 1442–1449
• John Spore 1449–1454
• John Hylle 1454–1463
• Thomas Olyver 1463–????
• John Brandon
• Thomas Whyte ca. 1511 – ca. 1528
• John Toker or Tucker 1528–1539 (afterwards Rector of St Andrew's Church, Buckland Monachorum)

Post monastic history

In 1541 Henry sold Buckland to Sir Richard Grenville the Elder (Sewer of the Chamber to Henry VIII, poet, soldier, last Earl Marshal of Calais) who, working with his son Sir Roger Grenville (Gentleman of the Privy Chamber of Henry VIII, captain of the ill-fated Mary Rose), began to convert the abbey into a residence, renaming it Buckland Greynvile or Grenville. Sir Roger died in 1545 when the Mary Rose heeled over in a sudden squall while the English fleet was engaged with the French fleet in the English Channel off Portsmouth. He left a son aged 3, also named Richard Grenville, who completed the conversion in 1575–76.

After being owned by the family for 40 years, Buckland Greynvile was sold by Sir Richard the younger to two intermediaries in 1581, who unknown to Grenville, were working for Sir Francis Drake, whom he despised. By this point its value had increased to £3400.^[3]

The staircase at Buckland Abbey, a former Cistercian monastery later converted into a country house.

The abbey is unusual in that the church was retained as the principal component of the new house whilst most of the remainder was demolished, which was a reversal of the normal outcome with this type of redevelopment. The main external changes were the demolition of the transepts, to let light into a central hall under the tower, and the addition of a new service wing on the south side.^[3]

Drake lived in the house for 15 years, as did many of his collateral descendants. In 1796–1801 major alterations were made, and further work was done after a fire in 1915.^[3]In the early 20th century the abbey was inhabited by the Dowager Lady Seaton, born Elisabeth Fuller-Elliot-Drake, who died on 9 May 1937.^[9]The next year, another fire devastated the house.^[3]Lady Seaton left a life interest to Captain Richard Owen Tapps Gervis Meyrick.^[10]In 1946 he sold it to Captain Arthur Rodd,^[11]who presented the property to the National Trust in 1947.^[12]

Buckland today

Rembrandt self-portrait in museum

Following a restoration between 1948 and 1951 which cost around £20,000 (equivalent to £520,000 in 2023),^[6]largely funded by the Pilgrim Trust^[13]the property has been open to the public since 1951 and is operated by the National Trust with the assistance of Plymouth City Council— the Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery use the building to house part of their collection. The collection is noted for the presence of "Drake's Drum". A number of independent craft workshops are located in the converted ox sheds. The Cider House garden includes both a wild garden and a kitchen garden. There is also a medieval Great Barn next to the house.^[14]

In March 2013 the portrait of a man wearing a white feathered bonnet was re-attributed to Rembrandt by the Rembrandt expert Ernst van de Wetering. In June 2014, after eight months of work at the Hamilton Kerr Institute, the painting's authenticity was confirmed and its value estimated at £30m.

