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History Quiz A presentation by Neil Martin to the KEU3A Local History Group on

18th January 2017

KINGSBRIDGE ESTUARY

LOCAL HISTORY

After the quiz, we will take a few minutes to discuss if any of

these topics might be of interest for future Society

meetings?

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Question 1

Where would you find a Celtic hilltop fort close to Kingsbridge?

Blackdown Rings (or

Loddiswell Rings) was

built around 400BC by

the Celts

The reason for the emergence of hill forts in Britain, and their purpose, has

been a subject of debate

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The Celts or Keltoi – as branded by the Ancient Greeks in about 500 BC –

built chains of hilltop forts for defence and settlement in Devon and vestiges

of these remain around Kingsbridge and Salcombe

Keltoi were banded together on the basis of their language

The Blackdown Rings are the earthworks of an Iron Age hill fort near the

hamlet of Hazelwood in Devon, England. The fort is situated on a hilltop

approximately 185 metres above sea level, in a commanding position above

the River Avon.

For information, there are over 100 recorded Iron Age or older sites within

30 km of the Blackdown Hills:

• 5.2km E 92° Halwell Camp South West* Hillfort (SX77255165) 5.4km E 89° Ritson Barrows Barrow Cemetery (SX77435204) 5.7km NW 298° Ugborough

Parish Church Prehistoric Earthwork* Ancient Village or Settlement (SX67755575) 6.5km E 82° Halwell Camp North East* Hillfort (SX784532) 7.3km SW

238° Bigbury Tumuli Barrow Cemetery (SX667470) 8.2km NW 297° Cantrell* Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue (SX657572) 8.2km SW 244° Marwell St.

Mary's Well* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SX653472) 8.3km W 274° Holy Well, Ermington* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SX6380853189) 8.6km NW 308°

Ugborough Beacon Cairns Cairn (SX667588) 8.6km NW 301° Cuckoo Ball Chambered Tomb* Chambered Tomb (SX659581) 8.9km NW 304° Butterdon

Hill Long Cairn* Long Barrow (SX66015859) 9.3km NW 302° Butterdon Hill Cairns* Cairn (SX655587) 9.4km NW 303° Butterdon Stone Circle* Stone Circle

(SX65555880) 9.4km NW 306° Butterdon East Stone Row / Alignment (SX65905920) 9.6km NW 312° Scad Brook Ancient Village or Settlement

(SX66685998) 9.6km NW 306° Butterdon Hill Cist* Cist (SX65785934) 9.7km NW 301° Weatherdon Hill Ring Cairn (SX65165889) 9.7km NW 305°

Butterdon Hill Barrow* Round Barrow(s) (SX657594) 9.7km W 263° Holbury Camp (Devon) Hillfort (SX62385049) 9.8km N 343° Brent Hill* Hillfort

(SX704617) 10.0km NW 307° Spurrells Cross Cairn Circle* Stone Circle (SX658598) 10.0km NW 306° Butterdon Hill Row* Stone Row / Alignment

(SX65555970) 10.0km NW 308° Spurrell's Cross* Ancient Cross (SX659600) 10.1km NW 313° Lower Glasscombe* Cist (SX66516050) 10.1km NW 308°

Spurrells Cross Row* Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue (SX658600) 10.3km NW 301° Butter Brook* Standing Stone (Menhir) (SX64725926) 10.4km NW 304°

Harford S* Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue (SX651598) 10.4km NW 305° Butterbrook* Stone Row / Alignment (SX652599) 10.5km NW 305° Harford Moor

N* Stone Row / Alignment (SX651599) 10.5km NW 309° Glasscombe Ball SW* Stone Row / Alignment (SX657604) 10.5km NW 320° Treeland Brake*

Stone Row / Alignment (SX673614) 10.5km NW 316° Corringdon Ball South* Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue (SX66656110) 10.6km NW 318° Ball Gate*

Ring Cairn (SX67006131) 10.6km NW 312° Glasscombe Ball NE* Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue (SX661608) 10.6km NW 312° Glasscombe Corner* Stone

Row / Alignment (SX661608) 10.6km NW 316° Corringdon Ball Central* Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue (SX66656115) 10.6km NW 301° Harford

settlement* Ancient Village or Settlement (SX644594) 10.6km NW 308° Hobajons Cross* Standing Stone (Menhir) (SX655604) 10.6km NW 316°

