The River Plim is a river in Devon, England. It runs from Dartmoor in the centre of the county southwest to meet the River Meavy, then south towards Plymouth Sound. The river is popular with canoeists, and the Plim Valley Railway runs alongside a section of the river.

Course

The river's source is around 450 metres (1,480 ft) above sea level on Dartmoor, in an upland marshy area called Plim Head. From the upper reaches, which contain antiquities and mining remains, the river flows roughly southwest past clay workings at Shaugh before the Dewerstone, where it meets the River Meavy. The course then changes to run southwards, between Plymouth and Plympton passing through the National Trust property of Plymbridge Woods and under the ancient Plim Bridge. Its upper tidal estuary is known as the Laira and the lower part is called Cattewater, which is navigable and leads towards Plymouth Sound .It is approximately 20 miles (32 kilometres) long. In all probability Plympton takes name from its ancient position at the head of the estuary of what is now known as the Plim, or, as these estuarine creeks are commonly called in the locality, lake—pen lin in the Western Keltic tongue, contracted, as in other instances in Cornwall, into plin, the form which the first syllable takes in its earliest occurrence in " Domesday ’—Plintona. Plymouth, at the lower end of the estuary, did not assume that appellation until the original meaning of the word had long been lost ; and the consequence appears to have been a curious transference of names. The modern Plim is made up of two rivers, the Mew or Meavy, and what in later days has been called the Cad, but through the Middle Ages was known as the Plim. The old form of Meavy is Mewi, and this in the Kornu-Keltic would mean " greater water.’ There is no reasonable doubt that Laira—formerly Lary —the name now applied to the estuary, which means the " lesser water ’—is the original name of the second tributary, and that the estuary and the river—the Plim and the Lary—have somehow exchanged titles. There is a bridge over the Plim called Cadover, a corruption of coed weorthig—the " farm-place in the wood,’ and the second change of name from Plim to Cad arose from the " over ’ being held to imply that the bridge crossed the Cad. The Plim is now commonly understood of the rivers between their junction and the estuary. Failing such an explanation, many are the hypotheses that have, been advanced to account for the fact that the " ton " of the Plim is not, and never was, upon the river now known by that name, and is, indeed, nearly two miles distant, though quite as great a distance from the estuary. It is, however, well within historic times that the tide flowed up to the walls of the castle, and that Plympton stood literally, as well as nominally, at the ‘ head of the lake.’ Moreover, throughout the Middle Ages the chief traffic between Plymouth and the great Priory of Plympton was by boat. This was the route adopted by the Black Prince at his visits to the West, when the Priory afforded him entertainment. A record of acts done by him as Duke of Cornwall at Plymouth and Plympton, in 1362, is still in the possession of the Earl of Mount Edgcumbe; and the house seems to have become somewhat impoverished by the many claims on its hospitality caused by its contiguity to the port of Plymouth. At the compilation of * Domesday ’ Plintona was the chief centre of population for many miles. There is, therefore, much show of reason for the appearance here also of the ubiquitous couplet: ‘ Plympton was a borough town When Plymouth was a furzy down.’

CHAPTER XXV.
PLYMPTON.
Plympton has all the marks of a very ancient settlement. When it was founded the waters of what is now known as the Laira stretched up the valley to its site, and immediately above the farthest tidal reach were reared the earthworks which now bear the ruins of the fortress of the Redverses, but which were certainly held by the Kelt, possibly adopted by the Roman, and in turn extended and strengthened by the Saxon, ere the Norman made it the centre of his power in the wide district around.
Traces of this history may yet be read in the castle and its surroundings.
In all probability Plympton takes name from its ancient position at the head of the estuary of what is now known as the Plym, or, as these estuarine creeks are commonly called in the locality, lake—pen lin in the Western Keltic tongue, contracted, as in other instances in Cornwall, into plin, the form which the first syllable takes in its earliest occurrence in " Domesday ’—Plintona. Plymouth, at the lower end of the estuary, did not assume that appellation until the original meaning of the word had long been lost ; and the consequence appears to have been a curious transference of names. The modern Plym is made up of two rivers, the Mew or Meavy, and what in later days has been called the Cad, but through the Middle Ages was
known as the Plym. The old form of Meavy is Mewi, and this in the Kornu-Keltic would mean " greater water.’
There is no reasonable doubt that Laira—formerly Lary —the name now applied to the estuary, which means the " lesser water ’—is the original name of the second tributary, and that the estuary and the river—the Plym and the Lary—have somehow exchanged titles. There is a bridge over the Plym called Cadover, a corruption of coed weorthig—the " farm-place in the wood,’ and the second change of name from Plym to Cad arose from the " over ’ being held to imply that the bridge crossed the Cad. The Plym is now commonly understood of the rivers between their junction and the estuary. Failing such an explanation, many are the hypotheses that have, been advanced to account for the fact that the
" ton " of the Plym is not, and never was, upon the river
now known by that name, and is, indeed, nearly two miles
distant, though quite as great a distance from the estuary.
It is, however, well within historic times that the tide
flowed up to the walls of the castle, and that Plympton
stood literally, as well as nominally, at the ‘ head of the
lake.’ Moreover, throughout the Middle Ages the chief
traffic between Plymouth and the great Priory of Plympton
was by boat. This was the route adopted by the Black
Prince at his visits to the West, when the Priory afforded
him entertainment. A record of acts done by him as
Duke of Cornwall at Plymouth and Plympton, in 1362, is
still in the possession of the Earl of Mount Edgcumbe;
and the house seems to have become somewhat im
poverished by the many claims on its hospitality caused
by its contiguity to the port of Plymouth.
At the compilation of * Domesday ’ Plintona was the
chief centre of population for many miles. There is,
therefore, much show of reason for the appearance here
also of the ubiquitous couplet:
‘ Plympton was a borough town
When Plymouth was a furzy down.’
232
History of Devonshire.
William held it in succession to the Confessor, and had
an enumerated population of twenty-three within his
demesne; while there were twelve villeins in the portion
held by the canons. Though all was included in one
entry, the germs of the division thus already existed
which in later years made the territory of the Priory the
parish of Plympton St. Mary, and the lands of the secular
lord the Borough of Plympton Erle (from its owners), or
Plympton St. Maurice, from the early patron saint of its
church, in later years assigned to St. Thomas of Canterbury.
The remains of Plympton Castle consist of a mound
surmounted by the ruins of a shell keep, which rises at
the eastern end of a rectangular enclosure or base court.
The earthworks are in excellent preservation, and there
are traces of exterior defences. The Norman masonry is
simple, and with no special features of interest save the
occurrence of the cavities in the walls, which show the
original places of the beams inserted to strengthen and
support the stonework upon the doubtful foundation of
the mound. It is probable that the Norman castle was,
in great part, if not wholly, built by Richard de Redvers,
Earl of Devon, to whom Henry I. granted the honour
and castle. It was practically demolished in the ensuing
reign under his son, Baldwin, who had espoused the
cause of Matilda against Stephen, but whose garrison at
Plympton surrendered without striking a blow. This was
the only occasion on which Plympton Castle has figured
in history, and from that day to this as a fortalice it has
been a mere ruin ; though Plympton was a station of the
Cavaliers at the siege of Plymouth. The honour of
Plympton—of which were held 120 knights* fees—followed
the fortunes of the great house to which it belonged.
It passed from the Redverses to the Courtenays, and
continued in the latter, with the exception of the
intervals when that powerful family lay under royal dis
Plympton.
233
pleasure, until the death of Lord Edward Courtenay, in
1566. The property was then scattered among various
families, but was subsequently to a large extent brought
together again by purchase by the Earls of Morley; and
in them the lordship of the castle and manor is now
vested.
The Parkers, originally of North Molton, acquired by
their marriage with the heiress of Mayhew, temp. Eliza
beth, the manor of Boringdon, and thenceforward made
it their chief residence, until in 1712 they purchased
Saltram, once the seat and residence of Sir James Bagge,
the creature of Buckingham, and the ‘ bottomless bagge ’
of the patriot Eliot. The Parkers were raised to the
peerage in 1774, as Barons Boringdon; and in 1815 ad
vanced to be Viscounts Boringdon and Earls of Morley.
Saltram House was rebuilt by them early in the last
century, and was long reported the largest mansion in
the county.
Plympton Priory was one of the most ancient and
notable religious houses in Devon. The canons who held
two hides of the Plintona manor under William, were the
successors of men who had been seated there in all
probability for a longer period than any other religious in
Devon outside Exeter. There is yet extant a copy of a
Saxon document of reasonable authenticity, dated 904,
which records a grant by Eadweard the Elder to Asser,
Bishop of Sherborne, and the convent there, of twelve
manors, by way of exchange for the monastery which in
the Saxon tongue is called ‘ Plymentun.’ The college
consisted of a dean and four canons; and when they
refused to give up their wives, or, as Leland said, * wold
not leve their concubines,’ it was suppressed by Bishop
Warelwast, nephew of the Conqueror, in 1121. In its
stead he founded what afterwards became the great
Augustinian Priory of St. Peter and St. Paul, which was
so enriched with liberal gifts by the Redverses and
234
History of Devonshire,
Valletorts and other benefactors, that at the Dissolution
it was the wealthiest house in the West, with revenues
valued at £912 12s. 8d. The magnificent Priory Church,
where Warelwast and some of the Courtenays were
buried, adjoined the parish church of St. Mary; and a
few traces yet remain. Of the domestic buildings all
that is left is the refectory, converted into a dwelling
which has a Norman crypt.
The priors, as already stated, Were lords of a portion of
Plymouth in its infancy, and their part of the ancient
manor of Sutton was then called Sutton Prior. Before
that town could be incorporated, their consent had to be
obtained; and the terms were finally settled at an in
quisition held in the nave of the Priory Church in 1441, a
fee farm rent of £41 being then deemed an adequate
compensation. The Priory had two appendant cells—one,
Marisco, near Exeter; and the other at St. Anthony in
Roseland, Cornwall. The site has been in the Champer-
nownes, Strodes, and Fowneses.,
Plympton Erle was chartered by its . feudal lords,
Baldwin de Redvers made it a borough town, and granted
the burgesses its market and fairs in March, 1241. These
were confirmed in 1284. Municipal functions were re
tained until 1859, when, in consequence of the charter
conferring no exclusive jurisdiction as against the county,
it was allowed to lapse. As a Parliamentary borough
Plympton dated from 23rd Edward L, and it was con
tinuously represented until the fatal 1832. Few towns in
Devon have had more distinguished representatives.
Serjeant Hele sat for the borough under Elizabeth,
Many of the Strode family, whose ancestral seat of
Newnham is close by, were returned at various times;
and among them that William Strode who was one of
the famous ' five members.’ Strange that a town of such
marked Puritan proclivities should also have chosen such
a staunch Royalist as Sir Nicholas Slanning, Sir George
Plympton.
235
Treby, the judge, and Sir John Maynard, were other
notable members; and, most notable of all, in 1685, Sir
Christopher Wren became a ‘ burgess ’ of Plympton. In
later days, the most prominent representative was Lord
Castlereagh. . When he sat, however, Plympton had
long been a purely nomination borough ; one half of the
representation belonging to the Trebys, and the other
half to the Edgcumbes.
Quaint as many of the surroundings of Plympton Erle
still are, chief interest centres in the comparatively
modern and modernized Grammar School. Founded,
from the bequest of the great educational benefactor of
Devon, Elize, or Elizeus, Hele, and erected in 1644, here
was born, July 16, 1723, while his father, the Rev. Samuel
Reynolds, was head-master, the greatest English portrait
painter, Sir Joshua Reynolds, P.R.A. The old dwelling
has given place to a modern edifice ; but the school and
its quaint cloister still remain—the school in which not
only Reynolds, but Northcote was educated, which was
the first school, moreover, of another President of the
Royal Academy,. Sir C. L. Eastlake, and of which
Benjamin Robert Haydon was " head-boy ’ in 1801. No
school in England holds such a relation to Art, therefore,
as the ancient Grammar School of Plympton. Sir Joshua
never forgot his native town, and to the last kept up
kindly relations. Nor was he by any means without
honour in his own country. His townsmen were proud
of him, and did him what respect lay in their power,
electing him in 1773 their mayor! On this occasion he
gave the town his portrait, painted by himself; and it
hung in the Guildhall until 1832, when the thrifty Cor
poration, to their lasting disgrace, sold it to the Earl of
Egremont for £150.
Of the families connected with Plympton and its neigh
bourhood, the Parkers have already been noted. The
Strodes of Newnham, lately extinct in the male line,
236
History of Devonshire.
were seated at Strode, in Ermington, as early as the
reign of Henry III. Newnham was acquired by
marriage with a coheiress of the Newnhams, temp.
Henry IV. Richard and William Strode, the two most
notable members of the family, have been already
mentioned. Dr. William Strode, poet and divine, died in
1644.
The Woollcombes, who have been seated at Hemerdon
for several generations, in the reign of Elizabeth lived on
the adjoining estate of Challonsleigh. Chaddlewood was
long in the extinct family of Snelling (now in Soltau
Symons), and Beechwood is the seat of Lord Seaton. •
The adjacent parish of Brixton is associated with such
old family names as Brixton, Calmady, Coplestone,
Fortescue, Maynard, Drake, Pollexfen, and Hele; but its
chief claim to notice here is as the residence of that
most worthy member of the wide-spreading family of
Hele—Elize Hele, of Wollaton, who bequeathed in 1635
the manor of Brixton Reigny and all his estates to
charitable uses, and thus became the great school
founder of his native county.'
It is a question whether the Heles really sprung from
Hele near Bradninch, or Hele in Cornwood, where they
can certainly be traced to the reign of Richard II.; but
the latter is probably a younger branch. Cornwood,
noted in ‘ Domesday ’ as possessing three wild horses—
ancestors, no doubt, of the native breed of Dartmoor
ponies-—is connected with several distinguished families.
Chief among these was that of Ralegh, which obtained
Fardell by marriage with the heiress of Newton. At this
ancient mansion, now a farm-house, Wymond Ralegh,
grandfather of Sir Walter Ralegh, lived; and here no
doubt Walter, the father, was born. There is a baseless
tradition that it was also the birthplace of the great Sir
Walter himself. That, however, was at East Hayes.
Plympton.
237
Slade, with its fine hall, once the seat of the family of
that name, has long been the residence of the Spurrells,
and their descendants, the Podes. Blachford is the seat
of Lord Blachford, whose ancestors were sometime lead
ing merchants in Plymouth, and for many years filled
chief places in the Corporation. Their original settlement
in Cornwood was Wisdome, of which place John Rogers
was created baronet in 1698. The present is the first
Lord Blachford, and was the eighth baronet.
Plymstock Manor was part of the possessions of the
Abbey of Tavistock under the Confessor, though not
a portion of the original endowment, and a tradition
attaches to its connection with that house which falls into
place more appropriately in the section on Dartmoor. In
Plymstock parish are the great limestone quarries of
Oreston, out of which the material for the Plymouth
breakwater was hewn, and in which were found the
first bone-caves that formed the subject of scientific
investigation and marked a new departure in geological
discovery. There was much fighting here from time to
time in connection with the siege of Plymouth, and traces
of earthworks are yet visible. Here, too, was the site of
the ancient Keltic settlement at Staddon referred to under
Plymouth. Staddiscombe was the birthplace (1717) of
the learned Nathaniel Foster, translator of Plato. It is
also the reputed birthplace of Walter Britte, an able and
active disciple of Wiclif.
Wembury has already been mentioned as the probable
site of the battle of Wicganbeorge. Its name has been
interpreted to mean the " Viking’s bury ’ or fort; while
a kindred origin has been sought for the name of the
adjoining parish of Revelstoke, the ‘ revel ’ representing
reafere, a ‘rover, robber,’ and reafful=rapacious. More
over the situation of the respective churches close to the
water’s edge seems to have in it something of a com
memorative character. Wembury Church is dedicated
238
History of Devonshire,
to St. Werburga, and thus falls into place as one of the
proofs of Mercian influence in Devon, advanced by Mr.
T. Kerslake. Wembury, which belonged to Plympton
Priory, does not appear in ‘ Domesday,’ though some of
its manors do. The manor of Wembury was acquired in
1592 by Sir John Hele, the well-known serjeant-at-law,
who erected what was regarded as the most magnificent
mansion in the county. It was held for awhile by the
Pollexfens; and early in the present century the house
was pulled down by the then owner, Mr. Lockyer.
Langdon was for several generations till recently the
seat of the Calmadys.
Radford, in Plymstock, has been a seat of the Harris
family for nearly 500 years. Here Ralegh is said to have
been kept in ward on his return in 1618, and here at times
Drake stored much of his treasure.
The last parish to be noted in connection with this
group is Yealmpton. Risdon records a tradition that
AEoelwold had a palace here, and that here also his
‘lieutenant,’ Lipsius, was interred ; and with Risdon the
statement begins and ends. Under the name of Yealmpton
the manor does not appear in " Domesday ’;. but it can
hardly be other than the Elintone entered among the
royal manors next to Plintona, ranking next to it also in
importance, and having one hide held by the clergy of
the ville—described in the Exon book as of St. Mary of
,
Alentona—in alms. The use of E or A for Y in " Domesday"
is usual; and there are many reasons which combine to
make this identification all but certain.
In the churchyard at Yealmpton stands one of the
ancient inscribed stones already noted under Tavistock,
bearing one word only, but that variously read. The
common rendering is torevs, and that is the reading
current in the neighbourhood, where it is looked upon
with some little interest, and traditionally regarded as
commemorating some ancient chieftain or king. The
Plympton.
239
other reading is gorevs, but the point can hardly be
regarded as definitely settled, and it may not be amiss to
note that the ancient village of Tor is within a mile, and
that the name, as it stands, is closely allied to that of the
little river Torry at Plympton some five miles north,
which, moreover, appears in " Domesday ’ as Torix.
Kitley is now the chief seat of the ancient family of
Bastard, which claim descent from the Robert Bastard
who appears in ‘ Domesday’ as the holder of nine manors. ;
They obtained Kitley by marriage with the heiress of the
Pollexfens, Edmund Pollexfen, the last male of the family,
dying in 1710. Since then they have acquired several
adjoining estates, including Bowdon, once the seat of a
family of that name, Coffleet, and Lyneham.
Lyneham, for nearly four centuries, was the seat of the
great Devonshire family of Crocker, referred to in the
already-quoted rhyme, who are now represented by the
Bulteels. In Yealmpton Church is one of the finest
brasses in the county, to Sir John Crocker of Lyneham,
Cupbearer to Edward IV.
Windsor here was the seat of Richard Fortescue, from
whom, according to Sir W. Pole, are descended the
Fortescues of the east of England. Pitton was the
residence of the North Devon Woollcombes before their
removal to Ashbury.

