LYDFORD, a parish in the hundred of LIFTON,
county of DEVON, 7 miles (N. by E.) from Tavistock,
containing 734 inhabitants. This place was anciently
of some consequence, but hi 997 it sustained severe
injury from the Danes, who, after their destruction of
Tavistock abbey, burnt forty of the houses in the town.
In the reign of Edward the Confessor it is recorded as
a borough, and had eight burgesses within the walls,
and forty-one without: at the time of the Conquest,
these had increased to one hundred and forty, the
town was fortified, and considered of such importance
as to be taxed on. an equality with London. In 1238,
the Forest of Dartmoor, and the castle of Lydford, were
granted by the king to Richard, Earl of Cornwall, and
the manor now belongs to the duchy. Situated in the
centre of a mining district, Lydford was the great mart
for tin, then the staple commodity of the county; and
there are still extant a few pieces of money coined at
the mint here, which is said to have existed in the
time of Ethelred II. In the reign of Edward I. it
twice sent members to parliament; and, in 1267, a
weekly market was granted, also an annual fair for
three days. The Stannary courts were held in this
town till the close of the last century, and offenders
against the Stannary laws were tried and imprisoned in
a castle here, the dungeons of which have been considered
scarcely less frightful than those of the Spanish
inquisition. In 1512, Richard Strode, Esq., one of
the members for Plympton, having asserted the injurious
effects of the mine streams upon the harbour of
Plymouth, was prosecuted by the tinners, and eventually
confined for more than three weeks in Lydford castle,
heavily ironed, and fed only upon bread and water;
it was a common adage, that " Lydford law punished
first and tried afterwards." Until the reign of Edward
III., a gaol delivery took place here, but only once
in ten years. In the latter part of the seventeenth century,
the foundations of the town gates, and vestiges of
the trenches were visible. The village now consists merely
of a few dilapidated cottages. The living is a rectory, in
the archdeaconry of Totnes, and diocese of Exeter, rated
in the king's books at £ 15.13. 9., and in the patronage of
the Crown, in right of the duchy of Cornwall. The church
is dedicated to St. Petrock. The scenery which surrounds
this village is of the most beautiful description.
About a quarter of a mile southward is a small bridge of
ojie arch, near which is a romantic fall of the river Lyd,
the water of which may be seen rushing over the rugged
bed of a narrow chasm of the depth of eighty feet. In
a valley to the south-west is a fine cascade, and another
to the east of the village, called Skart's Hole. The only
remains of the castle are the shell of the keep, which is
fifty feet square, and forty feet in height: it is situated
on a mound at the eastern end of an area formerly surrounded
by a wall and a ditch; the western side overlooks
a narrow dell of considerable depth.
Dartmoor, a dreary but interesting waste, is said to
comprise no less than one hundred and thirty thousand
acres. According to Polwhele, Dartmoor was once
peopled; and there are extant curious accounts "of
" winged serpents in the low, and wolves in the high,
lands;" also " of a set of wild men inhabiting the verge
of this great waste," who were remarkable for their
swiftness. Near Whistman's wood may be found the
roots of very large trees; and in draining the bogs,
huge pieces of old timber have been discovered. The
wild boar, bear, wolf, and moose deer, are said to have
once abounded in this forest, when a peculiar species of
hunting dog, called the Slough hound, was employed.
On the surface of the moor are numerous clusters of
rock, called tors. The granite here found is remarkable
for the size of its feld-spar crystals. Among the
rocks are observable numerous indications of this
having been once the scene of Druidical sacrifices.
On Crockern tor, the ancient Stannary court has been
held within the memory of man; and till some years
back, the president's chair, jurors' seats, and court
table, were to be seen excavated in the moor-stone on
its summit. Besides the latter, there are numerous
other tors, crowning the loftier elevations of the moor:
they exhibit immense masses of granite, observable at
a great distance, and in many points of view commanding
prospects of much variety and beauty. The general
surface of this waste is rather undulating than abrupt,
and varies in height from four hundred to two thousand
one hundred feet above the sea: the mean height has
been computed at one thousand seven hundred and
eighty-two feet. It is twenty miles long, and, in some
parts, eleven miles wide. In its numerous furrows are
collected the waters which form the rivers Dart, Teign,
Tavy, Taw, Plym, Cad, Erme, Yealm, and forty-eight
minor streams. The soil is far better than that of
mountainous districts generally. The higher elevations,
indeed, are covered with an unproductive black earth,
and in some of the lower spots the bogs are numerous 5
but, in many parts, there is good and sufficient soil for
agricultural purposes, requiring only the assistance of
manure, which may be now readily obtained by means
of the rail-road communicating between Plymouth and
the moor. The skirts and other portions of this district
appertain to the surrounding manors, the lords of which
claim the right of summer pasturage for as many head
of cattle as they can maintain on their own estates
through the winter: they are called Fenville tenants.
The duchy, however, is entitled to stock the forest by
agistment. Those that pasture their cattle on the moor,
not being Fenville tenants, pay the lessees from two to
three shillings a score for sheep and cattle. Sir Thomas
Tyrwhitt, about the year 1800, erected a mansion at
Tor Royal, in the very heart of the forest, made extensive
plantations, and much improved the land in the
vicinity. In 1808, at his instigation, a prison was
erected, for the reception of the numerous French captives
that had hitherto crowded the prison ships at
Plymouth. This immense building comprises, besides
an hospital and dwellings for the petty officers, five
rectangular edifices, each capable of holding nearly one
thousand six hundred men. The governor's house
adjoins the prison; and at the distance of a quarter
of a mile are the barracks for the guards. For the
supply of the prison, numerous tradesmen established
themselves in the vicinity; a small town, called Prince
Town, was soon formed, and a chapel built. At the
close of the war, however, this town was deserted, and
its present aspect is one of wretchedness. It is still
thinly inhabited; but most of the houses are in a state
of decay, and many in ruins. The minister of the
chapel retains his appointment, and divine service is
performed weekly. In 1819, an act of parliament was
obtained for making the rail-road before alluded to;
and a second and third act have been since granted
for the purpose of extending and ramifying the line.
From the granite works with which it is connected,
great quantities of stone are being constantly forwarded
to Plymouth; and the rail-wagons coming from
that port are chiefly loaded with lime, manure, and
coal. An inland wharf has been constructed near
the end of the rail-road, which, if the immediate vicinity
were more populous, would be of the greatest
convenience. At Two Bridges, to the east of Prince
Town, is held an annual cattle fair; it takes place on
the first Wednesday after the 16th of August and is
well attended.