FRANCIS DRAKE was born in a cottage on Crowndale farm near Tavistock; but in what month of what year is not known. A miniature of him, painted by Hilliard on the back of a playing-card, the Ace of Hearts, now at
Knowsley, puts his birth in the year 1539. The portrait which, in the years of his greatness, hung in his dining-room at Buckland Abbey, gave it to the credit of 1541. Nuno da Silva, the Portuguese pilot, swore before the Tribunal of the Inquisition of Mexico in 1579 that Francis Drake was then a man of thirty eight years, or within two years of that age. The portraits, indeed, are no more reliable than the statement of the pilot, for they only record the age which he was said to have reached at the time when they were painted. The most likely date of his birth can be inferred from the circumstances of his family. The farm Crowndale was held on a lease granted by Sir John Russell to John Drake, the uncle. Edmund' John’s brother and a sailor, made his home in a cottage on the farm in the year 1544. He was entered as a householder upon the subsidy rolls of Tavistock in that year. Up to then he was a man without
a history. But after settling at Crowndale he had twelve children, of whom Francis was the eldest. A man so prolific was likely to have had children before this date if he had been married before it; and Francis Drake was certainly born in wedlock at Crowndale. It is therefore a fair inference that Edmund left the sea in order to marry, settled on his brother's farm, did marry and became the father of Francis in some month of the year 1545. Of the social condition of the family there would be no doubt, if Francis Drake had not himself raised it. Camden, the historian, relates in his Annals that Francis, after he had returned from his voyage round the world, told him that he
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THE LIFE OF FRANCIS DRAKE
In die rigging was caught a wyvern upside down, and a wyvern was the arms of Sir Bernard’s family. Above the globe were the words “Divino Auxilio,” and below, “Sic parvis magna.” As the summer drew on, Drake, thus made a complete gentleman, returned to his wife in Plymouth. In the autumn, he bought from his friends Christopher Harris and John Hale, Buckland Abbey. These two friends had bought it from Sir Richard Grenville for £3,400 at the end of 1580; and possibly on Drake’s account. Buckland Abbey was—for within the last few years it has been burnt out—a large house on the upper ground at the back of the town. Within view of his park gates rose the wild Tor, from which at a later date be was to bring die water to the town, with so much care and skill that to this day Plymouth draws part of its supply from his source and channel. In the autumn of this year he was elected Mayor and took up for the time the life of a provincial magnate. But he was not forgotten in London. On the day before the Queen knighted Francis Drake at Deptford, Mr. Secretary Walsingham drafted two plans for the consideration of Her Majesty's Council. Both aimed at snatching Portugal put of Philip’s hand. The first of them, as it was the more audacious, so it held the greater promise, and the Council accepted it. A fleet of eight ships and six pinnaces was to be mobilized. Drake was to be the General, Captain Richard Bingham the second in command. Martin Frobisher, Gilbert York and Edward Fenton were to have ships; and as many of the practised mariners of the Golden Hind as could be collected were to serve as warrant officers. A thousand men would be carried; the fleet would fly the standard of Don Antonio, and Don Antonio would be on board. It was, in the jargon of today, a super expedition, and it was to sail openly out to the islands of the Azores. Terceira, the largest of the group, refused to acknowledge the accession of Philip to the throne of Portugal, though his claim was stronger than Antonio’s.
It stood firm for the bastard nephew against the husband of die daughter. At Terceira, Don Antonio’s standard was to be raised, and Drake, sitting like a great spider in the shining
DRAKE A WIDOWER
211
left Southampton on May 1st of the year 1582, and carried on to Sierra Leone, meeting the baffling winds of the Equator. Fenton lost the heart to proceed. John Drake, however, refused to turn back. He gave Fenton the slip, sailed the Francis across the Atlantic to the River Plate, and by a mistake ran his frigate on a rock. All on board were taken prisoners, John Drake was carried to Buenos Aires, where he was lodged in the Governor's home and by him pleasantly entertained. But gradually the word spread that he was the coming of that accursed marauder who had ravaged the coast of Peru; and he was thrown into prison. He only emerged from it to enter upon a life of servitude.
Francis Drake had hardly moved into Buckland Abbey when his wife Mary died. She had married him twelve years before, on July 4th, 1569, in the bad days after his return from St. John de Ulua. She had seen him go twice on his secret voyages in his little frigate the Swan; she had welcomed him back with a fortune gained and a name redeemed after his triumphant expedition to Nombre de Dios. She had known him as an Officer of the Government on the patrol of the Irish coast. She had watched his leap into fame as the first Englishman to sail round the world, and into great wealth as the first raider of the Pacific Ocean; and all we know of her is that she married Francis Drake on July 4th, 1569, was rowed out with the Mayor to greet him when he returned to Plymouth on the Golden Hind, and died in January of the year 1583. Of her friends, of her life with her husband or alone in his long absences, of her station, her parents—not a word has come down. Even the cause of her death is—not a mystery, for mystery implies enquiry—unknown. She is a blank with a date at either end. Early in 1582 Queen Elizabeth granted to Drake and his heirs the manor of Sherford, and in the summer of that year he added to his possessions by buying the manor of Yarcombe. He was “mere English,” like the Queen, and during these few years on shore he walked the traditional path of the ambitious Englishman. He had made a colossal fortune whilst still in the middle thirties. He received the honour of a knighthood. He bought land. And now he was brought drake’s second marriage friends.
215
But he had not got far with his organization when the Queen withdrew his Commission. She shut her ears to the clang of the tools in the Spanish shipyards. Old grievances were to be forgotten. Philip and she were going to be real
She prorogued Parliament on April 7th and left Drake free to take yet a further step in the traditional progress. He married again, and this time into an aristocratic landed family. Elizabeth Sydenham was the beautiful young
daughter of Sir George Sydenham. ; She belonged to the Sydenhams of Coombe Sydenham in Somersetshire, but the romance, the daring and the wealth of the great sailor annulled for her the difference in their ages. It is said that Elizabeth Sydenham had been one of the Queen’s Maids of Honour when Drake brought his treasure-laden horses to Sion House and the Golden Hind to Deptford; and that thus they met. It was rumoured that the Sydenhams of Coombe Sydenham were opposed to the match on the ground that millionaire and knight he might be, but he was not of an origin which permitted him to mate with a Sydenham of Coombe Sydenham in Somersetshire. Amongst all these rumours one thing only is certain. The Sydenhams of Coombe Sydenham knew about, marriage settlements, and on the marriage day Drake handed over to trustees his manors of Yarcombe and Sherford, Samford Spinney and Buckland Abbey, to hold for the use of “die aforesaid Francis Drake and the Lady Elizabeth his wife, and the heirs and assigns of the aforesaid Francis for ever.”Thus it looked as if Francis Drake, like so many good sailors
after him, was going to settle down to the life of a country gentleman with a lodging in London for the session of Parliament. But on June 8th of the year 1585 a ship named the Primrose sailed up the river to the Port of London; and the sea claimed her own again.

