| history of bovey heath |
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Barrows and Battlefields..... |
History of Bovey HeathfieldLike most lowland heaths, Bovey Heathfield was probably created around 4000 years ago in the Bronze Age through the actions of Bronze Age farmers, possibly helped by changes in climatic conditions. Areas of dense woodland would have been cleared for rough grazing and temporary cultivation of crops. Remains of at least one Bronze Age barrow can be seen on the site. The name derives from a Saxon ‘theign’ or farmstead community called ‘Bofa’ or ‘Boui’, hence the local River Bovey and the towns of Bovey Tracey, Little Bovey and North Bovey. The Domesday Book lists 15 such theigns in the Bovey Parish. Gorse and heather would have been grazed by livestock and cut as fuel for cooking and winter heating, perpetuating the open character of the heath and its characteristic soil and vegetation. Bovey Heathfield was probably used in this way throughout several hundred years by local people. A Roman canoe was found on the site in 1891. In Mediaeval times drainage ditches or leats were cut into the heath as a method of collecting tin. These tin streamings can still be found on the site today. On 9 January 1646, in the later stages of the English Civil War, the 'Battle of Bovey Heath' saw Commonwealth soldiers under General Fairfax rout Lord Wentworth's company of Royalist troops. A rare earthwork, one of only two in the south west dating from this period, is located on the western side of the reserve. This feature is now protected as a Scheduled Ancient Monument. In 1977 the Local History Society erected a Commonwealth cross in the north western corner of the reserve. The Battle of Bovey Heath 9th January 1646
To the Hon. Edmund Prideaux Esq. M.P.
Among the captured were 4 Colonels, 3 Lieut. Colonels, 5 Majors, 11 Captains, 300 arms of various kinds, 140 prisoners and 150 heads of cattle. In 1977 the Civil War Society erected a Commonwealth Cross on the heath, which can be seen in the north western corner of the reserve. Information from Bovey Tracey an Ancient Town by Lance Tregoning, published by Cottage Books, Bovey TraceyIt is thought that some of the soldiers killed in the battle were buried on the heath. In the 19th and 20th Centuries much of the Bovey Basin was mined for ball clay, often to make sanitary wear, tiles and pipes. The Bovey Basin is rich in ball clay deposits, having been part of a vast shallow lake in the Pleistocene period 2 million years ago. Gorse used to be cut from nearby Chudleigh Knighton Heath to wrap pipes for transport. During and just after WWII Bovey Heath was requisitioned by allied forces in order to practise military manoeuvres. It is said that when US troops were called home at short notice they buried some of their equipment under the heath. However when building work on the Heathfield estate started in the 1980s all that was found was a rusty bicycle. Modern timesIn 1989 the wildlife value of Bovey Heathfield was given legal recognition as a Site of Special Scientific Interest, the UK's highest nature conservation designation. Today 95% of the original heath has been developed as industrial estate and housing. The site has suffered serious damage in the recent past from unregulated illegal motorbike scrambling, 4 x 4 driving, car dumping, flytipping, criminal damage, and a poor image. Devon Wildlife Trust took over the site in September 2002. In August 2003 Bovey Heathfield was declared a Local Nature Reserve, giving local people a voice in the ongoing management of the reserve, and the site further protection for the future. Ling links
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In 1646 Bovey Heathfield was over 380 Ha (1000 acres) in size, with heather reaching the walls of Bovey Tracey church. Royalist troops, led by Lord Wentworth, were encamped on the heath (their headquarters, or ‘drums’, gave the name to Drumbridges). The Parliamentarian forces under Oliver Cromwell and General Fairfax advanced westwards through Devon, engaging Wentworth’s company on the heath on 9 January 1646. The Parliamentarians scored a significant victory. The Chaplain to Lord Fairfax, Joshua Sprigg, kept detailed reports of the campaign. He wrote of the battle:
