TEIGNMOUTH

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putting greens and tennis courts, and with an entertainment pavilion.

From the centre of The Den the Pier extends a distance of six hundred feet. It has recently been remodelled, and possesses a sheltered promenade and a Ballroom. At the southern end of the Promenade, known as The Point, are the ferry to Shaldon and boats for fishing, rowing, or sailing. Near The Point is the Lighthouse, the red lamp of which, in connection with a similar one on the front of Powderham Terrace, guides the mariner safely into the haven at night. Other features of this end of The Den are the Lifeboat House and the Coastguard Station. Here, too, is the main Parking Place for cars.

It is a fine walk northward from the other end of The Den to Hole Head, where the railway leaps the little cove at the foot of Smugglers’ Lane, as charming as it is short.

Bitton Park, about five acres of well-kept and sheltered gardens at the west end of the town, a little short of the bridge, and overlooking the river, formed part of the old Bitton estate, once the seat of that Lord Exmouth famed in connection with the bombardment of Algiers.

Teignmouth consists of two parishes—East and West Teignmouth, divided by the covered-in stream, the Tame— and each parish has its own church. That of East Teignmouth, St. Michael’s Church, took the place of an old Norman edifice in 1823. When the latter was removed, it bore marks of ill-usage received at the hands of the French in 1690. A screen with rood was erected in r923, and in 1927 the Bishop of Exeter dedicated a Lady Chapel and new vestries.

St. James’s Church, West Teignmouth, is a heavy, battle-mented octagonal building, its interior presenting a peculiar appearance on account of the slender pillars, supporting the roof, in the centre of which is an octagonal lantern. The reredos is a beautiful specimen of fourteenth-century stone carving. The tower is all that remains of the structure mentioned in Bishop Bronescombe’s Register, dated 1275. The bells in it are said to have been rung after the battle of Crecy, 1346; but they were recast in 1879.

From Shaldon or Teignmouth many pleasant excursions may be made up the river Teign. A favourite walk or drive is to—

COOMBE CELLARS—BISHOPSTEIGNTON 51

Coombe Cellars

about three miles from Shaldon, on the Torquay side of the river. Coombe Cellars can be reached by the motor-boats which make periodical visits, also by a delightful row up the river, but an eye should be kept on the tide. The inn makes a charming spot for afternoon tea, which can be enjoyed in the gardens or indoors. The late S. Baring-Gould made Coombe Cellars the scene of his novel, Kitty Alone. The old inn is only a memory, but the smarter building perpetuates the fame of its predecessor for Devon junkets and the finest of fresh cockles, salmon, and lobster teas. The village of Coombe-in-Teignhead is not far distant across the fields.

Its only claims to notice are its situation and its church, a cruciform building in the Perpendicular style, containing a screen of some interest, and some old bench-ends. In the village is an almshouse built by William Bourchier, third Earl of Bath, in 1620.

A mile south of Coombe-in-Teignhead is the diminutive church of Haccombe , while the Torquay road may be regained by way of Stoke-in-Teignhead

On the Teignmouth side of the river is—

Bishopsteignton

a walk or bus ride of a little over two miles from Teignmouth, or four from Newton Abbot. The village is ofl the hillside opposite Coombe Cellars and under the height of Haldon (800 ft.).

Bishopsteignton owes its "teignton” (which it shares with Kingsteignton, some three miles to the west) to its position on the banks of the river; while the prefix distinguishing it from the other village is believed to have been bestowed because Bishop Grandisson, of Exeter, lord of the manor from 1327 to 1369, erected a palace here, the walls of the chapel attached to which are still in existence—in the lane leading from the main part of the village to the Teignmouth-Exeter high road on Haldon.

The Church is dedicated to St. John the Baptist. Oliver says: “the chancel is of very great antiquity, which, from its two windows in the south wall, I cannot suppose it to be posterior to the reign of Richard I. The nave is at least a century later." The western doorway and font are Norman, and good specimens of that style.

According to Wace and Layamon, in the time of King Arthur 6th century Cador, Earl of Cornwall,pursued Childric the Saxon Kaiser and his troops as they fled towards their ships,which were moored (apparently) off Teignmouth Beach. Cador overtook them on the banks of the Teign. The churls, armed with “bats” and pitchforks, slew a large number of the Saxons and “then saw Childric that it befell to them evilly; that all his mickle folk fell to the ground; now he saw there beside a hill exceeding great; the water floweth thereunder that is named Teine; the hill is named Teinewic; thitherward fled Childric with his four and twenty knights ... and Cador heaved up his sword and Childric he slew ... in the Teine water he perished.” It seems very likely that the hill mentioned was the Ness, which was once known as Bryn Maur, or the great hill, and the battle probably took place on Shaldon sands. The crossing from Shaldon to Teignmouth and the ferry dues were part of the perquisites of the Earl of Cornwall (who also called himself King of the Romans, a title dating from King Arthur’s day) in the 11th century a .d ., and it is probable that Cador gained these as part of the spoils of battle. By the middle of the 7th century a .d ., the valleys of the lower Exe and the Creedy were occupied by Saxons, and the Britons (as the Celtic and Mediterranean peoples called themselves) lived more or less amicably with them in the town of Exeter, but Devon was still predominantly Celtic and was ruled by a Celtic monarch. At this time, Bishop Honorius of Canterbury settled the boundaries of the land and fixed parishes. Taintona probably received official recognition. The parish of St. Nicholas was designated at Bryn Maur (Celtic for “Great Hill”) now corrupted into “Ringmore.” Taintona was probably not called by that name in those days, as “ton” or “tun” is a Saxon word for a settlement, and means a fencible place. It was, however, a fortified village. In 682 a .d ., Centwine, the Angle, “drove the Britons of the west as far as the sea, at the sword point”. This seems to indicate a more determined Anglo-Saxon invasion of Devon and an attempt to push the Celts further west. Assuming the Exe to be in the hands of the Saxons, the sea mentioned is probably the natural boundary made by the river Teign. It is probable that the Saxons took over Taintona and gave it a name in their own tongue, while the Celts moved across the river. The old hillside lookout above the Teign now fulfilled another purpose; that of a Celtic spyhole against the Saxons. In 800 a .d ., Egbert made another attempt to extend the Saxon rule in Devon, but at this time the Saxons themselves were being harried. Another race of marauders was sweeping down on Britain. These were the Danes. Now began a time of fear. The Saxon settlers complained that the sea, formerly their friend, was now their enemy. There is a tradition of salt-pans in Teign-mouth, and a charter of Edward the Confessor mentioned “salterns” in the district. through the Teign valley to a spot on the Teign estuary now called Salcombe , a corruption of Salt-coombe, where salt was made on the banks of a fresh water rivulet. There is little doubt that, at this time, the land below Salcombe was too dangerous and too marshy for any settled habitation or industry. These early vendors of salt must have been a small dark people, probably of Mediterranean stock, who had intermarried with Phoenician and other Mediterranean traders. They had probably originally worshipped the Mother Goddess, the moon, but by the Bronze Age they had given their allegiance to a Father God in the form of the sun.

The taller, blonder Celts, moving westwards owing to pressure from the eastern invaders, intermarried with these early Devonians and their children were either small and dark, like the original inhabitants of the land, or tall and blond, like the newcomers. Both types are commonly found in Devon to this day.

The coming of the Romans did not make such an impact on Devon as it did on the rest of the country. Exeter was a Roman station of importance and the head of Roman power in the district, and there are a few evidences of Roman occupation west of Exeter.

For the sake of trade, the Romans kept up the system of British trackways within the County, but they only adapted the existing roads -the salt-tracks and trade-routes across the Moor, which had been built centuries before and ran straight across hillside and valley, the way being marked by crosses and beacons.

Up to about 250 a.d., Britain was a comparatively peaceful Roman colony, but, from that date onwards, it was harried by Saxon pirates. British families moved inland away from the seaboard, and it is probable that at this time the salt-pans of Bishopsteignton and Teignmouth were more or less abandoned. The fortified mound still visible on the hillside across the river from Bishopsteignton was probably built at this time as a shelter and a defence. The long-drawn-out “Hoo-oo” from the watcher on the hill would send the people of Taintona, as the village was later known, scurrying to safety, driving their flocks and herds before them Between 350 and 450 a.d., the Roman Empire was breaking up.

Earliest times to present day

Countless ages ago, the earth threw up the molten rock which was to become Dartmoor, the backbone of the County of Devon. Convulsive movements raised and lowered the land, so that the great rock mass became part of a vast continent which included the land which we now call France.

Then the sea rushed in, filling the depression which was to become the English Channel and making islands of the rocky promontories of the Continental coasts. Movements continued intermittently over thousands of years, and masses of sand, silt and pebbles were laid down around the rock mass. The ice ages came and went and, although they did not reach as far south as the embryonic Dartmoor, snow-slips which preceded the glaciers carried debris which was scattered over the Moor as “clitters.”

In warmer intervals between the centuries of ice, there were great floods of rain, which weathered and split the great rock plateau and rushed down from the high land in steep, stormy torrents -the beginning of the Taw, the Torridge, the Plym, the Dart and the Teign. The Teign carried with it thousands of tons of rotted granite, which it laid down in its lower reaches as boulder clay. It cut for itself a narrow course through the softer rocks below the Moor and eventually poured into the sea through a sunken valley which we now call the Teign Estuary.