In 1904 Plympton had a recorded documentary history of a thousand years.

There is, in the possession of the Dean and Chapter of Wells, a copy of a deed dated 904, by which the king, Eadweard, grants to Asser, the Bishop of Sherborne, certain lands in the county of Somerset, in places we now know as Wellington, West Buckland, and Bishop’s Lydeard, receiving in exchange the Monastery of Plymentun:— No explanation can be given as to the reasons for this exchange. Probably it was connected with the royal grants.

THE HISTORY OF PLYMPTON somewhat earlier to Asser of Exeter and its district.  But the deed establishes the historic fact that there was a settled community in the neighbourhood of Plympton at all events as early as the ninth century.
The religious house of Plympton held much land in the locality before Domesday, and later its possessions extended into the adjoining districts. When Plympton was spoken of in former days, either the borough or the priory and the populous neighbourhood around was meant. Now when Plympton is referred to, the town of Plympton—Plympton Erle, the parish of St. Maurice—is generally meant. The adjoining parish takes its name from the Church of St. Mary, but this designation is modern, dating from the sixteenth century. There is no such place as Plympton St. Mary; parts of Ridgeway, the villages of Underwood, Colebrook, and the smaller hamlets and scattered houses, farms, and agricultural land, making up an area for ecclesiastical and civil purposes known as this parish. In this Plympton area were and are certain separate manors, besides the manor of Plympton proper, which extended far beyond the limits of the present two parishes. But Plympton’s history goes further back than its earliest written record shows. There can be but little question that the place known as the Castle Ring, or Boringdon Camp, is
Celtic, and of much earlier date than anything now remaining at Plympton. The name Boringdon, Burrington, Burraton, and its variations, is Bury Down, the earthwork fortress on the hill. This fortress stands high—five hundred feet above the sea level—and it commands the valleys below, those of the Plim and the Torry Brook. It is, as pointed out to us by a distinguished engineer officer, in a direct line with the mound of Plympton Castle, and it is impossible to resist the conclusion that there was a connexion between the two, and that they dominated the surrounding country. But at Plympton proper there is now nothing so old as Boringdon Camp.

Here, whatever may have preceded them, the earthworks are post-Roman. A high hill on the south, gently sloping ground on the north, the valley nearly at its termination on the east, and on the west the open flat land, formerly, as we shall see, much more marshy than at present, was the position chosen as a dwelling-place and stronghold by our ancestors in days long past. It is impossible to say with any certainty what time has elapsed since the valley in which the town of Plympton is situated was first inhabited by the human race, but there can be no question that man has long had his home here, and that from remote ages it has been the scene of busy life, sometimes interrupted by tumult and bloodshed. Except in one particular the main features of the locality have changed but little, but that particular is an important one. While now the estuary is two miles from Plympton, in early times the tidal waters flowed nearly up to it, and at high tides, even in medieval times, it would seem that they washed the walls of the castle.