Corringdon Ball SE* Stone Circle (SX66666120)

• 10.6km NW 319° Corringdon Ball Tomb* Chambered Tomb (SX670614) 10.6km NW 316° Corringdon Ball* Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue (SX66646121)

10.7km NW 316° Corringdon Ball N.* Stone Row / Alignment (SX666612)

•10.7km NW 302° Harford Moor Stone Circle (SX645596) 10.7km NW 316° Corringdon Ball NW* Stone Circle (SX66656125) 10.7km NW 317° Brent Fore

Hill* Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue (SX667613) 10.8km NW 315° Upper Glazebrook* Ancient Village or Settlement (SX66366126) 10.9km SW 233° Burgh

Island fort Promontory Fort / Cliff Castle (SX647439)

•10.9km SW 233° Burgh Island fort Promontory Fort / Cliff Castle (SX647439) 10.9km NW 309° The Longstone (Piles Hill)* Standing Stone (Menhir)

(SX654607) 11.1km NW 304° Lower Piles* Stone Circle (SX645602) 11.1km NW 309° Piles Hill Cairns* Cairn (SX653609) 11.1km NW 310° Piles Hill NE*

Stone Row / Alignment (SX654610) 11.3km NW 322° Hickley Ridge Central* Cist (SX67256225) 11.3km NW 323° Hickley Ridge East* Cist (SX67406238)

11.4km NW 318° Hickley Ridge West Cist (SX66596203) 11.4km NW 304° Lower Piles Enclosed Settlement Ancient Village or Settlement (SX64376048)

11.4km N 345° Tynacombe Ring Cairn (SX70376328) 11.4km NE 5° Leech Wells* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SX799603) 11.4km NW 308° Piles Hill W*

Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue (SX649610) 11.6km NW 301° Burford Down (Tritis Rock) Cairn (SX63776015) 11.6km NW 301° Burford Down Stone Circle

(SX637601) 11.6km NW 301° Burford Down* Stone Row / Alignment (SX637601) 11.7km SE 118° Slapton Castle Hillfort (SX808443) 11.8km NE 56°

Totnes Museum* Museum (SX8030060419) 12.1km NW 311° Shap Tor North East Stone Row / Alignment (SX65006188) 12.2km NW 328° Black Tor SW

Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue (SX677634) 12.2km NW 304° Stalldown South East Stone Row / Alignment (SX63756107) 12.4km NW 304° Stalldown

Ancient Village or Settlement (SX63706120) 12.5km NW 314° Three Barrows (Ugborough Moor)* Cairn (SX65316259) 12.7km NW 331° Brent Moor House

Cist (SX68026404) 13.0km NW 310° Three Barrows West prehistoric settlement* Ancient Village or Settlement (SX64466258) 13.0km NW 330° Riders

Rings* Ancient Village or Settlement (SX67876436)

•13.1km N 346° Skerraton Down Round Cairn (SX703650) 13.2km N 339° Harbourne Head Stone Circle (SX691649) 13.2km NW 307° Hillson's House*

Cairn (SX63666228) 13.3km SW 211° Bolt Tail Hillfort (SX670397) 13.3km N 343° Harbourne Head Standing Stone* Standing Stone (Menhir) (SX697651)

13.3km N 339° Harbourne Head cairns* Barrow Cemetery (SX691650) 13.3km NW 306° Stalldown Ring Cairn Ring Cairn (SX63536231) 13.4km NW 333°

Gripper's Hill Ancient Village or Settlement (SX68156486) 13.5km NW 305° Stalldon Row* Stone Row / Alignment (SX632623) 13.6km NW 306° Stall Moor

SW Stone Circle (SX63246241) 13.6km NW 320° Knatta Barrow Ring Cairn (SX65956420) 13.8km NW 304° Stalldown West* Cist (SX62836233) 13.9km

NW 337° Gripper's Hill Cairn Circle* Ring Cairn (SX68656550) 14.1km NW 332° Dean Moor Enclosed Settlement* Ancient Village or Settlement

(SX67766545) 14.1km NW 311° Dry Lake North Settlement* Ancient Village or Settlement (SX639636) 14.2km NW 308° Stalldown North* Cairn