At the mouth of the valley, the current of the river, checked by the sea and by broken rocks, silt and sand, built up an area of beachy mud. The river, deflected by this barrier, took a sharp turn to the right and cut a way for itself at the foot of the great cliff which we now call the Ness.

The heaving crust of the earth had now become more stable. Life had established itself on the land and the brown bear, the mammoth and the sabre-toothed tiger were wandering over the countryside, hunting, and being hunted by, primitive man. The caves at Brixham and Torquay show traces of man’s habitation and there are signs that wild beasts lived there too. No doubt Palaeolithic man hunted over the hills around Teignmouth and fished in the Teign, but there is no record of inhabited caves in or near Teignmouth.

Thousands of years later, Bronze Age man lived on Haldon and he regarded the shores of Teignmouth as a good place to obtain supplies of salt for preserving his meat and for adding savour to his food.

References in the works of Greek and Roman writers show that in pre-Roman times there was a flourishing civilization in the West of England, based on the trade in tin, which was used in the manufacture of bronze for weapons. This civilization had its centres near the tin-working areas on the Moor, but salt had to be brought from the coastal areas, and poor villages around the coast subsisted

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on their trade in salt. There is a tradition of salt-pans in Teign-mouth, and a charter of Edward the Confessor mentioned “salterns” in the district.

There is a well-marked trackway across the Moor from the Belstone area, through the Teign valley to a spot on the Teign estuary now called Salcombe (a corruption of Salt-coombe), where salt was made on the banks of a fresh water rivulet. There is little doubt that, at this time, the land below Salcombe was too dangerous and too marshy for any settled habitation or industry. These early vendors of salt must have been a small dark people, probably of Mediterranean stock, who had intermarried with Phoenician and other Mediterranean traders. They had probably originally worshipped the Mother Goddess, the moon, but by the Bronze Age they had given their allegiance to a Father God in the form of the sun.

The taller, blonder Celts, moving westwards owing to pressure from the eastern invaders, intermarried with these early Devonians and their children were either small and dark, like the original inhabitants of the land, or tall and blond, like the newcomers. Both types are commonly found in Devon to this day.

The coming of the Romans did not make such an impact on Devon as it did on the rest of the country. Exeter was a Roman station of importance and the head of Roman power in the district, and there are a few evidences of Roman occupation west of Exeter. For the sake of trade, the Romans kept up the system of British trackways within the County, but they only adapted the existing roads -the salt-tracks and trade-routes across the Moor, which had been built centuries before and ran straight across hillside and valley, the way being marked by crosses and beacons.

Up to about 250 a.d., Britain was a comparatively peaceful Roman colony, but, from that date onwards, it was harried by Saxon pirates. British families moved inland away from the seaboard, and it is probable that at this time the salt-pans of Bishopsteignton and Teignmouth were more or less abandoned. The fortified mound still visible on the hillside across the river from Bishopsteignton was probably built at this time as a shelter and a defence. The long-drawn-out “Hoo-oo” from the watcher on the hill would send the people of Taintona, as the village was later known, scurrying to safety, driving their flocks and herds before them.

Between 350 and 450 a.d., the Roman Empire was breaking up. Money and men were in short supply and few defences were built against the marauding Saxons in the West. There was everywhere a gradual decline in civilized living. Devon and Cornwall, whose inhabitants were known as the West Welsh peoples, dropped every appearance of Roman civilization and reverted to Celtic customs and ways of life. The rest of England came under Saxon sway. Meanwhile, Christianity was being spread over the whole island by traders.

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According to Wace and Layamon, in the time of King Arthur (i.e. circa 6th century a.d.) Cador, Earl of Cornwall, pursued Childric the Saxon Kaiser and his troops as they fled towards their ships, which were moored (apparently) off Teignmouth Beach. Cador overtook them on the banks of the Teign. The churls, armed with “bats” and pitchforks, slew a large number of the Saxons and “then saw Childric that it befell to them evilly; that all his mickle folk fell to the ground; now he saw there beside a hill exceeding great; the water floweth thereunder that is named Teine; the hill is named Teinewic; thitherward fled Childric with his four and twenty knights ... and Cador heaved up his sword and Childric he slew ... in the Teine water he perished.”

It seems very likely that the hill mentioned was the Ness, which was once known as Bryn Maur, or the great hill, and the battle probably took place on Shaldon sands. The crossing from Shaldon to Teignmouth and the ferry dues were part of the perquisites of the Earl of Cornwall (who also called himself King of the Romans, a title dating from King Arthur’s day) in the 11th century a.d., and it is probable that Cador gained these as part of the spoils of battle.

By the middle of the 7th century a.d., the valleys of the lower Exe and the Creedy were occupied by Saxons, and the Britons (as the Celtic and Mediterranean peoples called themselves) lived more or less amicably with them in the town of Exeter, but Devon was still predominantly Celtic and was ruled by a Celtic monarch. At this time, Bishop Honorius of Canterbury settled the boundaries of the land and fixed parishes. Taintona probably received official recognition. The parish of St. Nicholas was designated at Bryn Maur (Celtic for “Great Hill”) now corrupted into “Ringmore.”

Taintona was probably not called by that name in those days, as “ton” or “tun” is a Saxon word for a settlement, and means a fencible place. It was, however, a fortified village.

In 682 a.d., Centwine, the Angle, “drove the Britons of the west as far as the sea, at the sword point”. This seems to indicate a more determined Anglo-Saxon invasion of Devon and an attempt to push the Celts further west. Assuming the Exe to be in the hands of the Saxons, the sea mentioned is probably the natural boundary made by the river Teign. It is probable that the Saxons took over Taintona and gave it a name in their own tongue, while the Celts moved across the river.

The old hillside lookout above the Teign now fulfilled another purpose; that of a Celtic spyhole against the Saxons.

In 800 a.d., Egbert made another attempt to extend the Saxon rule in Devon, but at this time the Saxons themselves were being harried.

Another race of marauders was sweeping down on Britain. These were the Danes. Now began a time of fear. The Saxon settlers complained that the sea, formerly their friend, was now

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their enemy, because it bore the bloodthirsty Danes. The Northmen, whether Danes or Norsemen, were collectively called Vikings, and they were very fierce. Their pagan gods demanded terrible sacrifices, and blood-lust was their dominant characteristic.

The people of Taintona, tilling their tiny fields on the well-drained hillsides, tending their salt-pans and fishing and hunting along the Teign, heard terrible stories of the havoc wrought by the Vikings in other places and feared that, sooner or later, their peaceful life would be disturbed. Travelling tradesmen brought them the news of raids along the south coast. Lookouts were told to keep a sharp watch for the dreaded longboats nosing their way among the sandbanks at the river mouth. Children were warned to come from their play at the first shout. Cattle and sheep were kept near the village stockade. In the evenings, the people gathered together to hear stories, sung in rude verse about mighty deeds of old, and about present catastrophes.

They worshipped the Christian God, but they cautiously propitiated the old pagan gods; the uncertain spirits of the trees, the streams and the standing stones. They lived a poor life, their staple diet being fish and molluscs, coarse bread and gruel. They worked from dawn till dusk and thought themselves happy. Their houses were built of mud or wood and were tiny, uncomfortable dwellings which they often shared with their animals. Down river from Taintona, the future site of Teignmouth was a swampy waste, bounded on one side by the sea and on the other by the river Teign. It was deeply indented by the estuary of a small stream called the Tame, which flowed down from Haldon and ran into the Teign on the landward side of the Point. Spring tides swept up this estuary as far as the rising ground of what is now Fore Street. A trackway from Taintona followed the line of Bitton Park Road and Fore Street as far as Brook Hill. It then turned sharply eastward to ford the Tame and reach the rocky foreshore just below East Cliff, where a fresh water stream ran into the sea. Here were salt-pans and fish-salting cellars (whose remains are still visible at certain stages of the tide) and a few fishermen’s huts. The people built a small chapel here in the Saxon style, where the fishermen could obtain God’s blessing before they set out on the hostile sea. There were also saltpans at the mouth of the Tame.

The people’s life was hard by our standards, but they knew no other. About 800 a.d., the thing they feared most seems to have happened. Camden reports:

“Tinemutha, a little village at the mouth of the river Teign whereof it also hath the name; where the Danes that were sent before to discover the situation of Britain and to sound the landing places, being first set ashore about the year of salvation 800 and having slain the Governor of the place, took it as an ominous good token of future victorie, which indeed afterward they followed with crueltie through the whole island.”

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This statement is confirmed by Risdon, but other chroniclers believe that it refers to Tynemouth.

