Bovey Tracey

Bovey Tracey sits on the eastern edge of Dartmoor where the River Bovey leaves the moor, and takes the second half of its name from the de Tracey family, one of whose members was among the knights who killed Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral in 1170. Local tradition holds that the church here was founded in penance for that murder. The town grew on the edge of the moor and the ball clay deposits of the Bovey Basin, and pottery has been made in the area for a very long time, an industry that shaped the town's character and its trade.

Bovey Tracey today calls itself the gateway to the moor and makes a comfortable base for the eastern side of the National Park. The Devon Guild of Craftsmen occupies the old riverside mill and shows some of the best contemporary craft in the south west, and the town has shops, pubs and a good weekly market. Becka Falls, Haytor and Hound Tor are all within a short drive, and the wooded Bovey valley offers walks in shelter when the tops are bleak. The old railway line to Moretonhampstead now provides an easy traffic free route out of the town.