(SX63276323) 14.2km NW 332° Brockhill Ford* Cairn (SX678656) 14.2km NW 325° Eastern White Barrow Cairn Cairn (SX66546516) 14.3km NW 304°

Harrowthorn* Cairn (SX62456265) 14.3km NW 298° Rook Tor Stone Circle (SX612614) 14.4km NW 332° Brockhill Settlement* Ancient Village or

Settlement (SX677657) 14.5km W 292° Delamore House dolmen* Modern Stone Circle / Monolith (SX5991760112) 14.5km NW 310° Blatchford Brook

Foot Settlement* Ancient Village or Settlement (SX635638) 14.7km W 274° Wasteberry Camp Hillfort (SX5738854066) 14.9km NW 307° Ranny Brookhead

Cist* Cist (SX62616354) 15.0km NW 321° Western White Barrow* Cairn (SX65366547) 15.0km NW 302° Dendles Waste Cairn (SX61536279) 15.0km NW

306° Ranny Brook Enclosure Ancient Village or Settlement (SX62326354) 15.0km NW 312° Stall Moor circle* Stone Circle (SX63516444) 15.1km NW 312°

Upper Erme Row* Stone Row / Alignment

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Question 2 After the Norman invasion of 1066 who became the major land

owners of the lands around Kyngysbrygge, or as it is better known,

Kingsbridge?

Any clues now?

After the Norman invasion of 1066 lands around Kingsbridge passed to the

Abbots of Buckfast Abbey (Church of St Mary)

Question 3 Henry VI issued a charter in the mid-15th century to allow

Kingsbridge to hold some event weekly and annually, what was it?

Henry VI granted a charter conferring the right for

an annual fair and a weekly market to be held in

the town

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King of England twice 1422 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471, and

disputed King of France from 1422 to 1453

Henry VI, aged nine months, is shown

being placed in the care of the Earl of

Warwick

Mid-15th century depiction of

Henry being crowned King of

France

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Question 4

To the nearest 10, how many houses were reported in Kingsbridge

in the mid 1600’s?

By the 17th century Kingsbridge had 100 houses

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In 1586 a map shows a well-organised main street with the market and pillory in front of the church and long back gardens extending down to the streams on either side.

First town plan of Kingsbridge

Question 5

What was the previous name for the Crabshell area?

The estuary was not as we see it today ……..

Early photo of the Crabshell – 8:00am

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In Kingsbridge and Salcombe, formal shipyards were constructed.

In Kingsbridge these occupied the foreshores known as Bond’s

Quay, now the Crabshell

…. the area became a bustling port with a large transhipment of

goods together with many shipbuilding yards along its banks

Early photo of Bond’s Quay, Kingsbridge

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Bond’s Quay with paddle steamer

Question 6

What is a Turnpike Trust?

A turnpike is literally a defensive frame of pikes that can be turned

to allow passage of horses, but in this context it refers to a gate set

across the road to stop carts until a toll was paid

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• The poor state of the roads had always made travel inland slow

and difficult and it wasn’t until the advent of the Turnpike Trusts in

the first quarter of the 19th century that coach travel had become a

viable alternative to journeys by sea

• Creating a network of well-maintained roads was one of the major

achievements of 18th century England

• 12th April, 1824 the Kingsbridge Salcombe Trust was set up

– Only 50 odd years after most other parts of the country

– ‘many of the Roads in the South Part of the County of Devon are

narrow and inconvenient, circuitous and hilly’

– ’making and maintaining Turnpike roads from or near the Town of

Kingsbridge, Aveton Gifford, and from thence to unite with the

Turnpike Road from Modbury to Plymouth’

Typical milestone erected by the trust in a design

referred to as Modbury Triangle. This one is located

half a mile east of Modbury.

Question 7

Why did the shipyards in Kingsbridge Close and, for an extra point,

when did they close?

• Up to the early 19th century, roads around

Kingsbridge were narrow, miry and

dangerous and the hinterland so hilly that

the town looked to the sea and coastal

shipping as the best means of carrying

goods and passengers to the outside world

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• Although a rough lane wound around the muddy creeks - foot and pack

animals were widely used, the easiest and most direct route was by water

• Late 19th century - Improvements in the land communications network

combined with a lack of cheap, locally sourced building materials for the ship

building finally brought an end to the shipyards

– Railway arrived in Kingsbridge in 1893

Kingsbridge Station forecourt in c.1910 Kingsbridge Station

- note the coach meeting the train to

take tourists on to Salcombe

– Cars arrived 1898

Kingsbridge, Fore

Street 1918

…and for that extra point

• The last shipyard closed in 1912

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Question 8

What was the effect of the blizzard of 1891 in South Hams?

Kingsbridge – Fore Street

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• DAY 1 – Monday March 9th 1891

The Great Blizzard started midday after a wet and windy morning and the

storm increased in severity that afternoon and night.

– Gale and hurricane-force winds piled the snow into huge drifts which

blocked the roads

– Telegraph lines were blown down, railway lines were clogged

– Many travellers were stranded and forced to seek shelter where they could

– Loss of four ships between Torcross and Start Point resulting in the deaths

of 52 seamen

• The steamship Marana

• Schooners Lunesdale and Lizzie Ellen

• Barque Dryad all foundered along this stretch of coast during Monday

night and the desperate attempts to render aid in the midst of the

blizzard and the harrowing accounts of the survivors make compelling

reading.

• DAY 2 – Tuesday March 10th 1891

– Wind had died down a little although snow continued to fall heavily

– The storm was ‘enlivened by thunder and lightning’ during the day and

snow fell until midnight

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• DAY 3 – Wednesday March 11th 1891

– Wednesday dawned bright and clear and the extent of the damage began

to be assessed

• Large loss of livestock

• Orchards, trees and gardens ruined

• Many roofs collapsed

– Stable attached to the King of Prussia Inn at Dodbrooke

• All roads in the area blocked with drifts up to 16 feet deep

– It took three weeks for the South Hams to dig itself out

• Day 6 – 14th March

– Strong winds had abated and a thaw began, British reports of the time

spoke of:

• The deep ravine of Tavy Cleave - Dartmoor filled with driven snow to

depths of 300 feet

• Over 200 people and thousands of farm animals dead

• People trapped for days in the snow

– Up to ten trains vanished under the drifts, trapping passengers for days

• The sinking of dozens of ships in the English Channel.

– It was not until June that the last of the snow disappeared from parts of

Dartmoor

Question 9

Here is one especially

for those avid

gardeners. What was

grown for the first time

in the UK on the terrace

of the former Cliff

House at Salcombe

built in 1842?

The old Cliff House, Salcombe, viewed from the estuary in 1824

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• In 1774 the first aloe ever to flower in Great Britain was grown on

this terrace

• This attracted significant interest

– In mid-June 1774, ‘a horizontal flower stem shot out, then slanted

upwards’

• Within a fortnight it was growing vertically at a rate of nine

inches (23cm) a day

• By August it was 25 feet (7.6m) high

– A handbill was printed and circulated….

‘Now to be seen at Salcombe, near Kingsbridge, in full blow, a

remarkable Aloe, supposed to be the largest that ever was seen in this

Kingdom; and altho’ continually exposed to the Weather, it hath grown

to the following dimensions: in height 20 feet (6.1m), length of leaf

9 feet (2.7m), thickness of ditto 6 inches (15cm). As the Proprietor hath

been at great Expenditure to keep it for the Curious, the Terms of

Admittance are, for Ladies and Gentlemen 2s.6d* each; all others at

One Shilling* each Person, to be paid at the Door.’

• Aloe continued to be grown after 1774 and once the Old Cliff House was

built

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Aloe that flowered on the terrace garden Aloe flowering on the terrace garden of

of the old Cliff House, Salcombe, 1824 the old Cliff House, Salcombe, post 1842

Question 10

Which famous US (and worldwide) religious leaders’ ancestors

were tenant farmers of Stancombe manor?

• Ancestors of Brigham Young (leader of the

Mormon church) were tenant farmers of

Stancombe Manor (Sherford, Kingsbridge)

• Stancombe Manor was

confiscated by the crown in the

C16th; it was owned by Sir

Henry Pollexfen (Crown

Prosecutor against Monmouth’s

followers) in the 17th century

and was divided amongst Drake

and Buller families in the 18th

century.

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Question 11

What happened in Aveton Gifford on Tuesday 26 January 1943?