Be that as it may, it is certain that the fear of Danish invasions was a great factor in the life of the people of Taintona at that time. In 865 a.d., a great army of Vikings came and settled in Kent and the whole of Britain was gradually over-run. In 877/878 a.d., the Danes in the Exeter district were out-manoeuvred by Alfred and forced to make peace. They were also defeated in the same year by the “theigns of Devon”, and after that the bloodshed was not so great. The Danes then tended to settle and intermingle with our stock.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle contains many references to incursions into Devon by the Danes between 800 and 1,000 a.d. Pallig, a brother-in-law of King Sweyn, was a mercenary hired by King Aethelred to protect the coast, on the lines of “set a thief to catch a thief”. This manoeuvre was not very successful; in the year 1,001 a.d., Pallig turned traitor and joined his countrymen in rapine and pillage. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle states that: “the Danes went Westwards till they came to the Defanas (Devon) and there came to meet them Pallig with the ships that he could muster . . . And they burned Teignton, and also many other good vills which we cannot name; and peace was afterward there made with them. And then they went thence to the mouth of the Exe, so that they went up in one course until they came to Penhoe; and there were Kola, the Kings High Reeve, and Eadsige, the Kings Reeve, opposed to them with the force that they could gather; and they were put in flight and many were slain, and the Danish had possession of the place of carnage.”

Teignton has been variously described as Kingsteignton and Bishopsteignton, but we favour the latter interpretation. Bishops-teignton is later referred to as a manor, and all manors were founded between 449 a.d. and 1307 a.d. They were instituted soon after the landing of Hengist and Horsa in 449, and they were abolished after the reign of Edward the First, who died in 1307. It is likely that Bishopsteignton was made a parish and a manor in the time of Bishop Honorius and was therefore well established, as Taintona, or Teignton, by the year 1001. It is unlikely that the Danes would sail up the Teign past such a prosperous-looking village and plunder Kingsteignton, which could only have been approached through marshy and difficult terrain.

At that time, Teignmouth can only have been a collection of miserable huts, which were probably burnt down anyway.

The district by now was entirely in Saxon hands, since King Athelstan had defeated the Celts, under King Huwel, on Haldon Hill in 927 a.d. The Celts then withdrew into Cornwall. Athelstan celebrated his victory by founding a monastery (now known as “Old Walls”) at Bishopsteignton. At that time, the Celtic place names must have changed under Saxon pronunciation. Bryn Maur

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became Ringmore. Dyfnaint, the old name for Devon (the land of the dark valleys) was pronounced by the Celts as Duv-nant, which was later corrupted by the Romans to Dumnonia and was said by the Saxons as Defena.

By the time of the Norman invasion in 1066, Teignmouth was beginning to be established in its own right. In 1044, it is mentioned in the charter of Edward the Confessor, which still exists in the Cathedral Library at Exeter. The body of this deed is in Latin, but the boundaries of the land conveyed are in Saxon, probably to facilitate local understanding. The Charter is attested by 51 witnesses, and runs as follows:

“All things above, below and in the deep are governed by the rule of the King of Kings whose unlimited benevolence, as soon as it has perceived a man who is obedient to him, both enriches him abundantly with immediate wealth, and after the completion of this miserable life, causes him to pass on the wings of angels to the kingdom of Heavenly joys. Who also by the will of the Eternal Father distributes the sceptres and the rights of kingdoms. He is surely the Lord of Lords, and without doubt the King of all Kings. The purpose for which this charter of gift has been commenced by us will consequently be clear from the succeeding paragraph. Therefore I, Edward by the help of the most mighty God, and not merely with his consent, possessor of the Monarchy of the whole land of England and of Britain, have granted to a certain worthy chaplain of mine called Leofric, a certain tract of land in the vill which the inhabitants of that region call Doflisc, that is to say seven manors of plough land in that place, by the tenure that it shall be governed honorably under his dominion and power all the days of his life and without any machination, and that he shall have power after the end of his days of appointing or nominating the the same to whomsoever he please. Moreover we direct that the aforesaid land shall be free of all fiscal tribute or tax, together with pastures, meadows and woods; except these three things, military service, the building of bridges and castles. These things having been settled in accordance with our duty or as was pleasing to our dignity and desire, a matter which should by no means be consigned to oblivion, we desire that this present written letter of our licence, may condemn, trample underfoot and anathematize all charter of rivals if any such be found in opposition to the said letter. Moreover if anyone, which I do not at all suppose will happen, shall attempt with audacious presumption, and by instigation of the devil contrary to our decree, to make of no effort or bring to nought this Charter of gift, first which is the more serious, may he incur the wrath of Almighty God, and of His Mother the pure and intact Mary, then may he incur my wrath and the wrath of all my officers; and may he know himself to be criminal and guilty at all hours and moments of his life, and may his lot be with Dathan and Abiram, and with the crafty Beelzebub, the Lord of flies, in the lower gulf, and may

six that which he basely and impudently acquires not acknowledge him, but that he may be expelled from our presence with every kind of shame, unless with fitting repentance and of his own accord and not under compulsion, he shall strive to make amends. This charter was executed in the year of the Incarnation of our Lord MXLIIII, indiction epact XVIII and concurrent VII, in leap year, the most pious King Edward happily governing the nation of the English.

“These are the land boundaries: First at Teignmouth, up along the estuary to crampan-steort, and so back again by the salterns along the street on the West side of St. Michael’s Church, and so North along the street to the great dyke; thence North back right on to the blind well, from the blind well North straight on to the downstone, thence back right along the old dyke North right on over the watershed combe; thence up along the row of old staples right along the ridge to the sand hollows along the street to the black penn; thence along the street to the top of the broad moor; and thence right along the street to the earth forts and so North along the street to the stone heap, and so down along the street to Doflisc ford and thence North from the ford along the market street to the head of the valley of rushes, so down along the stream to Cocc ford; and so along the estuary out on Exe; down back along Exe to Sciterlakes outfall and so up along Sciterlake to the estuary head, thence forward South on the old dyke and so right onto the red stone, from the stone South, out to sea, and so West by the sea back to Teignmouth.”

Leofric, who received this land, was later made Bishop of Devon and Cornwall, and this had much bearing on the subsequent history of the area.

Some interesting points emerge from this document. Edward must have felt that the “curse” winch he laid on anyone who stole the land would be sufficient to deter him. Therefore we know that the inhabitants of the area were God-fearing Christians and that any Celts who remained, and who might have had previous title to the land, would also fear the wrath of God if they defrauded Leofric. We also know that the salterns at Teignmouth must have been of some importance, since they were mentioned as a landmark.

The picture emerges of a simple, rustic folk engaged in tilling the soil, salt-making and fishing. Their standard of living was probably very low, but their overlord, Leofric, would be just, if not kind. The Danish invasions had now stopped and life was a peaceful round of sowing and reaping, of catching and curing fish, of collecting shellfish and of making and selling salt. At intervals, natural catastrophes would occur and a family would mourn a man lost at sea, or a hard winter would find them short of food; but on the whole their lives were contented.

With regard to the boundaries themselves, “crampan steort” meant a piece of land shaped like the fluke of an anchor, probably the sandbank thrown up at the mouth of the Tame. The salterns

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were undoubtedly on the banks of the Tame, since fresh water was needed in the process of making the salt. The word “street” did not mean a street as we understand the word, but merely a road, so that there is no indication of houses in the area, although there must have been some huts. The great dyke was without doubt situated where Dawlish Road now runs, and it probably emptied onto the beach below East Teignmouth Church. The “blind well” (a well whose opening is not visible) was situated on the East side of Woodway Road and a little North of New Road, immediately behind a house called “Wilbraham”.

When Lyfing, Bishop of Devon and Cornwall, died in 1046, Leofric was appointed to the See. He transferred the See from Crediton to Exeter, and he was still in office at the time of the Conquest.

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The Birth of the Town

The coming of the Normans made little impression on the County of Devon. Men went to fight and their wives mourned those who did not return, but the lives of these West Saxons, who were mixed in blood with the Celts and other, more primitive, peoples, were not disrupted to any great extent. Some of them were secretly pleased to see the Saxons overthrown, for many grieved for the old days. The Normans did not immediately penetrate to this part of the country, and one King in London is no worse than another.

In 1069, William the Conqueror made a grant of land to the Church of St. Peter at Exeter. This land included the manor of Holacumb (a hyde and a half of land adjoining Dawlish) and roughly corresponded to what is now the parish of East Teign-mouth. The charter was in Latin and was witnessed, among others, by the future William the Second. It is now in Exeter Cathedral Library.

Bishop Leofric apparently had given this land freely to William, who returned it to him as a gift to the Church, so that the See might derive its title direct from the Crown instead of through its Bishop, who was the original owner. The land was to be used “for the maintenance of Canons”, but Leofric himself retained the income from Dawlish.

Leofric died in 1073. It is interesting to note that the list of his lands does not mention a strip of land -now part of East Teignmouth -between Woodway Road and the River Tame. Perhaps this land was regarded as worthless because it was so often flooded. It was later named “Penny an Acre” or “Pennyacre”.

After Leofric’s death, it is probable that this gift of land was in some way set aside, since a later Market Charter for East Teignmouth states that the ancestors of Philip de Furnell enjoyed the possession of this land “in the time of King Henry the First and by the confirmation of King Henry the Second”.

Exeter, at this time, was a growing city. The Cathedral was being built, and, in wealth and importance, the city could have borne comparison with London, York and Winchester. In 1067/ 68 a.d., it had rebelled against William the Conqueror, but had finally submitted to his rule. In 1068/69 a.d., there was a rising throughout Devon and Cornwall to expel the Normans, but this also came to nothing. It is inconceivable that, in such troublous times, Teignmouth should have no strong views on the Norman Conquest, but there is no record of fighting men going from the town, nor of punishment imposed on local levies.

