TAVISTOCK, Devonshire, a market-town, parliamentary borough, and the coat of a Poor-Law Union, in the parish of Tavietock, is situated on the right bank of the river Tavy, in 50' 33' N. let., 4° 10' W. long., distant 11 miles N. from Plymouth, 31 miles S.W. by IV. from Exeter, and 133 miles W.S.W. from London by road. The town is governed by a portreeve, and returns two members to the Imperial Parliament.
The population of the parliamentary borough in 1551 was 8036. The living us a vicarage in the archdeaconry of Totnoss and diocese of Exeter. Tevistock Poor-Law Union contains 24 parishes and town ships, with an area of 152,431 acres, and a population in /551 of 27,850.
At Tevistock the Tavy flows rapidly through a narrow valley, from which the ground rises steeply on both sides to the height of several hundred feet. The river is crossed by two bridges within the town.
A narrow valley, or gully, from the north, is covered by houses. In 961 en abbey was founded at Tavistock, which was burnt by tho Danes, and afterwards rebuilt on a larger scale. Henry I. (1100-35) granted to the abbot a weekly market end a fair. lu 1539 the then abbot surrendered the abbey to the king, when its revenue was esti mated at 902/. A printing-press was established in the abbey soot'
after the introduction of the art into England. Fragments of the abbey still remain, but they are chiefly incorporated with other buildings. The upper room of the gate-house contains a public library.
The parish church is a spacious edifice, with a tower at the west end supported on arches. The Independents, Unitarians, Quakers, and Wesleyan and Association Methodists have places of worship. There are in the town a Grammar school ; National, British, and Infant schools; almshouses for 19 poor persons; and a savings bank. Tho Tuvistock Institution has a small collection of Devonshire minerals. Teviatock has had the privilege of returning two member. to parlia ment since 1205 (23 Edward I.).
Tavistock is one of the four stannary towns in the county of Devon. A county court is held in the town. Friday is the inarket-day siveral fairs and great cattle markets are held in the course of the year. A canal connects Taviatock with the river Tamar at Morwell Ilam quay, and with the town of Plymouth. Sir Francis Drake was a native of Tavistock.