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ABOUT THE PARISH
Buckland Monachorum is one of the larger parishes within the Borough of West Devon. The very name 'Buckland Monachorum' refers to 'land owned by the monks', (these being the monks that lived at Buckland Abbey). The Parish actually has five villages within its boundaries, Yelverton, Clearbrook, Crapstone, Milton Combe and of course Buckland Monachorum. Of these, it is the name 'Crapstone' that probably elicits the most amusement!
Although the Parish is very much within the Borough of West Devon, for parliamentary purposes, it has recently been part of Plymouth and Ivybridge, a fact that most of the residents found very irritating. However, under the new boudaries, it is going back into the Torridge constituency. Also, part of our Parish falls within the National Park and the rest of it is within in the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
The Parish has many notable features such as Buckland Abbey, the Garden House, and its old wartime airfield at 'Harrowbeer', (also found spelt as Harrabeer). This once had a famous visitor in the shape of President Roosevelt, who landed there in his aircraft the 'Sacred Cow'. After the war, the airfield was promoted as a possible new airport for Plymouth but this was eventually turned down, evidently because of too much fog! The Airfield had a major impact on the area when it was built in 1941, as roads had to be re-routed and a complete row of shops & houses had their upper storeys removed, so that planes wouldn't hit them and the local Church was fitted with a warning beacon to help planes avoid it whilst landing and taking off.
Today, some parts of the airfield still remain to see, although the runways themselves were ripped up after the airfield closed in the 50s, probably to make sure they would never become Plymouth's airport. Many of the old blast bays remain as a reminder of the area's wartime connections, although some of these were beginning to suffer from the attentions of mountain bikes and are now being repaired by Dartmoor National Park. One point of interest is that the old blister cafe on the Hoe, (since demolished) was formerly a hangar on the airfield.
Buckland Abbey too, has an interesting history. Original the home of Cistercian monks, it was dissolved by Henry VIII and later rebuilt and lived in by the family of Sir Francis Drake. It is now in the hands of the National Trust and is one of their more popular attractions. The Garden House, which was created Lionel Fortescue, has become famous through television coverage and is now a popular local attraction.
A large area of the parish is moorland and this is greatly enjoyed by trippers from Plymouth, many of whom arrive with caravans, wind breaks, and seemingly half the contents of their houses! Yelverton (and Clearbrook) were once served by a railway that ran from Plymouth to Tavistock but this fell foul of the Beeching cuts during the Sixties and is no more. (Incidentally, the line from Yelverton to Princetwon was closed by the GWR in the 50s). There is a frequent bus service that travels from Plymouth to Yelverton and Tavistock, the only problem being, that the feeder bus service from the villages leaves a lot to be desired. Part of the National cycle way crosses the parish but you need to be an excellent map-reader in order to follow it, because of all the twists and turns it takes!
Buckland Monachorum Parish really does seem to have a bit of everything, open moorland, lush green fields, dense woodlands, and a beautiful river valley. The difficult part is keeping it special, whilst allowing it to grow and evolve as any natural community would.