In 1085 a.d., when the Domesday Survey was carried out, the Church had lost East Teignmouth, but was still holding Bishops-teignton, or Taintona, as it was still called.

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There is a well-marked trackway across the Moor from the Belstone area, through the Teign valley to a spot on the Teign estuary now called Salcombe of, where salt was made on the banks of a fresh water rivulet. There is little doubt that, at this time, the land below Salcombe was too dangerous and too marshy for any settled habitation or industry. These early vendors of salt must have been a small dark people, probably of Mediterranean stock, who had intermarried with Phoenician and other Mediterranean traders. They had probably originally worshipped the Mother Goddess, the moon, but by the Bronze Age they had given their allegiance to a Father God in the form of the sun. The taller, blonder Celts, moving westwards owing to pressure from the eastern invaders, intermarried with these early Devonians and their children were either small and dark, like the original inhabitants of the land, or tall and blond, like the newcomers. Both types are commonly found in Devon to this day.The coming of the Romans did not make such an impact on Devon as it did on the rest of the country. Exeter was a Roman station of importance and the head of Roman power in the district, and there are a few evidences of Roman occupation west of Exeter. For the sake of trade, the Romans kept up the system of British trackways within the County, but they only adapted the existing roads -the salt-tracks and trade-routes across the Moor, which had been built centuries before and ran straight across hillside and valley, the way being marked by crosses and beacons

Higher Jurston , Teigncombe , batworthy, Chagford , Hurston , Collihole , Venn . Willandhcad Jurston

Higher Jurston Dartmoor

Of some 650 round barrows (nearly all cairns) at least 130 of the smaller ones, mostly in low-lying situations near rivers and streams, have a central stone cist exposed. These cists are mostly large enough to have contained a contracted interment but unburnt bones do not survive in the acid soil of Dartmoor. Four of these cists have yielded beakers and another three have yielded other grave-goods normally found with inhumations. About six others have yielded cremations assumed Early Bronze Age. Of some 580 small cairns about 130 have retaining circles or kerbs, and at least 57 have a stone row proceeding from the cairn downhill, usually following the line of minimum slope. Dartmoor is the classic area for small cairns with retaining circles and stone rows. Many of them, however, are extremely difficult to find unless one is armed with a large-scale map, a compass and plenty of time. Apart from the fine cist north of Fernworthy reservoir and one or two other notable sites , the more interesting cairns are on the ‘low’ moor south The largest concentration of cisted cairns is around the Drizzlecombe valley in the Ditsworthy Warren and Plym Steps area, but this is difficult to reach and one has to walk a long way. A more accessible group is on Lakehead hill in the midst of Believer Forest, where the Forestry Commission has made clearances around the cairns. The best known and most often illustrated site here, a cairn with ‘above ground’ cist and retaining circle and stone row, is a conjectural restoration of the late nineteenth century.Of the large cairns crowning many of the hills, several incorporate tors or smaller outcrops. Amongst the largest are the Three Barrows although they have been plundered for stone for centuries. The linear group on Hamel Down includes Two Barrows, the northern of which yielded in 1877 a cremation accompanied by a grooved bronze dagger and an amber pommel with gold pointille decoration (destroyed by enemy action on Plymouth in 1941).

The history of Wooston Castle

12th April 2018

As our 14 day excavation of Wooston Hillfort is now underway we thought it would be a good opportunity to provide some background on the history of hillforts, summarise what we already know about Wooston Castle and highlight the significance of our dig.

Like many prehistoric monuments, Wooston Castle hillfort is a bit of an enigma. The term ‘hillfort’ as an archaeological terminology has become a generalisation. Oxford University who are currently running a nation-wide project, entitled ‘Atlas’ to record and categorise hillforts, comment that the categorisation of hillforts is a ‘disparate subject’ and it’s very true. There are at least 4,147 hillforts in Britain and Ireland and there is a huge range of forms and functions.

To confuse matters further they are not always on hills, examples such as Oldbury Camp (Wessex) and Lower Exbury (New Forest) are on low lying ground. In the case of Exbury, half of the fort is now submerged in the mouth of the Beaulieu River.

In contrast, Flower’s Barrow hillfort sits on a cliffside overlooking the sea, while Buckland Rings in the New Forest overlooks the Lymington river and the now obliterated, low-lying, Ampress Camp hillfort. In each case, the location appears to have a possible relationship to the function of the hillfort.

There is no ‘standard’ function for a Hillfort. Danebury Rings in Hampshire, for example, is an inland hillfort and perhaps the most famous and well researched hillfort in Britain. It was occupied from the 6th century BC and shows evidence of use up until the 1st Century BC with occasional use or occupation through the Roman period. The fort contained extensive numbers of roundhouses and grain storage pits.

Finds buried in the pits included: javelins; spears; swords; and other military equipment but also a vast range of domestic and agricultural goods and equipment including: iron sickles; iron ard tips and bar share; ovens and other domestic wares; seed grains and querns; and weaving gear.

In contrast, Bury Hill in Upper Clatford had two main phases. The first dating from the early Iron Age shows no evidence of permanent settlement. The second phase, which dates between the first and second centuries BC, shows evidence of a specialised function, as the finds largely consisted of horse trapping and horse skeletons but no carbonised grain or human remains (https://content.historicengland.org.uk/images-books/publications/wessex-hillforts-project/wessexhillfortschap02p39to130.pdf/).

The traditional interpretations of hillforts have focused on their potential role as military complexes or the imagined seats of local chieftains but since the 1960’s they have been reimagined. They are now understood as: distribution centres; storage spaces for grain and other goods; meeting spaces and prestige sites that are highly visible in the landscape; ceremonial or ritual centres; and some hillforts are located in vulnerable positions or lack defenses all together!

Wooston Castle

There are no records of a previous excavation of Wooston Castle. The castle has a form which is unique and differs greatly from the nearby Cranbrook and Prestonbury Castles. It is located on the slope of the hill as opposed to the top, giving it a clear view up and down the valley. The images below are part of a LIDAR survey of the Teign Valley undertaken by Archaeogeomancy and Bluesky on behalf of the Fingle Woods Project. Cranbrook Castle, a multivallate (multiple circuits of earthworks around a central enclosure) hillfort. This is the form that most people associate with hillforts. Prestonbury Castle, a univallate (a single circular hillfort with outlaying ramparts). Note Prestonbury’s oval form is different from the ‘classic’ form of Cranbrook Castle. Wooston Castle, a slight univallate hillfort with outlaying earthworks. Note that the banks are less defined on the north edge near the top of the image and the unusual spurs of ramparts outside the main enclosure. The southern most ramparts form a wide holloway leading to a complex entrance. The three hillforts are situated close together in the landscape, with Prestonbury Castle visible from Wooston Castle. Hillforts are present from the late 2nd millienium BC with the majority being built in the 1st century BC. With slight univallate hillforts like Wooston believed to date between the eighth and fifth centuries BC.So what is the relationship between the three forts? The honest answer is that nobody knows! Cranbrook Castle is the only fort of the three that has been excavated, in 1901 by Baring Gold. Finds included 2 hut circles, a rotary quern and pottery and cairns that probably date from later clearance. There have been no excavations on the forts since 1901. We don’t know the chronological order the forts were built in, or if they were contemporary with each other. We don’t know the function of the forts, if all were occupied or for how long. We don’t know who built them. The Iron Age is a time of increasing contact with continental Europe and movement of people and cultural traditions, so we should not assume this is a purely ‘British’ population or influence. This is why the dig at Wooston Castle really matters. From soil trapped beneath the original rampart we will hopefully be able to extract seeds, pollen and other biological material which will inform us of environmental conditions at the time of its construction (more details about this in a later blog). We also hope to obtain samples of wood for carbon dating which might tell us when the fort was in use.

There is a well-marked trackway across the Moor from the Belstone area, through the Teign valley to a spot on the Teign estuary now called Salcombe of, where salt was made on the banks of a fresh water rivulet. There is little doubt that, at this time, the land below Salcombe was too dangerous and too marshy for any settled habitation or industry. These early vendors of salt must have been a small dark people, probably of Mediterranean stock, who had intermarried with Phoenician and other Mediterranean traders. They had probably originally worshipped the Mother Goddess, the moon, but by the Bronze Age they had given their allegiance to a Father God in the form of the sun. The taller, blonder Celts, moving westwards owing to pressure from the eastern invaders, intermarried with these early Devonians and their children were either small and dark, like the original inhabitants of the land, or tall and blond, like the newcomers. Both types are commonly found in Devon to this day.The coming of the Romans did not make such an impact on Devon as it did on the rest of the country. Exeter was a Roman station of importance and the head of Roman power in the district, and there are a few evidences of Roman occupation west of Exeter. For the sake of trade, the Romans kept up the system of British trackways within the County, but they only adapted the existing roads -the salt-tracks and trade-routes across the Moor, which had been built centuries before and ran straight across hillside and valley, the way being marked by crosses and beacons

The history of Wooston Castle

12th April 2018

As our 14 day excavation of Wooston Hillfort is now underway we thought it would be a good opportunity to provide some background on the history of hillforts, summarise what we already know about Wooston Castle and highlight the significance of our dig.

