Totnes

Totnes is a market town in the South Hams district of Devon, at the head of the tidal River Dart, about 20 miles north-east of Plymouth. It lies outside Dartmoor National Park, on the south-east side of the moor. The 2021 census counted 8,241 people in the civil parish.

Its recorded history starts in 907, when Edward the Elder fortified the site against Viking raids. After 1066 the manor went to Juhel of Totnes, who is thought to have built the first castle, an earthwork and timber one; the stone keep followed in the 13th and 14th centuries and English Heritage now cares for it. A Benedictine priory was founded in 1088, and in 1553 Edward VI's charter let the priory building become the Guildhall and a school. It later served as court and town prison, with cells in use until 1887.

The Elizabethan House in Fore Street, built in 1575 for a cloth merchant, is now the Totnes Museum, with a display on Charles Babbage, who lived in the town. St Mary's church is 15th century red sandstone with a tower of about 120 feet. The bridge over the Dart dates from 1828 and the station from 1847. Markets run on Fridays and Saturdays, with an Elizabethan market on Tuesday mornings from May to September. The Brutus Stone in Fore Street goes with a founding legend about a Trojan prince, which is tradition and not history.