Chagford is our closest town: between two and three kilometres away depending if you are walking or driving. It has everything we need really (including these delicious-looking homemade cakes left for sale outside a home complete with an ‘honesty’ tin), and offers some surprises for a town of around 1500 people. It once was a thriving market town, holding a weekly market since 1220. Sadly these markets no longer operate, and the town has a SPAR instead. Not a fair swap I don’t think. But having said that, SPAR has some stiff competition from a few smaller, local stores selling a range of products including fruit and vegetables, or specialising in organic and vegan produce, and of course tempting bakery items.

The best ever Cornish Pasties are made here.

This is the delicatessen across the road from the pharmacy and butcher’s.

There are several up-market fashion shops and a cafe specialising in vegan and vegetarian treats. Needless to say Mick stood clear of those last two!!

There is a specialist wine and beer shop selling wines from all around the world at remarkably competitive prices, and it was high on the list for Mick to visit. He was even tempted to buy a small bottle of local gin, and at £3.95 for 100mL, it came in a little cheaper than the Port Isaac scone.

A small, locally-produced brochure about the town explains that the town’s name comes from a combination of two old words: ‘chag’ meaning gorse (a type of shrub) and ‘ford’ meaning a river crossing.

The River Teign runs near the town (as well as through the property we are house sitting), but the ‘ford’ was replaced by Chagford Bridge – a very long time ago, at least as far back as 1224 – however there was no change in the name of the town.

Click on this link – a 30 -second YouTube clip of driving across the (new) bridge. It will give you some idea of how narrow the roads around here are. This was how the GPS brought us into the town just over a week ago, and it freaked me out a little. Thankfully, we have since found there is a better way.

Chagford was famous for tin mining, and the same brochure states that it could hold Stannary Court sessions. I had no idea what these were, so after a Google search I learnt a bit more, which I now share here in this post (as defined by definitions.net). The key point was that these were a means by which the Duke of Cornwall got his share of the profits was insured.

The word stannary is historically applied to: ⁕A tin mine, especially in Cornwall or Devon, South West England ⁕The town constituting the administrative centre of such a region ⁕The principal role of a stannary town was the collection of tin coinage, the proceeds of which were passed to the Duchy of Cornwall or the Crown. 

Mick was very interested to hear of the history of tin mining in the area because he is a firm believer of where there is tin, there is gold. He has been keeping his eye out in the abundant water channels for an ideal spot to try some gold panning. All he needs to find now is a pan.

The other main industry for Chagford was wool. And in the past, there was a large serge manufacturer located beside the river, on Mill Street (of course). It was considered one of the most important manufacturers in the West of England.

In the centre of the town square is an octagonal Market House, built in 1620. It was here the smelted tin was brought twice per year to be assayed, stamped, taxed (to ensure the Duke of Cornwall was kept happy) and sold. It now hosts a well supplied fruit shop.

There are six car parking spaces in this square, which are hardly ever available, so if you want to shop, explore, dine or enjoy a beer in Chagford, you must drive to the car park at the edge of the shopping area, and pay the appropriate fee depending on the duration of your stay.

This olde worlde shop, also on the main square, was once a factory used for making agricultural implements, and today it is an ironmonger’s (a shop selling hardware such as tools and household implements). In 1922, the first radio valve set made in Devon was made in this very shop, and people queued to hear it.

It is probably the most amazing shop we have seen, selling everything you could ever imagine. In the end of one of the levels we visited there is a small display that they call their museum, and it features a shop front window with items that would have been sold over a hundred years ago.

Mick could have spent ages here, but we had other sites to explore.

Chagford’s church – Saint Michael the Archangel – to name one. This church is impressive and has an interesting history (and I’m not not only talking about its cemetery).

It is also trying very hard to keep itself relevant.

It was completely rebuilt in the 15th Century, but still looks medieval.

The surrounding yard is filled with headstones recognising deceased souls. Mick was very interested reading the engravings, or carvings on some of the old headstones.

But what I was surprised to see were two very modern signs, not telling people to stay off the lawn, but instead promoting the need for conservation of local flora and fauna. This one was about the Common Swift that breed in the church’s tower, and rather than complain about that, this was a celebrated activity.  

This second sign details the Church and its community’s efforts to save some of the diminishing wild flower meadows in and around the headstones. It states that more than 97% of Britain’s wild flower meadows have been lost in the past 80 years and describes what they are doing about it.

And, all this before we even went inside the Church, which had a very modern feel to it. And, it wasn’t only the full-glass front door, but more to do with the un-manned, contact-less, credit card point just inside the entry where visitors could make a £3 donation if they wanted to, in order to help preserve the church.

This was a very different style of Church than most we have visited in the UK.

I think you will agree with me that this little town has a lot to offer – I really have only scratched the surface.

I snapped this man using the town’s water supply / fountain to scrub the mud from his boots. That is not something I see every day, but the locals did not give him a second glance.

Obviously there are businesses I have not mentioned in this post.

Yes, they are the watering holes!! I need to save them for a separate post because the history of Chagford is very much tied up in its local pubs.