Like many prehistoric monuments, Wooston Castle hillfort is a bit of an enigma. The term ‘hillfort’ as an archaeological terminology has become a generalisation. Oxford University who are currently running a nation-wide project, entitled ‘Atlas’ to record and categorise hillforts, comment that the categorisation of hillforts is a ‘disparate subject’ and it’s very true. There are at least 4,147 hillforts in Britain and Ireland and there is a huge range of forms and functions.

To confuse matters further they are not always on hills, examples such as Oldbury Camp (Wessex) and Lower Exbury (New Forest) are on low lying ground. In the case of Exbury, half of the fort is now submerged in the mouth of the Beaulieu River.

In contrast, Flower’s Barrow hillfort sits on a cliffside overlooking the sea, while Buckland Rings in the New Forest overlooks the Lymington river and the now obliterated, low-lying, Ampress Camp hillfort. In each case, the location appears to have a possible relationship to the function of the hillfort.

There is no ‘standard’ function for a Hillfort. Danebury Rings in Hampshire, for example, is an inland hillfort and perhaps the most famous and well researched hillfort in Britain. It was occupied from the 6th century BC and shows evidence of use up until the 1st Century BC with occasional use or occupation through the Roman period. The fort contained extensive numbers of roundhouses and grain storage pits.

Finds buried in the pits included: javelins; spears; swords; and other military equipment but also a vast range of domestic and agricultural goods and equipment including: iron sickles; iron ard tips and bar share; ovens and other domestic wares; seed grains and querns; and weaving gear.

In contrast, Bury Hill in Upper Clatford had two main phases. The first dating from the early Iron Age shows no evidence of permanent settlement. The second phase, which dates between the first and second centuries BC, shows evidence of a specialised function, as the finds largely consisted of horse trapping and horse skeletons but no carbonised grain or human remains (https://content.historicengland.org.uk/images-books/publications/wessex-hillforts-project/wessexhillfortschap02p39to130.pdf/).

The traditional interpretations of hillforts have focused on their potential role as military complexes or the imagined seats of local chieftains but since the 1960’s they have been reimagined. They are now understood as: distribution centres; storage spaces for grain and other goods; meeting spaces and prestige sites that are highly visible in the landscape; ceremonial or ritual centres; and some hillforts are located in vulnerable positions or lack defenses all together!

Wooston Castle

There are no records of a previous excavation of Wooston Castle. The castle has a form which is unique and differs greatly from the nearby Cranbrook and Prestonbury Castles. It is located on the slope of the hill as opposed to the top, giving it a clear view up and down the valley. The images below are part of a LIDAR survey of the Teign Valley undertaken by Archaeogeomancy and Bluesky on behalf of the Fingle Woods Project. Cranbrook Castle, a multivallate (multiple circuits of earthworks around a central enclosure) hillfort. This is the form that most people associate with hillforts. Prestonbury Castle, a univallate (a single circular hillfort with outlaying ramparts). Note Prestonbury’s oval form is different from the ‘classic’ form of Cranbrook Castle. Wooston Castle, a slight univallate hillfort with outlaying earthworks. Note that the banks are less defined on the north edge near the top of the image and the unusual spurs of ramparts outside the main enclosure. The southern most ramparts form a wide holloway leading to a complex entrance. The three hillforts are situated close together in the landscape, with Prestonbury Castle visible from Wooston Castle. Hillforts are present from the late 2nd millienium BC with the majority being built in the 1st century BC. With slight univallate hillforts like Wooston believed to date between the eighth and fifth centuries BC.So what is the relationship between the three forts? The honest answer is that nobody knows! Cranbrook Castle is the only fort of the three that has been excavated, in 1901 by Baring Gold. Finds included 2 hut circles, a rotary quern and pottery and cairns that probably date from later clearance. There have been no excavations on the forts since 1901. We don’t know the chronological order the forts were built in, or if they were contemporary with each other. We don’t know the function of the forts, if all were occupied or for how long. We don’t know who built them. The Iron Age is a time of increasing contact with continental Europe and movement of people and cultural traditions, so we should not assume this is a purely ‘British’ population or influence. This is why the dig at Wooston Castle really matters. From soil trapped beneath the original rampart we will hopefully be able to extract seeds, pollen and other biological material which will inform us of environmental conditions at the time of its construction (more details about this in a later blog). We also hope to obtain samples of wood for carbon dating which might tell us when the fort was in use.

Teignbridge Hundred Teignbridge Hundred was the name of one of thirty two ancient administrative units of Devon, England.
The parishes in the hundred were: Ashburton, Bickington, Bovey Tracey, Hennock, Highweek, Ideford, Ilsington, Kingsteignton, Lustleigh, Manaton, Moretonhampstead, North Bovey and Teigngrace, Tiverton Hundred, West Budleigh Hundred, Witheridge Hundred, Wonford Hundred

TEIGNMOUTH
50
putting greens and tennis courts, and with an entertainment pavilion.
From the centre of The Den the Pier extends a distance of six hundred feet. It has recently been remodelled, and possesses a sheltered promenade and a Ballroom. At the southern end of the Promenade, known as The Point, are the ferry to Shaldon and boats for fishing, rowing, or sailing. Near The Point is the Lighthouse, the red lamp of which, in connection with a similar one on the front of Powderham Terrace, guides the mariner safely into the haven at night. Other features of this end of The Den are the Lifeboat House and the Coastguard Station. Here, too, is the main Parking Place for cars.
It is a fine walk northward from the other end of The Den to Hole Head, where the railway leaps the little cove at the foot of Smugglers’ Lane, as charming as it is short.
Bitton Park, about five acres of well-kept and sheltered gardens at the west end of the town, a little short of the bridge, and overlooking the river, formed part of the old Bitton estate, once the seat of that Lord Exmouth famed in connection with the bombardment of Algiers.
Teignmouth consists of two parishes—East and West Teignmouth, divided by the covered-in stream, the Tame— and each parish has its own church. That of East Teignmouth, St. Michael’s Church, took the place of an old Norman edifice in 1823. When the latter was removed, it bore marks of ill-usage received at the hands of the French in 1690. A screen with rood was erected in r923, and in 1927 the Bishop of Exeter dedicated a Lady Chapel and new vestries.
St. James’s Church, West Teignmouth, is a heavy, battle-mented octagonal building, its interior presenting a peculiar appearance on account of the slender pillars, supporting the roof, in the centre of which is an octagonal lantern. The reredos is a beautiful specimen of fourteenth-century stone carving. The tower is all that remains of the structure mentioned in Bishop Bronescombe’s Register, dated 1275. The bells in it are said to have been rung after the battle of Crecy, 1346; but they were recast in 1879.
From Shaldon or Teignmouth many pleasant excursions may be made up the river Teign. A favourite walk or drive is to—
COOMBE CELLARS—BISHOPSTEIGNTON 51
Coombe Cellars
about three miles from Shaldon, on the Torquay side of the river. Coombe Cellars can be reached by the motor-boats which make periodical visits, also by a delightful row up the river, but an eye should be kept on the tide. The inn makes a charming spot for afternoon tea, which can be enjoyed in the gardens or indoors. The late S. Baring-Gould made Coombe Cellars the scene of his novel, Kitty Alone. The old inn is only a memory, but the smarter building perpetuates the fame of its predecessor for Devon junkets and the finest of fresh cockles, salmon, and lobster teas. The village of Coombe-in-Teignhead is not far distant across the fields.
Its only claims to notice are its situation and its church, a cruciform building in the Perpendicular style, containing a screen of some interest, and some old bench-ends. In the village is an almshouse built by William Bourchier, third Earl of Bath, in 1620.
A mile south of Coombe-in-Teignhead is the diminutive church of Haccombe , while the Torquay road may be regained by way of Stoke-in-Teignhead
On the Teignmouth side of the river is—
Bishopsteignton
a walk or bus ride of a little over two miles from Teignmouth, or four from Newton Abbot. The village is ofl the hillside opposite Coombe Cellars and under the height of Haldon (800 ft.).
Bishopsteignton owes its "teignton” (which it shares with Kingsteignton, some three miles to the west) to its position on the banks of the river; while the prefix distinguishing it from the other village is believed to have been bestowed because Bishop Grandisson, of Exeter, lord of the manor from 1327 to 1369, erected a palace here, the walls of the chapel attached to which are still in existence—in the lane leading from the main part of the village to the Teignmouth-Exeter high road on Haldon.
The Church is dedicated to St. John the Baptist. Oliver says: “the chancel

Fingle Bridge is a 17th-century stone arch bridge carrying an unclassified road over the River Teign near Drewsteignton, within Dartmoor National Park in Devon ,England. This packhorse bridge has three arches and the two central piers are surrounded by triangular cutwaters extending upwards to form pedestrian refuges, and is a GradeII listed building.

Fingle Bridge painted in 1863 by William Widgery of Exeter

Fingle Bridge takes its name from Fingle Brook, a minor tributary which flows into the Teign adjacent to the bridge. Fingle is derived from the old English "fang", meaning to catch, a reference to the suitability of the stretch of river for fishing.