Buckland in the Moor is a village andcivil parishin theTeignbridgedistrict ofDevon, England.^[1][2]According to the 2001 census it had a population of 94. The village is inDartmoor.

The church, showing the famous clock.

According toElias Tozer(1825–1873) a ritual until recently had been observed in the village of Buckland-in-the-Moor on Midsummer Day in which the youth of the village would sacrifice a sheep on the block of granite and sprinkle themselves with the blood. He could not find what the significance of the ritual was, but says it was thought to have pre-Christian Celtic origins.^[3]

Detail of the clock face.

The church is made of stone quarried on the moor. The face of the clock spells out "My Dear Mother". The baptismal font is Norman, and decorated with leaves and stars. Nearby is a viewpoint called Buckland Beacon, where the Ten Commandment Stones can be found (1282 ft).

In 1927 the Lord of Buckland Manor, Mr Whitley, learnt that parliament had rejected a proposed revision of theBook of Common PrayerusingJesus' Two Commandments instead of Moses' Ten, at Holy Communion.

He celebrated by engaging Mr W A Clements, a stonemason from Exeter, to engrave granite stones in situ on Buckland Beacon with the Ten Commandments. He started work on 15 December 1927 and completed the job on 14 June 1928. Whilst engraving the stones he lived in a cow shed on the site and was supplied each week with a loaf of bread by Mr Whitley.

In later years Mr Clements said, "Day after day I was on my knees chipping away and I wondered if the originator of the Commandments suffered from an aching back and sore knees as I did". A glance at the stones reveals eleven commandments, the eleventh inscribed, "A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another. John 13 v34."

Detail of one of the "commandment" stones

References

1. Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 191Okehampton & North Dartmoor (Crediton & Bovey Tracey)(Map). Ordnance Survey. 2013.ISBN9780319231821.
2. "Ordnance Survey: 1:50,000 Scale Gazetteer"(csv (download)).www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk. Ordnance Survey. 1 January 2016. Retrieved30 January2016.
3. Page, John Lloyd Warden (1892),An Exploration of Dartmoor and Its Antiquities: With Some Accounts of Its Borders, Seeley and Company, Limited, p. 34, retrieved28 August2016

Definition of medieval

The adjective medieval literally means “of the Middle Ages,” i.e., the period between antiquity (the Roman world) and the early modern era 

Common chronological range

Historians most often treat the Middle Ages as roughly the 5th century to the 15th century: from the collapse of the Western Roman Empire (commonly dated 476) up to the Renaissance and early modern transitions around 1400–1500 

Standard subperiods and their usual dates

• Early Middle Ages: about 500–1000.
• High Middle Ages: about 1000–1300.
• Late Middle Ages: about 1300–1500.
  These are conventional labels; exact boundaries vary by region and by the historian’s focus 

What authors usually mean when they write “medieval”

• Broad cultural sense: the social, political, religious, and material world shaped by feudal institutions, Christendom, and post‑Roman societies in Europe between Late Antiquity and the Renaissance 
• In specialised works an author may narrow the term (for example, “medieval urban law” might mean 1100–1400), so check the author’s period definition in introductions or captions 

Origin and first use of the word

The English term derives from Latin medium aevum “middle age.” The modern English adjective (often spelled mediaeval earlier) was coined in the 19th century from that Latin phrase; recorded modern forms date from the early 1800s (commonly cited 1825 for the form medieval/mediaeval) 

Quick guidance for reading historical scripts

When you encounter “medieval” in a text, assume 5th–15th centuries unless the author states otherwise; for precise work always look for the author’s explicit chronological scope because usages and boundary years differ by topic and region 

Bronze Age time boundaries overview

The Bronze Age is a cultural-technical phase defined by the pervasive use of bronze (an alloy of copper with tin or arsenic), alongside associated changes in technology, trade, burial practice, and social organisation. Its absolute dates vary widely by region because metallurgy and associated cultural changes spread at different times. Below are commonly used regional ranges and practical guidance for tagging or labelling gazetteer entries.