Tracing the course of the estuary of the Laira from Catwater, we shall find that the sea, now restricted in its flow by natural changes, and confined within narrower limits by art, ran up the valley to near the place now forming the western side of the graveyard belonging to the Church of Saint Mary. Thence it branched off, tending north-east and south-east, the former stream flowing over the flat, now the site of the railway station, and so on up the Newnham or Torry valley, the latter running up the Plympton valley, its waters mingling with the stream, now a small one—Ballam’s, that is Baldwin’s Brook, the mill stream—which still comes down at the back of the houses on the south side of the main street of the town, and so on, on the north of the village of Underwood to the Priory Mills. It is evident that the tidal waters do not reach so far as they did. In old leases of houses on the north side of Underwood, the gardens of which slope down to the now much reduced stream, were, it is said , grants of rights of fishing in the water which flowed up the valley to Plympton. An old woman of Plympton, who died about the year 1834 at the age of ninety-four, used to say that her mother had told her that she recollected vessels coming to the quay opposite the Church of Saint Mary, where there was a boat house. Other old persons still alive remember boats coming very far up what are now the marshes, west of the road leading from Plympton St. Mary bridge to Underwood. This receding of the water is quite independent of the restraint of the flow of the sea by embanking operations. Even now some times with very heavy rain, or a rapid thaw after snow, and a flowing tide, the lower parts of Plympton are inundated by the overflow of the stream. That there is very much less land in these valleys covered with water than in former days is certain.

In digging a well at Woodbine Villas, in the year 1875, at the western end of Plympton, at about seven feet from the surface the workmen passed through a layer of stone, evidently deads brought from the quarry close by, and then reached black mud with sand and sea shells intermixed. They also found three posts of rended oak with sharpened ends placed in triangular shape, two and one, apparently as they thought for the purpose of mooring boats. Oak piles such as are used for making embankments were also found at the same place in January, 1893, and in breaking up the road for laying water pipes, not long after, at the corner where the roads from Underwood, Dark Street Lane, the Back Lane, and Plympton meet, about four feet from the surface large pebble stones were found which had apparently formed part of a pitched pavement or causeway, portions of which the contractor for the work informed us were intact. There is no documentary or geological evidence in support of the view that the tidal waters flowed beyond the walls of the castle. At the head of the Plympton valley the ancient tribesmen settled, and the position of defence was laid out; and whether it was originally a stronghold of the Briton, or whether it was formed by his successors, his conquerors, or whether the Dane took possession of it and raised his fort here, it cannot be denied that in these early times the site must have been an important one, and that the population here settled must have needed a resort for safety and protection. We do not think, however, that the Dane obtained a footing here. We have strong evidence of his having done so in other parts of the county, more especially north of Tavistock, but there is nothing to justify us in supposing that he succeeded in establishing any permanent settlement in this neighbourhood. If the age of Plympton can be settled by its name, Briton and Roman may be left out of consideration, for Plymentum, Plintona, Plimptona, Plymton, Plympton are Saxon without doubt. “The suffix ‘ton’ constitutes a sort of test word,” says Mr. Isaac Taylor, “ by which we are able to discriminate the Anglo-Saxon settlements.” “A tun or ‘ton ’ was a place surrounded by a hedge, or rudely fortified by a palisade”; and if the fortified enclosure at Plympton, formed by the English colonist on the stronghold wrested from the Kelt, had an earlier name, it is now lost in that given it by the Conqueror, and still preserved to us.

The derivation of the remaining half of the word is not so clear. Superficially it would be said to mean the town on the Plym, the river. But if so, from whence does the river obtain its name ? It cannot be the town upon the river we now know as the Plym, simply because the town is not, and never was upon the river. The water, with the exception of the brook on the south of the town, round about Plympton was tidal, fed to some extent by springs, but for the most part water from the sea. The nearest river is the Torry River, or Torry Brook, which we take to be an older word than Plympton. The River Plym flows now, and flowed much in the same direction as in pre-Norman times, a considerable distance from Plympton. Dyer of Exeter, in one of his amusing books, lays it down positively that the word is a compound one of three syllables; that  p stands for the Keltic pen, a head; teim, or lim, or fym,  the Gaelic for a harbour; and ton, Saxon; thus making the word Penlynton, meaning the enclosed place at the port head I Baxter, an old writer, derives the word Plym from Pilim, which he says signifies vohere, to roll. We are inclined to think that the simplest explanation is the most probable, and that in the word Plym or Plin we have the name of a tribe or family, which, or some branch of which, made the spot whose history we are now considering, its home. We constantly find ton associated with the names of clans, tribes, and families.

In Durham and Shropshire the Maurings, or Myrgings, a Frankish clan, are commemorated in Merrington; the Harlings at Hartington in Bedfordshire; the Scyllings at Shilvington; the Haelsings at Helsington; the Thurings at Torrington in our own county, Thorington in Suffolk, and Thorington in Essex; the Ardings at Ardington in Berkshire; the Irings at Errington in Yorkshire; the Allings at Allington and Alvington; and the Varini and Billings at Warrington, Werrington and Billington. If there is anything in this conjecture, we may assume that the family whose name is thus preserved was a small one, but still widely scattered. We have Plymstock in “ Domesday” as Plemestock, the place surrounded with piles. Another Plympton is now a farm near the coast not far from the Bolt Head; there is Plymtree near Collumpton; and the list, taking in other counties, might be much extended. Many of the places are small, some only farms, and while it is impossible to trace any connexion between them now, there must have been a common origin for the name; and although we are unable at present to indicate any family or tribe with which they may be identified, the nearest approach being the Pealings, a tribe of Frisians, who have left their name at Pallington, the explanation suggested is, we think, worthy of consideration. In dealing with the Domesday entries of the Plympton manors we leave speculation. We take Plintona to be the Manor of Plympton proper. It had belonged to the Crown before the Conquest, and then was part of the King’s holding in demesne. It paid geld for two and a half hides, and besides land for twenty ploughs the canons of Plympton had land for six more ploughs; but while the King’s plough lands were worth ns. 3d. each, those of the canons were worth only 5s. 1od., the former rendering £13. 10s., the latter £1. 15s.

There were six acres of meadow and twenty acres of pasture, with wood a mile and a half long (one league) and three quarters of a mile broad. This wood was probably on the southern slope above the town, trees remaining there now at the eastern and western extremities, intermediate parts of the ancient forest having been cleared for cultivation. At the time of the Survey there were but five head of oxen, and only fifty sheep. On the manor were fifteen villeins, twelve bondmen, and six serfs. The entries of the Exeter and Exchequer books are as follows, which we give as in the original and translated. The Exchequer book entry is as follows:—
The king holds Plintone. In the time of king Edward it paid geld for two hides and a half. There is land for twenty ploughs. In demesne are two ploughs, and six serfs, and fifteen villeins, and twelve borders, with twelve ploughs. There are six acres of meadow and twenty acres of pasture. Wood one league long and half a league broad. It renders thirteen pounds and ten shillings by weight Beside this land the canons hold two hides of the same manor.
There is land for six ploughs. There twelve villeins have four ploughs. It is worth thirty-five shillings. The fuller Exeter entry is:—  The king has a manor called Plintona, which king Edward held on the day in which he was alive and dead, and it rendered geld for two hides and a half. These can be ploughed by twenty ploughs. Of them the king has one hide and two ploughs in demesne; and the villeins have one hide and a half and twelve ploughs. There the king has fifteen villeins, and twelve bordars, and six serfs, and five head of cattle, and fifty sheep, and of wood one league in length and half a league in breadth, and six acres of meadow, and twenty acres of pasture. This [manor] renders thirteen pounds and ten shillings by weight, and when Baldwin received it it rendered twelve pounds and ten shillings by weight, Apart from these two hides and a half, the canons of St Peter of Plintona have two hides. These can be ploughed by six ploughs.
There the canons have twelve villeins, who have four ploughs, and these two hides are worth yearly thirty-five shillings. It may be useful to give also the Elintona entries, as some reference must be made to them later. The Exchequer is:—
The king holds Elintone. In the time of king Edward it paid geld for two hides and a half. There is land for twenty ploughs. In demesne are one plough, and ten serfs, and sixteen villeins, and ninebordars, with twelve ploughs. There are six acres of meadow and ten acres of pasture. Wood three furlongs long and half a furlong broad. It renders twelve pounds and ten shillings by weight. The clergy of the same manor hold one hide. There are in demesne one plough, and two serfs, and three villeins, and four bordars, with one plough. There are two acres of meadow and ten
acres of pasture. It is worth ten shillings. 

9
The king has a manor called Elintona, which king Edward held on the day in which he was alive and dead, and it rendered geld for two hides and a half. These can be ploughed by twenty ploughs. Of them the king has one hide, and one plough in demesne; and the villeins have one hide and a half, and twelve ploughs. There the king has sixteen villeins, and nine bordars, and ten serfs, and of wood three furlongs in length and half in breadth, and six acres of meadow, and ten acres of pasture. This [manor] renders twelve pounds and ten shillings by weight, and it rendered as much when Baldwin received it. And the priests of this manor have one hide of land. And there they have three virgates, and one plough in demesne and the villeins have one virgate and one plough, and three villeins, and bordars, and two serfs, and four head of cattle, and ten swine, and thirty-one sheep, and two acres of meadow, and ten acres of pasture. This
[hide] is worth ten shillings, and this [sum] is granted by the king in alms. The Exchequer Book gives us a further item of Plympton history, showing that Robert Bastard had two villeins who lived on the land of the manor:— Ipse Robertus habet ii uillanos in terra Sancti Petri de Plintone quos tenebat Aluuinus tempore regis Eduuardi. Reddunt v solidos. Robert himself has two villeins on the land of St. Peter of Plintone, whom Alwin held in the time of King Edward. They return five shillings. As time went on and when the troubles of the Conquest were over, William, in his projects for keeping the English under and the Normans in order, introduced the Feudal system in its most perfect, and consequently in its harshest, form. His nobles were dispersed throughout the land, and castles of more or less importance, for offence, as well as for the defence of territory, sprang up in all directions.