The bridge sits in the base of the deep Teign Gorge, between the ancient hillforts of Prestonbury Castle 130 metres (430ft) above the river to the north and Cranbrook Castle 230 metres (750ft)above to the south,and the bridge is built on the historic crossing point between the two. In its early years the bridge was an important crossing over the Teign used by packhorses transporting corn and wood products across the gorge, although the track up to Cranbrook Castle is now an unmaintained byway such that the bridge leads only to a car park on the south side of the river for roadgoing vehicles, the bridge's function having been replaced by the larger and more accessible Dogmarsh Bridge further upstream on the A382 road.

The arches were repaired, believed by English Heritage to have been in the 19th century.

During May 1903,Bertram Fletcher Robinson had a short story titled The Battle of Fingle's Bridge published in Pearson's Magazine (Vol. XV, pp. 530–536). This is a fairy tale, told by a small boy who falls asleep on a moor and witnesses a battle between the people of the ferns and rushes and the people of the gorse and heather. All these people are only six inches tall and are dressed in medieval garb and armour and have miniature horses and weapons. The boy, aided by a fairy, becomes involved in the battle and finally awakens to find signs of the battle on the moor. This story was illustrated by Nathan Dean.

In 1897 Jesse Ashplant founded the Fingle Bridge Tea Shelter on the north landing of the bridge, serving refreshments to the fishermen, tourists and grain carriers of the day. This developed into the Anglers' Rest pub and was later renamed as the Fingle Bridge Inn.

In 1955 Fingle Bridge was designated a Grade II listed building, reclassified in 1967 as Grade2

Related buildings

Fingle Mill once stood 200 metres (660ft) downstream, a corn mill recorded as being in operation as early as 1790 by the then owner of the bridge, George Ponsford, powered by a now-defunct 500-metre (1,600ft) long leat.

The track leading south to Cranbrook Castle is also the site of one of the Dartmoor crosses which is in the style of a granite slab with the cross engraved on it.

Route overview

You will pass a dense concentration of prehistoric and later historic sites travelling the upland route from Cranbrook Castle down Mardon, Pin Tor, past the Tottiford Reservoir area and on through Hennock, Bovey Tracey, Stover to Newton Abbot, with a direct upland return toward North Tawton along old trackways and Roman-influenced routes 

Key ancient sites on or very close to the route

• Cranbrook Castle (Iron Age hillfort)— univallate hillfort crowning Cranbrook Down overlooking the Teign; clear earthworks and strategic location above the gorge 
• Prestonbury Castle (hillfort)— the paired hillfort on the opposite side of the Teign Gorge from Cranbrook, forming the historic defended crossing there 
• Mardon Down ,  Pin Tor area (upland cairns and hut sites)— moorland with prehistoric features and good walking approaches to Cranbrook 
• Stone rows, circles and hut-circles on the South and North Teign tributaries (Fernworthy, Chagford , Chageyford area, Grey Wethers, Scaur Hill)— a cluster of Bronze Age stone-rows, cairns and circles in the wider Teign headwaters and commons; some lie on routes that feed into the Teign valley system Fingle Bridge ,  Teign Gorge prehistoric landscape— known prehistoric and medieval landscape features, with the gorge linking the three hillforts and older trackways used since the Bronze Age into historic periods
• Trackway and packhorse routes (historic salt , trade tracks across Haldon and Teign)— surviving holloways and byways that were used from prehistoric salt- and tin-tracks through medieval packhorse traffic; these lines parallel the upland roads you describe 

Roman roads, medieval routes and landscape context

• Recent LiDAR-based research shows a much more extensive Roman road network across Devon and Cornwall radiating through North Tawton and linking into local trackways that align with upland routes in your area, so expect Roman-era alignments or metalled fragments cutting across the landscape between Newton Abbot,
• North Tawton and the Teign headwaters
• Medieval and post-medieval packhorse and drove routes follow older Bronze Age and Iron Age route corridors; where the upland road meets valleys you’ll often find fords, ancient bridges and wayside features tied to these long-lived tracks
• Where concentrations occur (best places to look on your route)

• Around the Teign Gorge rim between Prestonbury and Cranbrook— hillfort pair and associated field systems and trackways 
• The Mardon Down , Pin Tor uplands — local cairns, tors and isolated hut-circle remains; good for linked prehistoric settlement evidence The Fernworthy , Chagford common to Grey Wethers corridor — dense Bronze Age ceremonial and funerary monuments and stone rows 
• Valley approaches into Bovey Tracey , Stover— later medieval, manorial features sit over earlier landscapes and small prehistoric finds turn up in local excavations and museum catalogues 

• Many features are on open access or moorland; check public rights of way and byway status before walking and avoid entering fenced or actively farmed enclosures.
• If you want a mapped inventory for GIS import  recommend building a layer of: hillforts; stone rows ,circles; cairns; Roman-road alignments; historic packhorse crossings.
• For fieldwork, target the Teign Gorge rim and the Mardon, Pin Tor slopes for the densest clustering of visible earthworks; consult LiDAR/OS historic mapping and local HER records for precise siting before visits 

: period (Bronze Age ,  Iron Age , Roman , medieval), evidence type earthwork , stone row , artefact ,documentary , and primary source (HER entry, Lidar  published survey). Start by cataloguing Cranbrook, Prestonbury, the Mardon Down features and the stone-row complexes as your core nodes, then expand along the valley corridor toward Bovey Tracey and the Roman-road vectors to North Tawton 

Short prioritized site-list (route Cranbrook — Mardon, Pin Tor — Tottiford — Hennock — Bovey Tracey — Stover — Newton Abbot; return upland to North Tawton)

Priority is based on archaeological density, visible earthworks, and relevance to historic crossing/trackway corridors. OS grid refs are approximate where reliable; use HER/OS to verify before fieldwork.

• Priority 1 — Cranbrook Castle — Hillfort — Iron Age — — Key univallate hillfort on Cranbrook Down; controls Teign Gorge corridor; start core node for the gazetteer.
• Priority 1 — Prestonbury Castle — Hillfort — Iron Age — — Paired hillfort opposite Cranbrook across Teign Gorge; forms historic crossing axis with Fingle Bridge 
• Priority 1 — Fingle Bridge — Bridge , crossing point — Medieval , post-medieval (packhorse) —  — 17th-century stone packhorse bridge at base of Teign Gorge, historic crossing between Prestonbury and Cranbrook 
• Priority 1 — Mardon Down , Pin Tor cairns and hut-sites — Burial , settlement — Bronze Age (and later) — — Upland concentration of cairns, hut-circles and track intersections; verifies upland route archaeology.
• Priority 2 — Fernworthy circle & stone-rows — Ritual ,  funerary — Bronze Age — — Circle and stone-rows on South Teign corridor; good example of ceremonial complexes feeding routeways.
• Priority 2 — Grey Wethers stone circles — Ritual — Bronze Age — — Twin circles tied to South Teign upland landscape and ancient route systems.
• Priority 2 — Tottiford Reservoir environs (former valley sites) — Multi-period finds (prehistoric to medieval) —  — Buried , removed features; check HER and reservoir archaeology records before visiting.
• Priority 2 — Packhorse, byway alignments (Mardon — Hennock — Bovey Tracey) — Linear feature — Medieval , post-medieval — OS Grid Ref: linear; map in GIS as line — Surviving holloways and byways; record as linear features with start, end nodes.
• Priority 3 — Hennock village ,  lane-side features — Manor , medieval features — Medieval —  — Later medieval features and lanes built over older route corridors.
• Priority 3 — Bovey Tracey — Multi-period settlement , manorial features — Medieval  , post-medieval —  — Town with manorial overlays; useful for linking upland resource flows to market settlement.
• Priority 3 — Stover Park (Stover House , wooded park features) — Estate landscape — 18th–19th century with earlier remnants —  — Parkland that may preserve relict field boundaries and track alignments.
• Priority 3 — Newton Abbot approaches  , former Roman-influenced alignments — Road , settlement — Roman to medieval —  — Check for Roman-road fragments and continuous route use into market centre.
• Priority 3 — Upland return route to North Tawton (old trackways) — Trackway , linear — Multi-period — OS Grid Ref: route mapping required — Map as a time-series line to capture alternate alignments and offshoots.

Sources and verification: primary descriptive facts about the Fingle Bridge location and its context (bridge between Prestonbury and Cranbrook, packhorse use, 17th-century stone arch, Grade II listing) are recorded in local historic summaries and heritage entries For precise OS grid refs and HER identifiers, verify each record against the Devon HER and Ordnance Survey 1:25k/1:50k or Master Map before final import 

How to import into QGIS (quick steps)

According to Wace and Layamon,

in the time of  King Arthur  circa 6th century  Cador , Earl of Cornwall , pursued Childric the Saxon Kaiser and his troops as they fled towards their ships ,  which were moored (apparently) off Teignmouth Beach. Cador overtook them on the banks of the Teign. The churls, armed with “bats” and pitchforks, slew a large number of the Saxons and “then saw Childric that it befell to them evilly; that all his mickle folk fell to the ground; now he saw there beside a hill exceeding great; the water floweth thereunder that is named Teine; the hill is named Teinewic ; thitherward fled Childric with his four and twenty knights ... and Cador heaved up his sword and Childric he slew ... in the Teine water he perished.”

