Our parish contains a whole variety of Bronze and Iron Age remains, but its recorded history begins with the Anglo-Saxons, and then of course it appears in the Domesday Book, as Essebretona.
Beside the cluster of old roofs in the middle of the town lies our parish church of St Andrew’s. Its oldest stones date from the twelfth century, a time when the town began to grow rapidly through its connections with the wool and tin trades. Ashburton is a Stannary Town, one of four around Dartmoor chosen to administer the tin industry hereabouts.
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Naturally the town also played a central part in the farming of the district, and had an important market from as early as 1309. Quarrying for marble and limestone and umber feature too. From the medieval period the town was administered by its Court Leet and Baron Jury, whose chief officials are the Portreeve and The Bailiff. Ashburton is proud that this unbroken part of its history lives on today.
The toll-road system reached Ashburton in 1755, and the railways in 1872, but the town has always been engaged in the wider world, from the Civil War through to its East India connections (Native Americans as well!) and on to the perils of two World Wars. That’s a lot to squeeze in to three floors and a virtual portal - but we’ll do our best!
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