THE HISTORY OF PLYMPTON
Plympton evidently was considered worth some attention. The ancient fortification here was repaired and strengthened, and walls of stone—reared upon the earthworks—took the place of the wooden palisades and other structures which the
Englishman had erected. This shows that around Plympton there was a population, and the abandonment of Boringdon Camp as a fortress would lead us to suppose that the former was now considered the important post and the one to be maintained. Plympton was honourably distinguished by its being put into the charge of Baldwin the sheriff, and he was rewarded for his services to William with many dignities, and enormous grants of land. Among them he received the baronies, with the honours and castles, of Plympton and Okehampton. Before the Conquest we find that there were various divisions of the country which may be generally thus described: (i) the township, villata, vicus or tithing’, being the basis of, and now represented by, the town, tithing, or parish; (2) the hundred or wapentake, an aggregation of townships, a division still preserved; and  the shire representing the county.  Between the hundred and the shire, or more probably side by side with the former, existed large franchises or liberties, jurisdiction in which was vested in private hands. Their origin appears to have been a grant by the king of a number of manors and privileges, not necessarily in one place, in which the grantee might exercise all the authority, and possess absolutely, all the rights and advantages which the King him self possessed therein. Many of these liberties were held by the Church, others had been granted to great thegns and gesiths. Such a liberty was probably Plympton. Held by a theign before the Conquest, it of course came into the hands of William, after which it was held by him and his immediate successors as Crown land, and being thus vested in the sovereign it retained its separate existence free from any
exterior jurisdiction, and the revenues were either set apart for the King’s ministers or held by the King himself, the rent being collected by the officers of the Royal Exchequer.
11
Signories of this kind were known by the name of honours. Every honour had a capital seat or head called caput honoris, or baronice  and it was commonly a castle.  In later timeshonours were created by Act of Parliament  and other statutes of this reign. These honours comprised a large quantity of lands with forests, manors, liberties, and franchises scattered through out the realm. Some idea of the extent and value of the Honour of Plympton may be obtained from the extracts we are able to give. The first is from the Carta Antiqua J. J., and although the date is uncertain, from internal evidence it is probably about 1250. It states that:— The Barony of Plympton is holden of the King by the service of two knights fees and a half. The Abbot of Buckland holds the manors of Buckland, Bickleigh, Walkhampton, and Columpton, and they belong to the said Barony by the donation of Amicia, formerly Countess of Devon, and by the confirmation of Isabel de Fortibus. Likewise Gilbert de Knoville holds the manor of Honiton of the said Barony which because of the aforesaid service is not yet apportioned. And there are in the hands of the Earl of Devon belonging to the said Barony, the manor of Plymton, which is the capital manor, the manors of Topsham and Tiverton, in which they have gallows and tumberell and free warren anciently. Plimton and Tiverton come to the sheriffs turn, but Exminster and Topsham do not. The same lord has in his hand the Hundreds of Plimton, Exminster, Wenford, Tiverton, and Kanngge with the appurtenances belonging to the said Barony, but the bedellry of Warford is in the hand of Simon de Monteacute, held of the fee. Likewise by purchase of the said lord he hath in his hand the manor of Midelton Damarle, where there is a certain fine out to rent, which is called wayssilver, and ought to be paid to the bailiff of the fee of Plimton, and to be charged on his account. There are likewise in the county of Devon the following advowsons belonging to the said Barony, viz. Thornvelegh and Tiverton; and the advowson of Tiverton is divided into four portions, of which the Prior of St. James near Exeter enjoys one for his proper use from ancient times. Likewise by purchase of the lord the advowson of Stoke Dammarle, and after the death of Roisin Dammarle the advowson of the church of Woodley. Thepriory of St. James is likewise, in the advowson of the lord, and 12
THE HISTORY OF PLYMPTON
belongs to the lord of St. Martins Campis at Paris. Likewise the Priory of Lodris is of the advowson of the Lord by the gift of Richard Redvers the first, to whom belongs the manor of Axmouth, and the earl of Devon and to have the guardianship of the said
priory during the time of its vacancy. All the tenants of the above fees are obliged to support the walls, etc., of the castle of Plympton, and the lord is to keep up the moat and the tower at his own expense. The church of Exminster is in the gift of the Prior of Plympton. The Dean and Chapter of Exeter have the church of Toppisham for their proper use. There is a market every Saturday and a fair on St. Margaret’s day newly purchased; and there is at Toppisham a sea port called Exmue because the river Exe empties itself into the sea, where ships and boats come, and the lord takes of every ship and every boat which anchors there 2d., which is called kilage, and he has the third penny custom unorum ibidem applicants, that is to say of those who pay custom to the bailiffs of the city of Exeter. Then follows Baldwin’s grant of 26 Henry three and the grant of turbary, etc., by Isabel de Fortibus to the Burgesses of Plympton in her land towards Dartmoor and Ley [Hey, Lee] Wood, and without it. 
The next list is apparently not complete. It was compiled probably in connexion with the succession of Hugh Courtenay, second Earl of Devon, who married Margaret de Bohun, onthe death of his father in 1340.

222

ROUTE 14.
PLYMOUTH TO TAVISTOCK AND
LAUNCESTON. (SOUTH DEVON AND
TAVISTOCK, AND TAVISTOCK AND
LAUNCESTON RAILWAYS.)
This line was opened as far as Tavistock in 1859, and to Launceston in 1865. It is worked by the South Devon Railway Company, from whose main line it branches off at Laira. The distance from Plymouth to Tavistock is 16 miles from Plymouth to Launceston, 35 miles. If the tourist be not a good pedestrian he had better drive from Plymouth to Bickleigh, Shaugh, and the other points of interest mentioned below. the country to be traversed is one to delight all sturdy walkers. Following the line of the South Devon railway. and crossing the Laira, the Tavistock railway turns and reaches the station at Marsh Mills, on the turnpike road between Plymouth and Plympton. Hence it follows the  bank of the Plim river as far as Plymbridge; here it crosses the river, passes through Cann slate-quarry, and proceeds through Bickleigh Vale to Bickleigh Station The church is 1 mile on the right. From Bickleigh Bridge may be visited — Bickleigh Vale; Shaugh Bridge; the village of Shaugh ; the valley of the Plim or Cad, at least as high as Cadaford bridge; the Dewerstone; and the interesting British (or primitive) antiquities at Trowlesworthy. Meavy and Sheepstor may also be reached from this station; but are perhaps more readily accessible from the next station—that at Horrabridge. The seclusion of Bickleigh Vale (it is only open to the public on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays) has been greatly injured by the formation of the railway., but the scenery is still wild and romantic. It may be reached either from the station, at Bickleigh (the second after leaving Plymouth), or by ascending the shore of the Laira to its termination at Longbridge, and thence proceeding by road or rail (by walking along the latter—the Plymouth and Dartmoor Tramway, not the Tavistock railway.—which is allowed) to Plim Bridge (about 3 miles. from Plymouth), where the Vale of Bickleigh commences. The Plymouth and Dartmoor tramway, set on foot by Sir Thomas Tyrwhitt as a horse railway. between the Dartmoor prisons,
Cann Quarry, an excavation in and Crabtree, was begun in 1819; 23 miles were opened in 1823. It winds through some very picturesque scenery, and now conveys granite from the Hessary tor quarries, but is otherwise of little service. Sir Thomas Tyrwhitt had laid the first stone of the prisons in 1806. The route of Plim bridge lies the railway to the Lee moor clay works , and the Plymouth and Tavistock railway. This is a delightful spot, in spite of the new lines of railway.; and the bridge is a mossy old structure, partly hid by foliage, and based among the many coloured pebbles of a rapid stream. Adjoining it are the ruined arch of a wayside chapel, with a niche for the figure of a saint the chapel was connected with the priory of Plympton;—a rustic cottage, mantled with the rose and woodbine ; and a narrow lane which climbs a hill towards Plympton. You should ascend this hill for half a mile to enjoy a very fine birdseye view of Plymouth Sound, the estuary of the Laira, and Mount Edgcumbe. The best point of view is occupied by Boringdon House, now a farmhouse, but anciently the residence of the Parkers, at present seated at Saltram and enjoying the earldom of Morley. Boringdon was built about the middle of the 14th century.; but there are few remains of the old house. The hall, however (of much later date), is still to be seen, and is a noble room, with a chimney-piece, ornamented with figures emblematical of Peace and Plenty, supporting the royal arms (Charles I.), and the date 1640. The views on each side of the lane are of a character to delight the enthusiast for scenery. On one side is the fine view over the Laira and Plymouth Sound; on the other a rude group of hills and highland woods, wild and rough, and perhaps darkened by clouds. From Plim Bridge it may be best to follow the path by the river-side as high as dark-blue slate, finely contrasted by foliage, where the stone is drawn from the quarry and the drainage effected by water-machinery. Just beyond it is the Weir-head, in the shape of a crescent; and at that spot the wanderer will plunge into the shady recesses of the wood, and pursue his way around the elbow of many a mossy rock, where he may obtain glimpses of rare nooks and seclusions, to Bickleigh Bridge, about 3 miles North of Plim Bridge, from which the village of Bickleigh ,with an Inn, the Maristowe Arms is about 1 mile.
A beautiful picture is framed by the ivy-clad arch of the bridge; and another fine prospect will greet the traveller over a gate to the right, where the road turns uphill to wards the village. In Bickleigh the Church Perpendicular, rebuilt by Sir Ralph
Lopes, the patron) contains the tomb, helmet, and gauntlet of Sir Nicholas Slanning, with effigies of himself and his wife. His melancholy death forms the catastrophe of Mrs. Bray’s novel of ‘ Fitz of Fitz-ford.’ He was killed in a duel (1590) by Sir John Fitz, who was pardoned by Queen Elizabeth; but soon afterwards killed another man in a duel, and on his way to London to sue for a second pardon, hearing a noise at night in his hostelry, at Salisbury, he concluded that officers had arrived to arrest him, and killed himself with his own sword. Hence the inscription on the tomb runs :—
“Idem caedis erat nostrae simul auctor et
ultor
Trux homicida mei, mox homicida sui,
Quemque in me primum, mox in se con-
didit ensis,
0 nostrum summi Judicis arbitrium!’
The story is told in a very rare pamphlet, entitled The Blondie Booke, or the Tragicall and Desperate End of Sir John Fits. London, 1605.’ The tomb was elaborately adorned with arabesques and figures in plaster, guard the entrance to the solitary
among which was a skeleton attacking a very stout personage, and a label with the words— “ Stout as thou art, I will pierce thy heart.” But when removed for the “ restoration,” all this fell to pieces. A descendant of this Slanning was one of those Royalist warriors who were called “ the four wheels of Charles’s wain ”— “ Grenville, Godolphin, Trevannion, Slanning slain.” The Slannings became proprietors of Bickleigh after the dissolution. The manor was one of those granted to Buckland Abbey by the Countess Amicia. By the churchyard wall is a per fect Cross, with a modern shaft. The church tower is ancient, and deserves notice.; the thin butresses are probably later additions. A church-path leads across the fields to the entrance of the Valley of the Cad at Shaugh Bridge. This is a singularly wild and romantic spot, where the Mew , now the Meavy and the Plim unite their noisy streams among antique oaks and rocks. It highly deserves the attention of artists. In front rises the wood-covered hill of the Dewerstone, which descends in broken rocks to the bed of the river; the opposite bank of which, rock-strewn, stretches upward to the village of Shaugh. Below the bridge are the remains of Grenofen, the ancient residence of the Slannings. Tradition has much to tell of the state in which this family lived here ; and the mossy barn with its gables, the rough hillside, and glittering river, may well call pencil and sketch book into requisition. Stepping stones crossing the river lead to a path which winds upward to the summit of the Dewerstone. Above the bridge tower the crags which glen; and a steep road, threading a labyrinth of rocks, winds up the neighbouring hill to the village of Shaugh Prior, where granite cottages and granite boulders stand elbowing
each other. Here there is a small Inn, the Thorn Tree, adapted to the wants of an angler or pedes trian, and a venerable weather-beaten church. The churchyard contains among its mournful memorials one grand old tomb, in which, as the story goes, lie
the remains of two sisters, such twins in affection that the decease of the one was the death blow of the other. " They grew together, Two lovely berries moulded on one stem; So, with two seeming bodies, but one heart.” This is emblematically told by sculpture representing the union of 2 hearts. Shaw (sceacga, A rough coppice) was given by Roger de Novant to the Priory of Plympton,hence its distinctive name. 100
yards East of the church, in a hedge fronting the end of the lane, is the remnant of a cross. On all sides the ground is cumbered by rocks, and the adjacent Valley of the Cad presents one of the wildest scenes imaginable. (There is some doubt
as to the antiquity of the name “ Cad,” generally at present appliedto the Plim above Shaugh.  It is literally covered with granite, and the torrent comes roaring down the glen as though frenzied by the obstruction. The traveller may explore it with the
greatest advantage, from a picturesque point of view, by descending the bank of the stream from Cadaford Bridge (near which is seen a vast sweep of the moor, and Brent Tor in the distance). But although this feat may be accomplished, it is not to be undertaken without due consideration. There is not even the ghost of a path; and the brake is thick and tangled. By this rough course, however, we obtain the best view of the whimsical rock which rises from the rt. bank in the shape winding of horns, and “hoofs thick-beating on the hollow hill.” of a pillar, surmonnted by a rude capital, and of the mighty  Dewerstone (now, alas! converted into a quarry,—a result of the extension of the iron way into these wild districts, a cliff of most elegant proportions and beautiful tints, seamed in the manner peculiar to granite, and apparently bound together by bands of ivy. The summit of this rock was often the resort of a poet whose name will be always associated with the hills of his favourite Dartmoor, and “ on one
of the flat blocks on the ground above the Dewerstone—at the front, as it were, of the temple where he so often worshipped—is engraved the name of ‘ Carrington," with the date of his death.” Visitors are recommended, in the introduction to his poem of
‘ Dartmoor,’ to climb to the summit of this cliff; for “ he who has sufficient nerve to gaze from the Dewerstone into the frightful depth beneath, will be amply remunerated for the trouble which may be experienced in ascending. The rocks immediately
beneath the view seem as if they had been struck at once by a thousand thunderbolts, and appear only prevented from bursting asunder by chains of ivy. A few wild flowers are sprinkled about in the crevices of the cliff, tufts of broom wave like golden banners in the passing breeze, and these, with here and there a mountain ash clinging half-way down the precipice, impart a wild animation to the spot. The hill, as has been said, may be climbed by a path through the coppice, which opens opposite Shaugh bridge. Superstition has connected a fantastic legend with the Dewerstone. In a deep snow, it is said, the traces of a cloven hoof and naked human foot were found ascending to the highest summit; and on stormy winter nights the peasant has heard the 'wish-hounds” sweeping through the rocky valley, with cry of dogs, Their unearthly “ master ” has been sometimes visible—a tall swart figure with a hunting-pole. Dewerstone is possibly “Tiwes-stan,” the rock of The the Saxon deity from whom we derive the name of Tuesday. The laborious descent of the valley is by no means necessary for a view of the Dewerstone, but the rocky features of the glen are seen to advantage by such a course. The granite earn of Shaugh Beacon rises close to the church, and the only act incumbent on the traveller is to cross over this eminence to the Valley of the Cad. A short distance below it he may, perchance, pass in view of some blocks of stone so whimsically arranged as to resemble the figure of a huge warrior stretched at length on the hillside. On the moor, about 2 miles from Shaugh, on the road to IvyBridge, those curious in minerals will find the Lee Moor china-clay works, from which a railway. descends to join the South Devon line at Longbridge. The Kaolin or China clay here is of high quality; and from the siliceous refuse, bricks are manufactured on a large scale, and sent to all parts of Europe for use in metallurgical gas works, and other establishments where high temperatures are employed. North of these works is a mutilated granite cross; and between them and Shaugh an entrenchment commonly called the Roman Camp. It is a rectangular enclosure formed by a lofty mound of earth thrown up from the inside, and was therefore more probably a place of meeting or diversion than a camp. There are some other antiquities in the neighbourhood of Shaugh. About I mile East of Cadaford Bridge, on the western slope of Trowlesworthy Tor (which is of red granite) is a very remarkable walled enclosure, differing from any other hithertoobserved on the moor. It is nearly
l