It seems very likely that the hill mentioned was the Ness, which was once known as Bryn Maur, or the great hill, and the battle probably took place on Shaldon sands.

The crossing from Shaldon to Teignmouth and the ferry dues were part of the perquisites of the Earl of Cornwall (who also called himself King of the Romans, a title dating from King Arthur’s day) in the 11th century a .d ., and it is probable that Cador gained these as part of the spoils of battle. By the middle of the 7th century a .d ., the valleys of the lower Exe and the Creedy were occupied by Saxons, and the Britons (as the Celtic and Mediterranean peoples called themselves) lived more or less amicably with them in the town of Exeter, but Devon was still predominantly Celtic and was ruled by a Celtic monarch. At this time, Bishop Honorius of Canterbury settled the boundaries of the land and fixed parishes. Taintona probably received official recognition. The parish of St. Nicholas was designated at Bryn Maur (Celtic for “Great Hill”) now corrupted into “Ringmore.” Taintona was probably not called by that name in those days, as “ton” or “tun” is a Saxon word for a settlement, and means a fencible place. It was, however, a fortified village. In 682 a .d ., Centwine, the Angle, “drove the Britons of the west as far as the sea, at the sword point”. This seems to indicate a more determined Anglo-Saxon invasion of Devon and an attempt to push the Celts further west. Assuming the Exe to be in the hands of the Saxons, the sea mentioned is probably the natural boundary made by the river Teign. It is probable that the Saxons took over Taintona and gave it a name in their own tongue, while the Celts moved across the river. The old hillside lookout above the Teign now fulfilled another purpose; that of a Celtic spyhole against the Saxons. In 800 a .d ., Egbert made another attempt to extend the Saxon rule in Devon, but at this time the Saxons themselves were being harried. Another race of marauders was sweeping down on Britain. These were the Danes. Now began a time of fear. The Saxon settlers complained that the sea, formerly their friend, was now

their enemy ;

Countless ages ago, the earth threw up the molten rock which was to become Dartmoor, the backbone of the County of Devon.

Convulsive movements raised and lowered the land, so that the great rock mass became part of a vast continent which included the land which we now call France.

Then the sea rushed in, filling the depression which was to become the English Channel and making islands of the rocky promontories of the Continental coasts. Movements continued intermittently over thousands of years, and masses of sand, silt and pebbles were laid down around the rock mass.

The ice ages came and went and, although they did not reach as far south as the embryonic Dartmoor, snow-slips which preceded the glaciers carried debris which was scattered over the Moor as “clitters.”

In warmer intervals between the centuries of ice, there were great floods of rain, which weathered and split the great rock plateau and rushed down from the high land in steep, stormy torrents - the beginning of the Taw, the Torridge, the Plym, the Dart and the Teign.

The Teign carried with it thousands of tons of rotted granite, which it laid down in its lower reaches as boulder clay. It cut for itself a narrow course through the softer rocks below the Moor and eventually poured into the sea through a sunken valley which we now call the Teign Estuary.

At the mouth of the valley, the current of the river, checked by the sea and by broken rocks, silt and sand, built up an area of beachy mud. The river, deflected by this barrier, took a sharp turn to the right and cut a way for itself at the foot of the great cliff which we now call the Ness.

The heaving crust of the earth had now become more stable.

Life had established itself on the land and the brown bear, the mammoth and the sabre-toothed tiger were wandering over the countryside, hunting, and being hunted by, primitive man.

The caves at Brixham and Torquay show traces of man’s habitation and there are signs that wild beasts lived there too.

No doubt Palaeolithic man hunted over the hills around Teignmouth and fished in the Teign, but there is no record of inhabited caves in or near Teignmouth.

Thousands of years later,

Bronze Age man lived on Haldon and he regarded the shores of Teignmouth as a good place to obtain supplies of salt for preserving his meat and for adding savour to his food.

References in the works of Greek and Roman writers show that in pre-Roman times there was a flourishing civilization in the West of England,

Chageyford

CHAGFORD

"Chageyford in the dirt"—The making of Chagford—The old clerk—The church—Tincombe Lane—Chagford Common—Flint finds— Scaur Hill circle—Stone rows—The Tolmen—The Teign river— Camps on it—Drewsteignton cromlech—Gidleigh—Old farmhouses —Fernworthy—The Grey Wethers—Teignhead House—Browne's House—Story about it—Grimspound—Birch Tor stone rows— Chaw Gully—The Webburn.

CHAGFORD is in Domesday written Chageford, and this is the local pronunciation of the name at the present day. The natives say, "Chageford in the dirt—O good Lord!"

But Chagford has had the ability and promptitude to get out of the dirt and prove itself to be anything but a stick-in-the-mud place. It is with places as with people, some have good luck fall to them, others make their fortunes for themselves. Okehampton belongs to the former class, Chagford to the latter. It owes almost everything to a late rector, who, resolved on pushing the place, invited down magazine editors and professional littérateurs entertained them, drove them about, and was rewarded by articles appearing in journals and serials, belauding Chagford for its salubrious climate, its incomparable scenery, its ready hospitality, its rural sweetness, and its archaeological interest.

Whither the writers pointed with their pens, thither the public ran, and Chagford was made. It has now every appliance suitable—pure water, electric lighting, telephone, a bicycle shop, and doctors to patch broken heads and set broken limbs of those upset from the "bikes."

Chagford is undoubtedly a picturesque and pleasant spot. It is situated near Dartmoor, and is sheltered from the cold and from the rainy drift that comes from the south-west. The lodging-house keepers know how to make visitors comfortable, and to charge for so doing. The church has been restored, coaches run to bring visitors, and the roads and lanes have been widened.

I recall the church before modern ideas had penetrated to Chagford. At that time the clerk, who also led the orchestra, gave out the psalm from his seat under the reading-desk, then, whistling the tune, he marched slowly down the nave, ascended to the gallery with leisure, and the performance began.

The church, dedicated to S. Michael, was rebuilt in the middle of the fifteenth century, when the Gorges family owned much land in the parish. Their cognisance, the whirlpool, a canting cognisance (gurges) appears in the bosses of the roof. It contains two monuments of some importance: one is a handsome stone altar tomb, with a canopy supported on columns, in memory of Sir John Whiddon, of Whiddon Park, Judge of Queen's Bench, who died in 1575; the other is to commemorate John Prouze, who died in 1664.

The Three Crowns Inn, opposite the church, is a picturesque building of the seventeenth century. Chagford was one of the Stannary towns, but no remains of the court-house exist.

On Mattadon, above the town, stands a rude early cross of granite.

The ascent to the moor by Tincombe Lane, as I remember it half a century ago, was no better than a watercourse, strewn with boulders, to be scrambled up or down at the risk of dislocation of the ankle. It then well merited the descriptive lines:—

"Tincombe Lane is all uphill
   Or downhill, as you take it;
 You tumble up, and crack your crown,
   Or tumble down and break it.

"Tincombe Lane is crook'd and straight,
   Here pothook, there as arrow,
 'Tis smooth to foot, 'tis full of rut,
   'Tis wide, and then, 'tis narrow.

"Tincombe Lane is just like life,
   From when you leave your mother;
 'Tis sometimes this, 'tis sometimes that,
   'Tis one thing or the other."

Now all is changed. A steam-roller goes up and down Tincombe Lane, the angles have been rounded, the precipitous portions made easy, the ruts filled up. And life likewise is now made easy for the rising generation—possibly too easy. Ruggedness had a charm of its own, and bred vigour of constitution and moral physique.

Chagford having lost, by death, the whistling clerk, started a blind organist. Now, also, he is gone. Every peculiarity is being crushed out of modern life by the steam-roller, civilisation.

Chagford Common, as I recall it, half a century ago, was strewn thick with hut circles. One ascended to it by Tincombe Lane and came into a prehistoric world, a Pompeii of a past before Rome was. It was dense with hut circles, pounds, and every sort of relic of the ancient inhabitants of the moor. But inclosures have been made, and but a very few relics of the aboriginal settlement remain. One of the most curious, the "Roundy Pound," only escaped through urgent remonstrance made to spare it. The road carried over the common annually eats up the remains of old, as the road-menders take away the stones from the hut circles to metal the highway.

At Batworthy, one of the inclosures, there must have been anciently a manufactory of flint tools and weapons. Countless spalls of flint and a fine collection of fabricated weapons and tools have been found there, and the collection has been presented from this place to the Plymouth Municipal Museum.

On Gidleigh Common, beside the Teign, opposite Batworthy, is Scaur Hill circle. It consists of thirty-two stones, at present, of which eight are prostrate. The highest of the stones is a little over six feet. The circle is ninety-two feet in diameter. Apparently leading towards this ring, on the Chagford side of the river, was a very long double row of stones, with a second double row or avenue branching from it.

There was a third double row, which started from the Longstone, near Caistor Rock. This Longstone

is still standing, but the stone rows have been

Plan of Stone Rows Near Caster Rock (Taken in 1851, Scale 1/12 in. to 10 feet.) A. The Longstone. Hence in a northerly direction the row continued for 520 feet. B. Cairn. C. Cairn with ring of stones.shamefully robbed by a farmer to build his newtake walls. I give plan of the rows as taken by me in 1851. There was another line of stones leading from the Three Boys to the Longstone. The Three Boys were three big stones that have disappeared, and the line from them has also been obliterated. This portion I unfortunately did not plan in 1851.

