Tavistock Abbey

According to legend hundreds of years ago the monks who used to live in Tavistock Abbey decided to make sweet cider. The Abbot began a competition to find which monk could invent sweet cider without using wine. One of the monks called Brother John decided to take up the challenge. Around this time the Abbey got a new helper, a short eager little man who was happy to do anything. The man slept in a wine cask everynight. One night when Brother John was working on his tipple the small helper (the Devil in disguise) whispered temptations in his ear and offered the secret of making sweet cider for the Brother’s soul. John refused to give in to temptation and when the Devil was sleeping in the wine cask the Brother sealed poured cider into the cask and sealed it. The devil was angry and the cider started to boil and the devil vanished back to hell. When Brother John opened the cask there was a lingering smell of brimstone and a cask of sweet cider. According to legend anytime sweet cider was needed, it was poured over sulphur and named ‘matched’ cider because the cider was made with the same substance matches were made with at that time.

A number of buildings scheduled as Ancient Monuments remain to mark the old Abbey. The most picturesque is Court gate, an archway leading from Bedford Square to Guildhall Square.
It houses an antiques shop and the oldest private library in Devon. The arch was the main entrance to the Great Courtyard of the Abbey.

A section of the cloister walling still stands in the Churchyard, and other parts run along the side of the River Tavy, including the Still Tower where medicines were distilled.

Accommodation on Dartmoor
Self-catering Accommodation
Bed and Breakfast Accommodation
Hotel Accommodation
Camping and Caravanning
A ruined Gatehouse in the garden of the Vicarage is known as Betsy Grimbal's Tower - the rumour being that a jealous monk murdered a woman of that name there.

Opening Times

01/01/2007 - 31/12/2007