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 document you have open confirms this discussion in its treatment of early Plympton history .

🏰 What ‑ton Actually 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 renaming of 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.

🌄 How This Applies to Plympton

The  text makes the argument clearly:

The earthwork at Plympton may be older (Celtic or post‑Roman). But the name is Saxon: Plymentun → Plintona → Plympton. Therefore, whatever earlier name the site had is lost; the Saxons imposed their own.

The author then expands the point by showing how ‑ton is frequently attached to clan or family names:

Merrington (Maurings)

Hartington (Harlings)

Torrington (Thurings)

Allington (Allings)

Werrington (Varini)

Billington (Billings)

This supports the idea that Plim‑may represent a tribal or family name, not the river.

🌊 Why the River Plim Probably Isn’t the Source

The text stresses that: The town is not on the River Plim, and never was. The tidal creek that reached Plympton was not the Plim but the Torry Brook. Therefore “town on the Plim” is a superficial but incorrect explanation.

This is why the author rejects the common assumption that Plympton means “town on the Plim”.

🧬 So What Does Plim‑Mean?

The author suggests the simplest explanation: Plim / Plinis likely the name of a small, scattered clan or family group. Their name survives in multiple places: Plymstock (Domesday: Plemestock) Plymtree. Another Plympton near Bolt Head . This pattern mirrors other clan‑based ‑ton names.

It’s a cautious but plausible hypothesis.

Boringdon Hall

is a 16th-century Grade I listed manor house, which is now a 5 star hotel with flagship Gaia spa - and MICHELIN starred Àclèaf restaurant in the parish of Colebrook, about two miles north of Plympton, Devon.

Description

The oldest parts of the present house were said by John Britton (1771–1857) to have been built about the middle of the 14th century. Britton believed the main entrance porch, consisting of a semicircular arch with Norman-style cable mouldings, to be of ancient date, brought from some neighbouring church, or even Plympton Castle. Due to subsequent alterations the building is difficult to date accurately, and Nikolaus Pevsner states it to be "irritating for the historian" as it incorporates a multitude of imported period features and materials, giving it "a superficially convincing instant patina".

The house was described by Polwhele in the 18th century as "ruinous". In about 1800 the whole range east of the entrance porch was demolished, and by 1980 only the walls were standing. In 1986 the restoration of the building began on completion of which it has been used as a hotel.

The great hall

The double-height great hall survives largely intact, and is situated to the left from the now-lost screens passage on entering the porch. Two double-height windows are situated on the south side of the Hall, whilst on the north side is the large granite fireplace, on the lintel of which is carved the arms of Parker, and above which on the chimney breast is a very large ornamental plaster depiction of the royal coat of arms ofKing Charles I(1625–1649), dated to 1640. On either side of the arms are larger-than-lifesize female figures, to the viewer's left, Peace, and to the right the figure of Plenty, holding acornucopia.

Many of the door-frames are of granite, yet are not in their original positions, for example that now forming the entrance to the great hall from the screens passage, which has been removed, was formerly in the south-east room, where it had been used as a fireplace. The ornate plaster ceiling of the great hall is said by Pevsner to be a modernpastiche, albeit well-executed. At each end of the hall is a gallery.

Boringdon Arch, a Roman-style triumphal arch designed byRobert Adam, was built in 1783 on the way connecting Boringdon Hall toSaltram Houseowned by the same family. It is located about 1 mile west of Boringdon Hall at the entrance to Boringdon Park Golf Club in Plymbridge Road. It is grade IIlisted, and was offered for sale in 2014, but no buyers were found. It is in a state of disrepair, and is on theEnglish Heritage at Risk Register.^[4][5]

History

In about 956 the SaxonKing Edgar(959–75) granted the royal manors of Boringdon and Wembury toPlympton Prioryof St Peter. Following theDissolution of the MonasteriesKing Henry VIII granted Boringdon toThomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton. In 1549 Wriothesley sold the manor to Richard Mayhew (or "Mayhowe" etc.), gentleman, ofTavistock, Devon. In 1582 Richard Mayhew's granddaughter Frances Mayhew, daughter and heiress of Jeronemy Mayhew, became the wife of John Parker (1563–1610) ofNorth Moltonin North Devon.^[6]

Arms of Parker

Boringdon remained in the ownership of the Parker family, later Barons Boringdon andEarls of Morley, until the 20th century. John Parker and his wife the Mayhew heiress completed their re-modelling of the house in 1587. The family expanded the nearby village of Colebrooke to house their estate workers. During theCivil Warthe Parkers remained loyal to the King, andCromwell's soldiers demolished the whole part of the house to the east of the entrance porch and screens passage, rebuilt in the 20th century. It is possible that this is the house in which Charles I himself stayed on 11 November 1642, when he is recorded as 'being at Colebrook'.^[7]In 1712 the Parkers acquired the nearby manor of Saltram on which they builtSaltram House, described by Pevsner as "the most impressive house in Devon", which became their principal residence. Boringdon thus began its period of decline, and was serving as a farm-house in the 1920s, although still owned by the Parker family.

In 1951 the Parkers incurred a heavy liability to death duties following the death ofEdmund Robert Parker, 4th Earl of Morley(1877–1951) and in 1957 gave Saltram, with all its contents and 291 acres, to theNational Trustin lieu of tax.

Boringdon Hall was bought byPatrick Cotter, the7th Baronet of Rockforest, who lived there in the 1960s.^[8][9]Boringdon was later sold to Paul Chapman who converted it into a hotel. It suffered a major fire in March 1989.

In January 2011 the property was offered for sale for £3 million. It consisted of a 41 bedroomhotel, with 4 banqueting suites and 7 acres of land. It was bought by the Nettleton Collection of hotels. As of 2016 it is the leading hotel in the area with a flagship Gaia spa -Gaia spaandMICHELIN starred restaurant Àclèaf

References

Formerly known as Boringdon House

"BORINGDON HOUSE, Non Civil Parish - 1330575 | Historic England".historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved3 May2024.

Pevsner, p.190Plym Valley Connections Heritage Lottery Fund Project(PDF).Plymouth City Council(Report). August 2013. p. 50. Retrieved5 March2020.

Historic England."Details from listed building database (1386330)".National Heritage List for England. Retrieved5 March2020.

Genealogical details of Parker family from National Trust guidebook "Saltram, Devon", 2005, p.65

The two houses Petition for Treaty presented to the king at Colebrook, Nov. 11. 1642.

"Official Roll".

"Current Irish Baronetcies". Retrieved3 May2024.

Sources

Wikimedia Commons has media related toBoringdon Hall.

Pevsner, Nikolaus & Cherry, Bridget, The Buildings of England: Devon, London, 1991, Boringdon, pp. 189–90

Britton, John. Architectural Antiquities of Great Britain, vol.2, 1809, p.111

Boringdon Hall History, information leaflet published by present hotel.

108
Supporters are fallen; one stands erect (4 feet high, 5 feet wide), the impost is 11 feet long; and the remains stand on the edge of a large cairn (much demolished), which may be of Caton, passing the works of a lead mine, the shaft of which is sunk to a
depth of 25 fathoms on the opposite have entombed it. This group of relics was first noticed by Mr C Spence Bate (Trans. Dev. Assoc., 1871), who remarks justly that the parallel rows of stone resemble, on a very small scale, the “ Sarsen stones” at Ashdown in Berkshire. (See these figured in Fergusson’s Rude Stone Monts.,’ p. 123; and for some further remarks, the Introd, to this Handbook).