• Aveton Gifford was bombed and strafed by the Luftwaffe, only a few houses

escaped damage; a child was killed and at least 20 people were injured,

some seriously

• Luftwaffe reports show the principal target

was Kingsbridge, but due to wind direction

this changed to the alternative target,

Loddiswell…. but they hit AG instead

Before

The original Rectory totally destroyed St Andrews church 1908 mostly destroyed

• The German planes circled around Loddiswell before approaching Aveton

Gifford from the East

Aftermath

Bombed church showing the devastated sanctuary (altar area) 1944

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• The story and the aftermath can be read about in a collation published from

an eye witness’s perspective in ‘The Bombing of Aveton Gifford’ by Ken

Doughty

Question 12

What happened at Torcross in 1854 and what was the big upside?

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• 1854 - Victorian era a road was built along the line, linking Kingsbridge with

Dartmouth along the coast for the first time

• A stagecoach service was soon to follow and this created much-needed

trade for the area

• 1854 - Robert Foale - twice a week from the Kings Arms Hotel to Dartmouth

and daily after 1864 when the railway was brought to Kingswear

• 1872 - William Vickery married John Tucker’s sister and became proprietor

of the Torcross Hotel. He took advantage of the change of horses here and

the addition of a fourth horse to help pull the coach up the hill at Strete Gate

as well as providing refreshments for the passengers

• 1880 - 18 coaches a week between Kingsbridge and Dartmouth

• 1888 - William Vickery took over the Anchor Hotel in Kingsbridge running

coaches from there daily to Dartmouth, the journey taking 3 hours ‘with

brakes fitted to all carriages and foot warmers sent if required’

• 1893 - Single fare was 3 shillings. Surprisingly 56 lb of luggage was allowed

per person and coaches awaited not only the arrival of trains in Dartmouth via

the ferry but also steamboats from Totnes. 1856

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Question 13

What would the residents of Hallsands say in 1918?

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Nothing

Nothing ….. as

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• There was only one resident, Mrs. Elizabeth Prettejohn, left in

Hallsands

• There was only one resident, Mrs. Elizabeth Prettejohn, left in

Hallsands

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• On 26 January 1917, a combination of easterly gales and

exceptionally high tides breached Hallsands' defences put up as a

result of the storm of 1890. By the end of that year only one house

remained habitable

• The U3A History Group are doing a future session specifically

on Hallsands

Question 14

The Cookworthy Museum building was constructed in the 17th

Century for what purpose?

• The Free Grammar School was built and endowed in 1670 by Thomas

Crispin, a Fuller of Exeter

– first headmaster - William Duncombe

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• Thomas Crispin in his will in 1689, left

– three yearly rent-charges:

• £5 a year for repairs

• £15 for the head master, in consideration of his teaching at least 15

free scholars in classical learning; and

• £10 to a master for teaching 25 poor children to read and 12 to write

• A native of Kingsbridge comes into the

story in the next century

– William Cookworthy, born in 1705, the

eldest of a family of seven

• It is possible that he was a pupil of

Crispin's Grammar School

• The School remained in use until the early

1900's when the School itself moved further

down in to the town and eventually in to a new

building

Old Kingsbridge Grammar School buildings

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• The museum was opened in 1972 in

the old Kingsbridge Grammar School

buildings by Mrs Evelyn Northcott who

persuaded English China Clays Ltd. to

rescue the derelict building

• The Museum was named after William

Cookworthy

Old Kingsbridge Grammar School buildings

Question 15

What was William Cookworthy’s claim to fame?

• William Cookworthy developed the first true hard-paste porcelain (‘china’) to

be made in this country rather than imported from China

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• William Cookworthy

– He was born in Kingsbridge in 1705

– Eldest of a family of 7, William's father died when he was thirteen

leaving the family in difficult circumstances

– His fortunes changed at the age of fifteen

• A Quaker apothecary - Silvanus Bevan offered to take the boy

into his London business

– William set out on foot for London to take up this offer

– Returned to Devon in about 1726

• William set up in business with Silvanus Bevan as a manufacturing

chemist, trading in Plymouth as 'Bevan and Cookworthy

– He took an interest in the geology of the area

– Discovered deposits of kaolin and petunse, essential components of

true porcelain,

• The U3A History Group are doing a future session specifically on

William Cookworthy

Question 16

Why was Tacket Wood or Ticket Wood so called?