In the valley of the Teign is the so-called tolmen, a natural formation. In the same slab or stone may be seen the beginnings of a second hole. But it is curious as showing that the river at one time rolled at a higher elevation than at present. The scenes on a ramble up the river from Chagford to Holy Street Mill and the mill itself are familiar to many, as having furnished subjects for pictures in the Royal Academy.

The river Teign below Whiddon Park winds in and out among wooded precipitous hills to where the Exeter road descends in zigzags to Fingle Bridge, passing on its way Cranbrook Castle, a stone camp. The brook in the name is a corruption of burgh or burrh. On the opposite side of the valley, frowning across at Cranbrook, is Prestonbury Camp.

With advantage the river may be followed down for several miles to Dunsford Bridge, and the opportunity is then obtained of gathering white heath which grows on the slopes. At Shilstone in Drewsteignton is the only cromlech in the county. It is a fine monument. A few years ago it fell, but has been re-erected in its old position. After recent ploughing flints may be picked up in the field where it stands.

Gidleigh merits a visit, the road to it presenting many delicious peeps. Gidleigh possesses the ruin of a doll castle that once belonged to the Prouze family. The church contains a screen in good preservation. In the parish of Throwleigh is the interesting manor house Wanson, of which I have told a story in my Old English Home.

But perhaps more interesting than manor houses are the old farm buildings in the neighbourhood of Chagford, rapidly disappearing or being altered out of recognition to adapt them to serve as lodging-houses to receive visitors.

One such adaptation may be noticed in Tincombe Lane. An old house is passed, where the ancient mullioned windows have been heightened and the floors and ceilings raised, to the lasting injury of the house itself, considered from a picturesque point of view. A passable road leads up the South Teign to Fernworthy, a substantial farm in a singularly lone spot. But there was another farm even more lonely at Assacombe, where a lateral stream descends to the Teign, but it has been abandoned, and consists now of ruin only. Near it is a well-preserved double stone row leading from a cairn and finishing at a blocking-stone.

At Fernworthy itself is a circle of upright stones and the remains of several stone rows sorely mutilated for the construction of a newtake wall. In a tumulus near these monuments was found an urn containing ashes, with a flint knife, and another, very small, of bronze or copper, and a large polished button of horn. On Chagford Common, near Watern Hill, is a double pair of rows leading from a cairn and a small menhir, to blocking - stones. Although the stones of which they are composed are small, the rows are remarkably well preserved.

It will repay the visitor to continue his ascent of the South Teign to the Grey Wethers, two circles of stone, of which, however, many are fallen. Here exploration, such as has been conducted at Fernworthy circle, shows that the floors are deep in ashes, and this leads to the surmise that the circles were the crematories of the dead who lie in the cairns and tunnels in the neighbourhood.

Near the source of the North Teign is Teignhead House, one of the most solitary spots in England. A shepherd resides there, but it is not for many winters that a woman can endure the isolation and retain her reason.

And yet there remain the ruins of a house in a still more lonely situation. The moorman points it out as Browne's House.

Although, judging from the dilapidation and the lichened condition of the stones, one could have supposed that this edifice was of great antiquity, yet it is not so by any means. There are those still alive who remember when the chimney fell; and who had heard of both the building, the occupying, and the destruction of Browne's House. Few indeed have seen the ruin, for it is in so remote a spot that only the shepherd, the rush-cutter, and the occasional fisherman approach it.

On the Ordnance Survey, faint indications of inclosures are given on the spot, but no name is

attached. Yet every moorman, if asked what these

The River Teign, Devon

Originating on Dartmoor and entering the sea at Teignmouth, the River Teign boasts hugely diverse habitats that attract a large variety of birds and wildlife.
The Teign actually has two sources and these streams (the North and South Teign) descend the eastern slopes of the moor high above the village of Chagford.
From Chagford the River winds its way through the often wooded foothills of Dartmoor for nearly ten miles until below Dunsford it heads south, following the road to Chudleigh, Newton Abbot and ultimately into the estuary and the sea at Teignmouth.

Herons, kingfishers, dippers, grey wagtails, cormorants and goosanders can all be found along the Teign and otters are also making a comeback.

The Teign is noted for its salmon, brown trout and sea trout, with Drewe’s Weir being a good place to spot them leaping out of the water

and Tamar have not only provided Tin Streaming deposits but direct access to terrestrial deposits (and others) at Tor Royal on Dartmoor where recoveries and collections would have been brought down for final transit to the Continent.
Tin bearing Ore Load has been seen at Deckler’s Cliff plus Copper further up.

the teign gorge

According to Wace and Layamon, in the time of King Arthur (i.e. circa 6th century a.d.) Cador, Earl of Cornwall, pursued Childric the Saxon Kaiser and his troops as they fled towards their ships, which were moored (apparently) off Teignmouth Beach. Cador overtook them on the banks of the Teign.

The churls, armedwith “bats” and pitchforks, slew a large number of the Saxons and “then saw Childric that it befell to them evilly; that all his mickle folk fell to the ground; now he saw there beside a hill exceeding great; the water floweth thereunder that is named Teine; the hill is named Teinewic; thitherward fled Childric with his four and
twenty knights . . . and Cador heaved up his sword and Childric he slew . . . in the Teine water he perished.”

It seems very likely that the hill mentioned was the Ness, which was once known as Bryn Maur, or the great hill, and the battle probably took place on Shaldon sands.

The crossing from Shaldon to Teignmouth and the ferry dues were part of the perquisites of the Earl of Cornwall , who also called himself King of the Romans,
a title dating from King Arthur’s day in the 11th century a .d ., and it is probable that Cador gained these as part of the spoils of battle. By the middle of the 7th century a .d ., the valleys of the lower
Exe and the Creedy were occupied by Saxons, and the Britons as the Celtic and Mediterranean peoples called themselves lived
more or less amicably with them in the town of Exeter, but Devon
was still predominantly Celtic and was ruled by a Celtic monarch. At this time, Bishop Honorius of Canterbury settled the boundaries
of the land and fixed parishes. Taintona probably received official recognition.

The parish of St. Nicholas was designated at Bryn Maur (Celtic for “Great Hill”) now corrupted into “Ringmore.” Taintona was probably not called by that name in those days,
as “ton” or “tun” is a Saxon word for a settlement, and means a fencible place. It was, however, a fortified village.
In 682 a d , Centwine, the Angle, “drove the Britons of the west as far as the sea, at the sword point” . This seems to indicate a more determined Anglo-Saxon invasion of Devon and an attempt to push the Celts further west. Assuming the Exe to be in the hands
of the Saxons, the sea mentioned is probably the natural boundary made by the river Teign. It is probable that the Saxons took over
Taintona and gave it a name in their own tongue, while the Celts moved across the river.
The old hillside lookout above the Teign now fulfilled another purpose; that of a Celtic spyhole against the Saxons.
In 800 a .d ., Egbert made another attempt to extend the Saxon
rule in Devon, but at this time the Saxons themselves were being
harried.
Another race of marauders was sweeping down on Britain.
These were the Danes. Now began a time of fear. The Saxon
settlers complained that the sea, formerly their friend, was now putting greens and tennis courts, and with an entertainment pavilion. From the centre of The Den the Pier extends a distance of six hundred feet. It has recen tly been rem odelled, and
possesses a sheltered prom enade and a Ballroom . A t the southern end of the Promenade, know n as The Point, are the ferry to Shaldon and boats for fishing, rowing, or sailing. Near T h e P o in t is the Lighthouse, the red lamp of w hich, in connection w ith a sim ilar one on the front of Powderham Terrace, guides the mariner safely into the haven at night. O ther
features of this end of The Den are the Lifeboat House and the Coastguard Station. Here, too, is the main Parking Place for cars.
It is a fine walk northward from the other end of The Den to Hole Head, where the railw ay leaps the little cove a t the foot of Smugglers’ Lane, as charming as it is short.
Bitton Park, about five acres of well-kept and sheltered gardens a t the west end of the town, a little short of the bridge, and overlooking the river, formed part of the old
Bitton estate, once the seat of that Lord Exmouth famed in connection w ith the bombardment of Algiers.
Teignmouth consists of two parishes— East and West Teignmouth, divided by the covered-in stream , the Tame—
and each parish has its ow n church. That of East Teignmouth, St. Michael’s Church, took the place of an old Norman edifice in 1823. W hen the latter was removed, it bore
marks of ill-usage received a t the hands of the French in 1690. A screen w ith rood was erected in r923, and in 1927 the Bishop of Exeter dedicated a Lady Chapel and new vestries.
St. James’s Church, West Teignmouth, is a heavy, battlem ented octagonal building, its interior presenting a peculiar appearance on account of the slender pillars, supporting the
roof, in the centre of which is an octagonal lantern. The reredos is a beautiful specimen of fourteenth-century stone carving. The tower is all that remains of the structure mentioned in Bishop Bronescombe’s Register, dated 1275.
The bells in it are said to have been rung after the battle of Crecy , 1346; but they were recast in 1879.
From Shaldon or Teignmouth many pleasant excursions

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.