[The walk across Dartmoor from Ivy Bridge to Prince Town may be strongly recommended.
Proceed
(as above) to the trackway on Three
Barrow Tor; thence turn down to
ward the Erme (noticing some
curious hillocks of bog), and follow
up the stream to Erme Pound. The
hut circles on the way will be re
marked, since, from the absence of
scattered surface granite, they readily
catch the eye. Passing Erme Pound
and Erme Head, steer N.W. over
the ridge of moor (turn aside, if you
like, a little rt., for Fox Tor) as far
as Nun’s or Syward’s Cross (see
Rte. 13). Thence follow the low
rampart of earth which runs up the
hill and marks the boundary of the
“ forest ” by Tor Royal to Prince’s
Town. In fine weather the traveller
will encounter no bogs on this route;
he will pass many primitive remains,
and will gain a very fair idea of the
desolate grandeur of Dartmoor. The
only difficulty will be in the 3 m.
between Erme Head and Nun’s Cross,
as there are no very conspicuous
landmarks. The traveller must trust
to his pocket compass and his map,
both indispensable for such expedi
tions.]
Two paper-mills are situated on the Ernie at Ivy Bridge; and below them, 1 mile from the hotel, is the entrance of a field-path, which accompanies the river to the pretty hamlet
side of the stream. From Caton a lane
leads to Ermington (Fawn Hotel),
the ch. of which is known for its
curiously twisted spire. (See Rte. 16.)
From Ermington the pedestrian, if
bound for the romantic shores of
Bigbury Bay (Rte. 15), can follow
the stream through the park of Fleet
House (W. F. Splatt, Esq.), and pass
thence at low water along the shore
of the estuary to Mothecomb; or, if
likely to be met by the tide, turn
to the rt. after passing the man
sion of Fleet House, and proceed to
Mothecomb by Holbeton. One of the
most beautiful of Creswick’s pic
tures, that which gained the prize
at the British Institute, was painted
in the lane between Ivy Bridge
and Caton.
(For Ugborough, 3 m. E. of Ivy
Bridge, see Rte. 16.)
Adjoining Ivy Bridge is Highland
House, long the residence of the late
Wm. Cotton, Esq., well known for
his labours on the Life of Sir Joshua
Reynolds, and for his munificent
donation of the “ Cottonian Library”
to Plymouth.
On the skirts of the moor near
Ivy Bridge are Blachford (Lord
Blachford.
Sir Frederick Rogers
was created Baron Blachford of Wis-
dome in 1871. The baronetcy dates
from 1698), containing pictures;
Slade (T. J. Pode, Esq.); and the old
farmhouses of Fardell and Cholwich
Town, the former anciently the seat
of the family of Sir Walter Raleigh,
the latter of Cholwich. Raleigh’s
father removed from Fardell to Hayes,
near Budleigh Salterton, where the
statesman was born. There are
considerable remains of the old man
sion at Fardell, including portions of
the chapel. In the courtyard for
merly stood au Inscribed bilingual
Stone of the Roman British period,
which is now removed to the British
Museum. It has on it, on one side.
Devonshire. Route 7 .—Cornwood-Plymptoa St.Mary.
Fanoni Macquisini,” and on the
other, “Sapanui,” beside some Og
ham characters on the edges. The
tradition of the neighbourhood makes
the inscription refer to treasure
buried by Raleigh in an adjoining
held; and the local rhyme runs—
« Between this stone and Fardell Hall
Lies as much money as the devil can haul"
This is the only instance in which
an Ogham inscription has been found
in Devon.
2 .1/2m. Cornwood Stat.
Cornwood, commonly called Cross,
is a village on the Yealm, about 4 m.
from its fountain-head. The ch. is
of little interest. There are lofty
tors and antiquities in the moorland
valley of this river. Pen Beacon, 2
in. N. of Cornwood, is 1570 ft. high;
Shell Top, or Pensheil, 1 m. N. of
Pen Beacon, 1600 ft. On the 8.W.
slope of the latter are numerous hut
circles, and one enclosed village, the
wall about which is nearly square,
with rounded corners. There are
2 entrances, with remains of small
huts (guard chambers ?) adjoining
the lower. On the 8. side of the
hill is a large cairn, with fragments
of a stone avenue running from it.
In the neighbourhood of these hills,
on the bank of the river, about 1
m. from Yealm Head, are the foun
dations of an oblong building (21
ft. by 16 ft.), which the late Mr.
Woollcombe, President of the Ply
mouth Instit., conjectured had been
a hermitage. Near Tolch Gate, on
Cholwich-town Moor, are remains of
a stone avenue (partly destroyed by
the rly. contractors), and a circle
(some 5 ft. in diam.), of which 6
stones stand erect. The moorland
walk from Corn wood, by Pen Bea
con and Shell Top to Sheepstor
is a fine one. From Sheepstor the
tourist may proceed to Tavistock, or
to the Horrabridge Stat, on the
Plymouth and Tavistock rly. There
are interesting antiquities on Trow-
lesworthy Tor, beyond Shell Top;
(see post, Exc. fr. Plymouth.) Close
to Cornwood are Goodmoor, Miss
Treby; Delamore, Captain Parker;
and Birchwood, Lady Seaton. 1 m.
S.W, is the eminence of Hemerdon
Ball, on which a large camp was
formed when Napoleon was threaten-
ing the country with an invasion.
In this neighbourhood, too, are the
China-clay Works of Heddon, Small
Hanger, and Morley. Hall, N. of
Cornwood, was the residence of CoL
Chudleigh, father of the notorious
Elisabeth C.. afterwards Duchess
of Kingston, the AElia Laelia Chud-
leigh of Walpole.
Beyond Ivy Bridge the rly. pur-
sues its course along the edge of
Dartmoor, and commands on the rt.
one of the most charming views on
the whole line—that of the valley
and woods of Slade, and of a great
moorland hill which closes in the
valley,
Blachford, scat of Lord
Blachford, is next seen rt., and the
train then commences a long de-
scent to
4,1/4 m. from Cornwood Stat. plymp-
ton Stat., near which on the l. is
the town and handsome Perp, pin
nacled tower of
PlymptonSt.Mary. The only build
ing deserving notice is the Church,
a remarkably handsome structure,
standing in a lawn-like churchyard.
It has (1860) been restored in good
taste by the incumbent and pa
rishioners. The exterior is beauti
fully tinted with lichens, and displays
a profusion of fanciful ornament
The ch. contains Dec. and Perp,
portions; the tower, 108 ft. high, is
of the latter period. Observe the E.
window, the granite piers in the
nave, and the Strode monuments,
dated respectively 1460 and 1637.
This ch. was formerly attached to
the great Priory of Plympton, which
was founded by Bp. William Warel-
wast (1107-1136) for Augustinian
canons. There had been a collegiate

110
route 7-—Exeter to Plymouth.
canons, before the Conquest. Warelwast dissolved this establishment became the canons would not leave their concubines, for which we should no doubt read wives, and removed the seculars to the college he in accordance with a usual tradition, to
lead to Plympton Castle. The dimensions are 61 ft. 6 in. by 14 ft. Above this cellar which is vaulted in stone is the refectory, of E. English date, with windows, roof, and fireplace newly founded on his manor of Bosham, in Sussex. Plympton Priory
received great benefactions from Baldwin de Redvers, earl of Devon, and others; and became at last the richest monastic establishment in the county, exceeding even the Benedictine monastery at Tavistock in its yearly revenue. This, at the Dissolution, was 912l. The seal displayed the Blessed Virgin with the Divine Infant seated on her lap. and bearing a hawk, hooded and belted, on her wrist,—a mark of feudal dignity. Grant part of the ground on which the town of Plymouth stands belonged to this monastery, and Plymouth itself owed much to the connection. (See post, Plymouth.) Great personages arriving there were received and harboured at the Priory, the Black Prince among them. (See post.) The existing church of Saint Mary
stood isolated in what was the church yard of the canons. It served doubtless as the parish church The great church of the Augustinians has altogether vanished. In it were buried the founder, Bishop Warelwast, who, weary of the world and (it is asserted)
blind, retired here to die (he was the builder of the Norman cathedral at Exeter: see Route. 1); his nephew, Robert Warelwast, also bishop of Exeter; and some of the Courtenays. Of the monastic buildings there are more remains than is generally supposed. They stand behind the existing church, near the stream of the Tory brook. The refectory, with its undercroft or cellar, remains nearly perfect. The undercroft is Norman, with a doorway, of which the caps, side-shafts, and outer arch-moulding are slightly
enriched. This may well be part of
Warelwast’s work. (A passage in
the thickness of the wall is said, in
place.
East of the refectory is the kitchen, a detached building of the 15th century in a tolerably perfect state. The position of the Priory mill is indicated by a modern structure, on the site of the former. The orchard which adjoins is said to be the oldest in England, but the same is asserted of the orchard at Buckland Abbey (see Rte. 14) and the matter is somewhat doubtful. Fragments of the great church and of the cloisters are to be seen built into modern walls and hedges.
1 in. 1. of Plympton St. Mary is
Plympton Maurice, or Plympton Earl
(commemorative of its Norman lords,
the Earls of Devon), an old Stannary
and borough town, which returned
M.P.s from the 23rd of Edw. I. to
the time of the Reform Bill, but is
more famous as the birthplace of Sir
Joshua Reynolds, our greatest portrait painter, b. 16 July, 1723. It contains the ruin of a Castle built by Richard de Redvers (Henry I/s Earl of Devon), and first dismantled
when his son Baldwin, the second
earl of that race, was defending
Exeter against Stephen (see the
Gesta Stephani, which describes the
valley of Plympton as one of the
richest in the county). It was
soon afterwards restored. There
was some skirmishing around it in
the time of King John; and—to step
at once over 4 centuries—it was the
head-quarters of Prince Maurice
during the siege of Plymouth,
1643.
In the following year it
was taken by the Earl of Essex. The
extensive site of the ancient building
is encompassed by a moat, and now
forms an agreeable promenade; a
fragment of circular wall crowning
a mound which commands a view of
Route 7—Exeter to Plymouth.

111
with high roof, portico, and piazza, and well accords with the time-worn granite church and castle adjoining it. it was founded and endowed, 1658, by Sergeant Maynard, one of the trustees of estates left to charitable purposes by Elize Hele, Esq., of

Fardell. The school-room, 63 ft. long, is lighted East and West by large Perpendicular, and North and South by square-headed windows. 2 shields on the wall bear the arms of Maynard and Hele. Below is an arcade or cloister, with a long range of granite columns, the subject of one of Reynolds’s earliest attempts at a perspective 'The house in which Sir Joshua was born closely adjoined the grammar school. A new scheme for the management of the school was issued by the Charity Commissioners in
1868, appointing* a body of working trustees. Under their superintendence the old master’s house—a locus sacer in the eyes of all lovers of art—was removed altogether, and a new house has been erected, set back at a right angle with the school, and certainly displaying the frontage of the latter, with its cloister and granite columns, to great advantage. It must be admitted that the old house had no architectural character; that it was completely out of repair, and very inconvenient; and that its

restoration would have been exceedingly costly. Still it is impossible not to regret its demolition. The school itself is now flourishing and efficient; and it has been suggested that a very fitting memorial of Sir Joshua would be the appending to it of one or more exhibitions (not to be unconnected with art), which might be carried to either university. It may be hoped that some such design will be carried into effect. The Church is supposed to have been originally a chapel appendant to the eh. of Plympton Saint Mary. It was first dedicated to St. Thomas of Canterbury, and afterwards to St. Maurice.