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• Tacket or Ticket Wood is located in the parish of West Alvington

– Originally a wood

– Opened as a slate quarry, it produced large coarse slates and good

stone for general purposes

– Since its last workings in the 19th C. it reverted to thick woodland

– Being on the creek side of the old road to Salcombe and away from

the sea (e.g. Beesands), ships found it easy to berth and take on their

loads

•…. also one of four local venues for meetings led by John Hicks, the non-

conformist preacher

• Others being Sorley Green, the top of Lincombe Hill/Linkham Hill-head

and Saltstone Rock

Salt Stone is an area of rock, isolated at high tide, off Wareham Point, where Frogmore

Creek (on the left) joins the main Kingsbridge Estuary, which is between the rock and

Lincombe Boat Yard beyond

• The area became known as Ticket Wood because

attendees had to prove their adherence to non-

conformist faiths

– Preachers became victims of the Conventicles Act of

1664 that forbade religious assemblies of more than

five people outside the auspices of the C of E

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Troublous times; or, Leaves from the note-book

of the rev. mr. John Hicks

– Preachers were avidly prosecuted by

two local magistrates

• Brutally supported by their town

constable – John Lucas

– Constable John Lucas died in 1671

and Hicks was accused of his murder

and imprisoned at Exeter for a time

– Hicks left Devon and later joined the

Duke of Monmouth’s rebellion and was

executed in 1685

– Two other magistrates, more merciful

ended up being prosecuted for not

suppressing religious assemblies

– 1689, the Act of Toleration was passed, so people, excluding Catholics and

Unitarians, were permitted to practice their religion and build churches

Question 17

Where in Kingsbridge were the barracks built to house militiamen

for the Napoleonic War in 1804?

• Early 19th Century Army Barracks, Dodbrooke

– Temporary barracks was built on land on the east side of the estuary

about ½ mile west of High House

– They held 600 men and various regiments occupied them during the

war

• It was removed after the Napoleonic War except for the hospital and

gun room. The bakehouse formed part of Ivy Cottage and Windsor

Lodge was built in one of the fields in 1818

• Most of the materials of the structures were auctioned off in 1815

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Question 18

Can you name one of the paddle steamers which was a forerunner

to the Rivermaid?

The passenger vessel 'Rivermaid' operates between Kingsbridge and Salcombe during the

summer months

There were 9 paddle steamers

•Salcombe Castle

•Ilton Castle

•Kenwith Castle

•The Express

•Reindeer

•Ringleader

•Queen

•Kings Bridge

•Kingsbridge

Packet

A steamer from Salcombe bound for

Kingsbridge

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Question 19

When did the railway come to Kingsbridge?

• December 1893

– Kingsbridge railway station was the terminus station of the single

track branch of the GWR line from Brent to Kingsbridge

– The line became known as the Primrose Line

• It left the Brent to

Plymouth line at Brent and

ran 12 miles, following the

route of the River Avon to

Kingsbridge

• A proposed extension to

Salcombe was not

constructed

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• A stone built station served the town and the surrounding area.

– Despite a great deal of local opposition, the station was closed for

freight and passengers on 16 September 1963

Kingsbridge Station, with a '4575' 2-6-2T.

View eastward, towards the buffer-stops:

The locomotive, No. 5558 (built 11/28,

withdrawn 10/60) is running round the

branch train standing at the platform.

Kingsbridge Station forecourt in c.1910 - note

the coach meeting the train to take tourists on

to Salcombe

Question 20

In the first part of the 20th century before Quay House became the

home of Kingsbridge Town Council, it was occupied by girls, why?

• Quay House was built in

1789 by the Ilbert family

• In 1902 it became

Twyford School for Girls

for about 50 years

• In the 1970s it became

the premises for

Kingsbridge Town Council

– In the grounds of

Quay House is the

stone base of the

Victorian drinking

fountain which used to stand on the quay

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Question 21

What is the special ingredient of white ale once brewed in

Kingsbridge?

