Tavistock is a market town within West Devon, England. It is situated on the River Tavy from which its name derives. As of the 2001 census it had a population of 11,018. It traces it's history back to at least AD 961 when Tavistock Abbey, whose ruins lie in the center of the town, was founded. Its most famous son is Sir Francis Drake. The area around Tavistock , where the River Tavy runs wide and shallow allowing it to be easily crossed, and near the secure high ground of Dartmoor, was inhabited long before the historical record. The surrounding area is littered with archaeological remains... from the Bronze and Iron Ages and it is believed a hamlet existed on the site of the present town long before the town's official history began, with the founding of the Abbey. The abbey of Saint Mary and Saint Rumon was founded in 961 by Ordgar, Earl of Devon. After destruction by Danish raiders in 997 it was restored, and among its famous abbots was Aldred, who crowned Harold II and William I, and died Archbishop of York.
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