112
In the neighbourhood of these 2 towns of Plympton are the seats of Chaddlewood, G. W. C. Soltau Symons, Esq.; Hemerdon House, Mrs. Woollcombe; Newnham Park, G. Sidney Strode, Esq.; and Elfordleigh, Allen, Esq.

The line of a Roman Road, the branch of the Ikenhilde which passed into Cornwall, is indicated by the names of Darkstreet lane and Ridgeway, The parish road which runs from the railway station at Plympton to Plym Bridge, and thence to Tamerton, is part of the same ancient way.
The scenery at Plym Bridge 1and a half miles from Plympton St. Mary) is wooded and picturesque. Among the woods
route is Boringdon, an ancient manor which has belonged to the Parkers the family of which the Earl of Morley is the head since the time of Elizabeth. It was long their residence, and gives a title to the earl’s eldest son, but is now a farm house, with the hall and some other portions remaining. The hall is late Tudor, and although much defaced, is worth a visit. (See more, Rtoue 14.) Starting again from Plympton, the railway leaves the hills for a broad flat valley, bounded  by the woods of Saltram (Earl of Morley, but occupied by — Hartmann, Esquire. It crosses the narrow head of the Laira Estuary perhaps a cousin of the Icelandic “ Leiru-vogr ” — the “bay of mud” — near Reikjavik. “ Leary ” in some parts of Devonshire means “ empty,” e.g. “ a leary cart:” both words may be connected, and runs along its margin. In the distance is seen the iron Laira Bridge of 5 arches, an early work of the late engineer, J. M. Rendell, and as this vanishes from the view the line enters a deep cutting, reaches the little station at Mutley, and then passes through a tunnel to the station in the centre of Plymouth. As the train rushes through the suburbs, the traveller will observe to the right the cemetery ; Globe; Albion Hotel; Chubb’s Commercial Hotel, rebuilt 1858 in the Anglo-Italian style, on the site of one of the oldest hostelries in the town: C. O. C. Arthur, architect. A magnificent new hotel the Duke of Cornwall, joint stock company: C. F. Hayward, architect, 1865. This is perhaps the best and most convenient in Plymouth.

Population 68,080. Stonehouse. (Inn: Brunswick Hotel.) Population 14,586. Devonport. (Inns: Royal Hotel; London Hotel. Stoke 49,414.
Pop. (including
The station serves for the South Devon, the Cornwall, and the Plymouth and Tavistock Rlys. A tramway for omnibuses (drawn by horses) leads from the Plymouth end of Union Street to the bottom of Chapel Street in Devonport. These three maritime towns of the West, situated on the shore of a noble harbour, at a part of the Channel the most convenient for a war-station and for the purposes of commerce, and in a country rich both in minerals and agricultural produce, have long occupied a high place in
public estimation, and are among the most thriving of all the towns in Great Britain. So rapid, indeed, has been their growth, especially during the French war, that the three may be now considered as one grand focus of trade and naval and military preparation. They have parted with their individuality, and become sections of a far more important union. At the two extremities are the naval (the Dockyard and the Steamyard at Keyham, Devonport and the chief military, the Citadel, Plymouth stations.
Stonehouse is the Quarters of the marine corps. For the information of the traveller, we shall describe these three great divisions separately,
Devonshire.
the town and of the neighbouring
hills.
Route 7.-
There was, as at Exeter and Totnes, no regular keep; but this wall surrounded the “ motte.” The antiquary may speculate on a singular hollow, which runs through this wall, and may remind him of those in the Scottish “ duns,” or Pictish towers. Stukely describes a similar hollow in the wall of Exeter Castle. See Route 1.
Many of the houses in Plympton bear the stamp of age, and some project on arches like those of Totnes. Plympton House, a large mansion so called, was built by the Rt. Hon. George Treby in the reign of Queen Anne. The venerable Guildhall is marked on the front with the date 1696, and was formerly enriched with a portrait of Sir Joshua Reynolds, by himself, now at Silverton. It was presented to the corporation by the artist on his being elected mayor of his native town, a circumstance, says Cotton, which he declared gave him more pleasure than any other honour he had received during his life, and was disgracefully sold by the Reformed Corporation for £150. Mr. Alcock, vicar of Cornwood, addressed the painter in the following distich:—
** Laudat Romanus Raphaelem, Graecus Apellem Plympton Reynolden jactat, utrique parem.” But the new-made mayor would not allow the lines to be inscribed, as was desired, on the back of the portrait.
This is now at Silverton Park
(Rte. 2). Sir Joshua desired that it
might be hung in a good situation,
and the corporation told him that it
had been placed between 2 old por
traits, which acted as a foil, and set
it off to advantage. It afterwards
turned out that these old portraits
had been painted by Sir Joshua him
self before he went to Italy. The
Grammar School, of which his father
was master, was erected about the
year 1664. It is a quaint old building-Plympton,

The Ikenhilde / Icenhilde / Icknield Wayis one of the most debated ancient routeways in Britain. The short answer: yes — there is a great deal known about it, but much of its supposed “Roman road” identity is contested, and the name itself appears in many medieval spellings including Ikenhilde, Icenhilde, Ykenildestrethe, and others. Below is a structured, evidence‑based synthesis of what we can reliably say.

🧭 What the Ikenhilde / Icknield Way Actually Is

The route commonly called the Icknield Wayis not originally Roman. It is a prehistoric trackway, probably in use from the Neolithiconward, running along the chalk escarpments from Norfolk → Suffolk → Cambridgeshire → Hertfordshire → Bedfordshire → Buckinghamshire → Oxfordshire → Berkshire → Wiltshire.
Icknield Way TrailWikipedia

Its prehistoric character is supported by:

• Neolithic and Bronze Age sites along its length (e.g., Five Knolls, Galley Hill, Waulud’s Bank, Maiden Bower)
  Icknield Way Trail
• Flint trade from Grime’s Gravesin Norfolk
  Britannica

The Romans did use and modify partsof it — especially straightening certain sections — but they did notcreate the route.
Icknield Way Trail

🏺 Early Names & the “Ikenhilde” Spelling

The name appears in Anglo‑Saxon charters from 903 AD onward, with spellings including:

• Ic(c)enhilde weġ
• Icenhylte
• Icenilde weġ
• Ycenilde weġ
• Icenhilde weġ
  Wikipedia

These forms show that Ikenhildeis a perfectly authentic historical spelling.

In Norfolk, medieval documents record it as Ykenildestretheand Ikelynge Street(13th century).
twithr.co.uk

🛣️ Was It a Roman Road?Short answer:

Parts were Romanised, but the route is not a Roman road in origin.

Evidence for Roman use:

• Straightened sections east of Galley Hillinto Hertfordshire
  Icknield Way Trail
• Roman villas aligned along the route (“Icknield Way Roman Villas”)
  twithr.co.uk
• Excavated Roman road structure at Aston Clinton, with flanking ditches dated to the late 1st century AD
  Buckinghamshire's Heritage Portal

Evidence against a fully Roman long‑distance road:

• Some scholars argue the idea of a continuous prehistoric/ Roman “Icknield Way” is a medieval literary invention
  National Trails
• The route varies, splits, and shifts — more a corridorthan a single engineered road
  Icknield Way Trail

🗺️ Geography & Function

The Ikenhilde/Icknield Way follows the chalk escarpment, avoiding clay and wet ground.
Icknield Way Trail

Its prehistoric and Roman functions likely included:

• Long‑distance trade, especially flint and later agricultural goods
• Movement between tribal territories (e.g., Iceniin East Anglia — possibly the name’s origin)
  Wikipedia
• Access to ritual landscapes (e.g., Avebury, Stonehenge)
  Britannica

🧭 Extent of the Route

Different periods defined it differently:

Prehistoric / early medieval sense

A broad corridor from Norfolk → Dorset, via the chalk uplands.
Icknield Way Trail

Medieval “Four Highways” tradition

One of the four great royal roads, shown running Salisbury → Bury St Edmunds.
Wikipedia

14th‑century reinterpretation

Ranulf Higdon described a completely different “Icknield Way” from Winchester → Tynemouth.
Wikipedia

This shows the name was reused for different long‑distance routes.

🧪 Archaeological EvidenceStrongest evidence clusters:

• Bedfordshire: Five Knolls, Galley Hill, Maiden Bower
  Icknield Way Trail
• Hertfordshire: Straightened Roman‑influenced sections
  Icknield Way Trail
• Buckinghamshire: Confirmed Roman road at Aston Clinton
  Buckinghamshire's Heritage Portal
• Norfolk: Lidar‑visible route around the Fens; Roman villas
  twithr.co.uk

🧭 Modern Recreational Routes

Today the name survives in:

• Icknield Way Path(110 miles)
  Wikipedia
• Icknield Way Trail(170 miles, for bikes & horses)
  Wikipedia
• Part of the Greater Ridgeway(Lyme Regis → Norfolk coast)
  Wikipedia

These modern routes follow the probable corridor, not a single ancient line.

🧩 Summary: What “Ikenhilde” Really Refers To

Ikenhildeis an early medieval spelling of the Icknield Way, a prehistoric chalk‑ridge route later used and modified by Romans, mythologised by medieval writers, and reinterpreted many times. It is not a Roman road, but Romans did adopt and improve sectionsof it.

If you want, I can also:

• Map the probable prehistoric vs. Romanised sections
• Trace the Ikenhilde spellingsthrough charters
• Plot the route in GISfor your Devon–Cornwall gazetteer
• Compare it with Peddars Wayand other Roman roads

Which direction would you like to explore next?

You’re welcome, Richard — and if you want to go deeper into Ikenhildespecifically (as opposed to the broader Icknield Way tradition), I can absolutely take you further.

Your question sits right in that sweet spot where early medieval charters, landscape archaeology, and routeway reconstruction all overlap — exactly the kind of thing you’re brilliant at weaving into your Devon–Cornwall gazetteer mindset.

Here’s a compact but rich next layer you may find useful.

🧭 Where the spelling Ikenhildeactually appears

The form Ikenhilde / Icenhilde / Ikenildeis not a Victorian antiquarian invention — it’s attested in Anglo‑Saxon and early medieval charters, especially:

• AD 903: Icenhilde wegin a boundary clause for Princes Risborough
• 10th–11th century: Icenhilde weġin Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire bounds
• 12th–13th century: Ykenildestrete, Ikenildestrate, Ikenilde Streetin Norfolk and Suffolk documents
• Domesday Bookreferences to Icenhilde wegas a boundary marker in several counties

The spelling Ikenhildetends to cluster in the eastern and central sectionsof the route — Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire.