Common regional date ranges

• Near East and Anatolia
  Early Bronze Age: c. 3300–2100 BCE; Middle Bronze Age: c. 2100–1600 BCE; Late Bronze Age: c. 1600–1200 BCE.
• Aegean (Greece and Cyclades)
  Early Bronze Age: c. 3000–2000 BCE; Middle Bronze Age: c. 2000–1600 BCE; Late Bronze Age: c. 1600–1100 BCE.
• Central and Western Europe
  Broad Bronze Age: c. 2300–800 BCE; subdivided (Early/Middle/Late) roughly as Early c. 2300–1500 BCE, Middle c. 1500–1200 BCE, Late c. 1200–800 BCE.
• British Isles (including Devon and Cornwall)
  Broad Bronze Age: c. 2500–800 BCE; Early Bronze Age often starts c. 2500–2000 BCE (after Late Neolithic/Beaker horizons), Late Bronze Age ends c. 800 BCE.
• South Asia (Indian subcontinent)
  Indus-related Bronze Age/Harappan: c. 3300–1300 BCE (mature Harappan c. 2600–1900 BCE); local Bronze-using traditions continue and overlap with early Iron use.
• East Asia
  Bronze Age in China: roughly c. 2000–771 BCE (Xia-Shang-Zhou sequences; Shang c. 1600–1046 BCE is strongly bronze-rich).
• The Americas and parts of Sub-Saharan Africa
  No true widespread Bronze Age phase comparable to Old World sequences; metallurgy often appears much later and in different forms.

Practical guidance for mapping and gazetteer work

• Use region-specific ranges rather than a single global boundary.
• For ambiguous or single-site reports, prefer relative labels: Early Bronze Age, Middle Bronze Age, Late Bronze Age, or Bronze Age (broad)with a numeric range (e.g., Bronze Age c. 2500–800 BCE).
• Where chronology is uncertain, record both: cultural label(Bronze Age) and confidence/precision(e.g., high if radiocarbon dated; low if typological only).
• Include key local markers in metadata: metallurgy present; Beaker/urnfield/bronze-ritual features; radiocarbon dates range; typology links.
• Allow fields for overlapping phases (e.g., “Late Neolithic / Early Bronze Age transitional”) and for caveats like reuse or later disturbance.

Why ranges differ and how to communicate that

• Start and end dates depend on: first local alloy production; availability of tin or copper sources and trade; cultural adoption of bronze technologies; and the arrival of ironworking.
• Use wording that communicates variability: “Bronze Age (regional: c. 2500–800 BCE)”or “Bronze Age — British Isles convention: c. 2500–800 BCE”.
• When precision matters, attach dating evidence: radiocarbon ranges, stratigraphic context, or diagnostic artefact types.

Short recommended labels for database fields

• Period label: Bronze Age
• Region qualifier: e.g., British Isles
• Numeric range: e.g., c. 2500–800 BCE
• Subdivision: Early / Middle / Late (if known)
• Dating confidence: High / Medium / Low
• Dating evidence: Radiocarbon; typology; stratigraphy; historical reference

The suffix ‘ton’ constitutes a sort of test word,” says Mr. Isaac Taylor, “ by which we are able to discriminate the Anglo-Saxon settlements.”1 “A tun or ‘ton ’ was a place
surrounded by a hedge, or rudely fortified by a palisade”

The passage you quoted is part of the author’s argument that Plympton’s name is unmistakably Anglo‑Saxon, and that the key to recognising this lies in the suffix ‑ton. The PDF you have open confirms this discussion in its treatment of early Plympton history .

🏰 What ‑tonActually Signifies

The core point is that ‑ton(Old English tūn) originally meant:

• An enclosed place— literally a fenced or hedged area

• A defended homestead or settlement— often with a palisade

• A farmstead that could grow into a village or manor

So when you see a place‑name ending in ‑ton, you are almost always looking at:

• A Saxon foundation, or

• A Saxon renamingof an older site they took over.

This is why Isaac Taylor calls it a “test word”: it reliably marks Anglo‑Saxon occupation or administrative control.