• The history of Devon white ale is shrouded in mystery and confusion

– Devon white ale seems to bear no relation to any other known beer

style

– It has frequently been claimed that it was confined to the South Hams,

yet in the mid-nineteenth century it was brewed in at least 44 Plymouth

pubs

• A bone of contention is the so-called secret ingredient

– Some sources state categorically that the recipe was known only to

the members of one family and handed down from generation to

generation

– Others imply it was common knowledge

• As to where it was first brewed, although Dodbrooke (now part

of Kingsbridge) is the name that most frequently crops up,

Dartmouth, Plymouth and even Germany have also been

suggested

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– 1542 - first, dubious, reference to white ale comes in Andrew

Boorde’s Dyetary of Health

– 1736 first unequivocal reference to White Ale comes in William Ellis’s

London & Country Brewer,

• ‘the Plymouth people … are so attach’d to their white thick ale, that

many have undone themselves by drinking it’

• Unlike Boorde, Ellis gives details of how this seductive tipple was

brewed

• White ale is a clear wort made from pale malt fermented with ripening,

a composition of:

– Flour of malt, yeast, and whites of eggs [a nostrum (medicine

prepared by an unqualified person) is made and sold only by two

or three in these parts]

•The wort is brewed and the ale vended by many of the publicans

– It is drank while it is still fermenting in earthen steens, in such a

thick manner as resembles butter’d ale

– Sold for two pence-halfpenny the full quart

Question 22

Which is the oldest family retailer in Kingsbridge?

•Does this help?

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• J. H. Donovan & Son Ltd is known as the oldest family run business in

Kingsbridge

John Donovan

John Henry Donovan

John Weymouth Donovan

John Nicholas Donovan

• Exact date of the opening not recorded

– Known to have been in 1873, original John Donovan started trading

as a china shop at the top of Church Street,

• This property is long gone, pulled down and cottages built

• The U3A History Group are doing a future session specifically on the

Donovan family

Question 23

Who are the Feoffees?

• A feoffee is a trustee who holds a fief (or "fee"), that is to say an estate in

land, for the use of a beneficial owner

• The term is more fully stated as a ’feoffee to uses of the beneficial owner’

– The use of such trustees developed towards the end of the era of

feudalism in the middle ages and became obsolete with the formal

ending of that social and economic system in 1660

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• Kingsbridge Feoffees

– The Feoffees were, and still are, the trustees of the property which

had been given to the town in order that the profits arising from it might

be used for charitable purposes. The properties were mainly houses

and shops, with gardens and closes, in Kingsbridge and Dodbrooke.

There were also lands at Ford in Chivelstone, at Fursdon in Sherford

and at Merrifield in Churchstow

– Their coat of arms can be seen above the entrance of the Town Hall,

the Market Hall and 20 Fore Street

General feed back

(See below)

Please take a few minutes to discuss if any of these might be of

interest for future Society meetings? Ones planned

(See next page)

36

General feed back

1. Where would you find a Celtic hilltop

fort close to Kingsbridge?

2. After the Norman invasion of 1066 who

became the major land owners of the

lands around Kyngysbrygge, or as it is

better known, Kingsbridge?

3. Henry the VI issued a charter in the

mid 15th century to allow Kingsbridge to

hold some event weekly and annually,

what was it?

4. To the nearest 10, how many houses

were reported in Kingsbridge in the mid

1600’s?

5. What was the previous name for the

Crabshell area?

6. What is a Turnpike Trust?

7. Why did the shipyards in Kingsbridge

Close and, for an extra point, when did

they close?

8. What was the effect of the blizzard of

1891 in South Hams?

9. Here is one especially for those avid

gardeners. What was grown for the first

time in the UK on the terrace of the

former Cliff House at Salcombe built in

1842?

10. Which famous US (and worldwide)

religious leaders’ ancestors were tenant

farmers of Stancombe manor?

11. What happened in Aveton Gifford on

Tuesday 26 January 1943?

12. What happened at Torcross in 1854

and what was the big upside?

13. What would the residents of Hall

sands say in 1918?

14. The Cookworthy Museum building

was constructed in the 17th Century for

what purpose?

15. What was William Cookworthy’s claim

to fame?

16. Why was Tacket Wood or Ticket

Wood so called?

17. Where in Kingsbridge were the

barracks built to house militiamen for the

Napoleonic War in 1804?

18. Can you name one of the paddle

steamers which was a forerunner to the

Rivermaid?

19. When did the railway come to

Kingsbridge?

20. In the first part of the 20th century

before Quay House became the home of

Kingsbridge Town Council, it was

occupied by girls, why?

21. What is the special ingredient of white

ale once brewed in Kingsbridge?

22. Which is the oldest family retailer in

Kingsbridge?

23. Who are the Feoffees?

Neil Martin

January 2017