If you want, I can extract the charter references and give you a clean table with:

• date
• spelling
• location
• boundary context
• modern OS grid

🛣️ The “Ikenhilde” as a route: what scholars agree on1. It is prehistoric in origin

A chalk‑ridge corridor used long before the Romans.

2. The Romans adopted and improved sections

Especially:

• Aston Clinton (engineered Roman road structure)
• Dunstable area (straightened alignments)
• Approaches to Baldock and Royston (villa clusters)

3. It was never a single engineered Roman road

It’s a route family, not a single line — more like a braided trackway.

4. The name is ethnically linked

Most likely from Iceni + hild / hilt / hyltmeaning “slope, incline, ridge”.
So: the ridgeway of the Iceni.

🗺️ Probable course of the Ikenhilde (narrow definition)

If we restrict ourselves to the Ikenhildespellings (not the whole Icknield Way tradition), the route most consistently aligns with:

Norfolk → Suffolk → Cambridgeshire → Hertfordshire → Buckinghamshire

A likely reconstruction:

1. Grime’s Graves / Weeting
2. Thetford
3. Bury St Edmunds
4. Newmarket Heath
5. Royston
6. Baldock
7. Dunstable
8. Aston Clinton
9. Chinnor / Watlington(where it merges into the wider Icknield corridor)

This is the “eastern spine” of the route — the part most often called Ikenhildein medieval sources.

🧩 Why the name varies so much

The medieval scribes weren’t naming a single road — they were naming a landscape feature.
So the name attaches to:

• ridge lines
• parish boundaries
• trackways
• estate limits

This is why the spelling wanders and why the route seems to “split” — it’s a corridor, not a Roman road.

🔍 If you want to go deeper

I can produce any of the following:

1. A charter‑based dataset

A structured list of every known Ikenhildespelling with:

• date
• source
• location
• modern coordinates
• notes on reliability

Perfect for your gazetteer.

2. A GIS‑ready polyline reconstruction

I can give you:

• a “narrow” Ikenhilde
• a “broad” Icknield corridor
• Roman‑modified sections highlighted
• prehistoric nodes (barrows, flint mines, hillforts)

3. A comparative analysis

How Ikenhildediffers from:

• Peddars Way
• the Ridgeway
• the medieval “Four Highways” tradition

4. A Devon–Cornwall parallel

If you’re mapping long‑distance prehistoric corridors in the southwest, I can compare Ikenhilde to:

• the Ridgeway of the South Hams
• the Tamar–Teign watershed routes
• the Bronze Age trans‑moor tracks on Dartmoor

If you tell me which angle you want — charters, GIS, linguistics, or archaeology— I’ll build the next layer for you.

In 1974 , the Crabtree Inn, which had hitherto occupied one of the oldest Inn sites in Plymouth,was pulled down to make way for the new stretch of dual carriageway from Laira to Marsh Mills. Situated on what is believed to be the second oldest thoroughfare in the city the Crabtree Inn overlooked the Ebb Ford, which at low tide provides the lowest crossing of the Plim, two causeways across the sands have been identified as being from Arnold’s Point to Saltram Point,  and from Crabtree to Blackstone Keys. As to the origin of the name Crabtree it is thought that it was the channels in these muddy rivers being marked by branches of trees stuck upright and irreverently called ’winkle-trees'” and goes to beg the question "were there even earlier such branches to mark the line of the ford and were these the crab-trees? It could be that it was named after the old Crabtree Inn. There are others in the country, all of which are by the water’s edge. Both crab and tree are nautical terms. Crabtree was a busy little place in the 18th century. Much traffic was generated by the five lime kilns which existed in the area. The demand for lime for manuring was at that time high, with neighbouring Plymouth and Plymouth Dock (Devonport) expanding rapidly. Then not long after the building of Dartmoor Prison, Sir Thomas Tyrwhitt persuaded Plymouth Chamber of Commerce to support plans for a horse drawn railway from Crabtree to Princetown. Designed to bring granite down from the moor for building purposes and take lime up to the moor for fertilisation, the line opened in 1823, but sadly never paid its way. By the middle of last century imported and chemical manures had replaced lime and the Crabtree works had fallen into disuse.

We are told of a grisly tale about Crabtree, in that it was prone to taking in smuggled goods. In 1732 the Plymouth tide surveyor, who supervised the land guard, was murdered. Two men were found guilty for the crime to do with “The running of brandy”. They were executed and their bodies were hung in chains at Crabtree, on the Laira estuary.This was generally done at the scene of the crime, it is possible that this was the landing place and perhaps the old Crabtree Inn was a smuggling base.Another pub opposite the Crabtree Inn , was the Rising Sun, well known for its annual election of the Mayor and Corporation of the Cockle Borough of Crabtree. This jolly event was started in 1834, when this was the last year in which the Mayor of Plymouth was elected under the old charter, and went on for about twenty years. It was held on Good Friday when a group of cobblers who frequented the Pack Horse Pub in Treville Street, decided to elect their own mayor and corporation. Led by a band playing all kinds of crude instruments they travelled in a coach and four from the Pack Horse, a large crowd following behind, until they reached the Crabtree Inn, where the mayor elect was presented with a bowl of cockles caught on the Laira sands. The Bearer of the Great Cockle led the way to the Rising Sun, carrying a giant cockle on a crimson cushion. A large crowd had gathered outside and watched the procession enter the Rising Sun, which just for that day was the Crabtree Town Hall of the Cockle Borough of Crabtree. After the mock election both crowds inside the pub and outside danced and sang and generally had a merry time. Tyrwhitt's horse drawn railway did initially terminate at a wharf where Sainsburys store is currently. It was however, prone to silting up so a further extension was built down river to a new wharf below the Laira bridge. Then another extension was rundown to Sutton harbour. Much of the granite for London's embankment and ancillary works came from Dartmoor's quarries at Princes Town as it was then known. Tyrwhitt being a friend of the Prince of Wales and also held the post of Black Rod. Michael Owens says, Further to my previous reference to Tyrwhitts railway. On the opposite side of the road from the Ibis Hotel near the revamped roundabout on Forder Valley, a pathway can be found with the granite sleepers still in place that runs to what was probably the first rail tunnel close to Asda. In order to reach the wharf at Sainsburys, an embankment was built from this point that dropped down across the valley that is now the Parkway. That was some undertaking in those days. I wonder when it was demolished?

Heritage Category:Scheduled Monument

List Entry Number:1019946

Date first listed:24-Apr-1939

Date of most recent amendment:07-Nov-2001

Location

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

County:Devon

District:South Hams (District Authority)

Parish:Sparkwell

County:Devon

District:South Hams (District Authority)

Parish:Shaugh Prior

National Grid Reference:SX 54346 59668

Reasons for Designation

Slight univallate hillforts are defined as enclosures of various shapes, generally between 1ha and 10ha in size, situated on or close to hilltops and defined by a single line of earthworks, the scale of which is relatively small. They date to between the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age (eighth - fifth centuries BC), the majority being used for 150 to 200 years prior to their abandonment or reconstruction. Slight univallate hillforts have generally been interpreted as stock enclosures, redistribution centres, places of refuge and permanent settlements. The earthworks generally include a rampart, narrow level berm, external ditch and counterscarp bank, while access to the interior is usually provided by two entrances comprising either simple gaps in the earthwork or an inturned rampart. Postholes revealed by excavation indicate the occasional presence of portal gateways while more elaborate features like overlapping ramparts and outworks are limited to only a few examples. Internal features included timber or stone round houses; large storage pits and hearths; scattered postholes, stakeholes and gullies; and square or rectangular buildings supported by four to six posts, often represented by postholes, and interpreted as raised granaries. Slight univallate hillforts are rare with around 150 examples recorded nationally. Although on a national scale the number is low, in Devon they comprise one of the major classes of hillfort. In other areas where the distribution is relatively dense, for example, Wessex, Sussex, the Cotswolds and the Chilterns, hillforts belonging to a number of different classes occur within the same region. Examples are also recorded in eastern England, the Welsh Marches, central and southern England. In view of the rarity of slight univallate hillforts and their importance in understanding the transition between Bronze Age and Iron Age communities, all examples which survive comparatively well and have potential for the recovery of further archaeological remains are believed to be of national importance.

Despite some damage to its ramparts, Boringdon Camp hillfort and associated remains is well-preserved. Its ramparts, surrounding ditch, outworks and interior will contain archaeological and environmental information relating to the hillfort and the landscape in which it was built. The outer ramparts remain of importance in understanding the development of the site. Ring ditches usually represent the encircling ditch of a bowl barrow, the most numerous form of round barrow, which are funerary monuments dating from the Late Neolithic to the Late Bronze Age, with most examples belonging to the period 2400 to 1500 BC. They were constructed as earthen or rubble mounds, sometimes ditched, which covered single or multiple burials. The close relationship between the hillfort and the ring ditch to its west suggests a continuity of use for this area over three millenia.

Details

This monument includes an Iron Age hillfort with associated outworks and earlier ring ditch, all located on a flat hilltop with wide local views to the north. The hillfort survives as a sub-circular enclosure, defined by a rampart and outer ditch, with a level interior measuring 145m across. The rampart measures 8m wide, rising from the interior between 0.8m and 1.6m and falling to the outer ditch between 2.3m and 3.5m. The ditch is 8m wide and between 0.2m and 0.6m deep for most of the fort's circumference. It survives best on the south east side, where it is 1.5m deep. A slight upcast bank is visible on the west and north sides, between 8m and 10m wide and surviving up to 0.3m high. Several entrances cut the rampart, but that on the south side is the only original one. Here, the rampart turns inward to create an entrance passage 3m wide,later mutilated and blocked. Outside, the remains of a causeway across the ditch have been disturbed by a post-medieval quarry. A barbican protected the entrance. This survives as a trapezoidal earthwork whose interior measures 37.5m from north to south and tapers east to west from 42m wide to 23m at the south end. A rampart between 5m and 10m wide rises 0.4m from the interior and falls between 0.7m and 1m to an outer ditch 6m wide and 0.4m deep. The outer entrance to this barbican is 5m wide and a hollow way leads southward from it. Part of this hollow way is included in the scheduling. An outwork, visible as a change in the slope 8m wide and from 0.4m to 0.7m high, leaves the east side of the fort and curves around to the north west. A short bank connects this to the main rampart on the north side and measures 12m wide and 0.3m high. The ditch of a crescent shaped outwork on the north west side, visible from an aerial photograph, is 35m from the rampart and measures approximately 70m long and 8m wide. A ring ditch 20m to its south is 35m in diameter with a ditch 2m wide. This is likely to represent the levelled remains of a Late Neolithic or Bronze Age burial mound. A long earthwork bank to the north west of the fort is on a WNW to ESE alignment and measures 95m long and 12m wide. It survives up to 0.3m high. To the east of the fort, running NNE to SSW, is a hollow way 5m wide and between 0.5m and 2m deep with banks 5m wide and 0.5m high. This was a medieval road from Plympton to Shaugh Prior, abandoned between 1801 and 1840. A section of this road is included in the scheduling. The interpretation boards, and all fence posts and track surfacings are excluded from the schduling, although the ground beneath them is included.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract. It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features, considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:33784

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.