4 TAVISTOCK ABBEY. 



Ordgar, Earl of Devon, and completed by his son, 

 Ordulph. It was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, 

 and St. Rumon, bishop and confessor. St. Rumon' s 

 festival was celebrated at Tavistock, on the fourth of 

 January, with a fair of three days. This saint was an 

 Irish bishop. 



About thirty-six years after the foundation of the 

 Abbey, it was burnt and destroyed by those northern 

 depredators, the Danish invaders, during the disastrous 

 reign of King Ethelred : but it soon rose, a phoenix 

 from its ashes, and though not so opulent as the Pri- 

 ory of Plympton, yet it was far superior in point of 

 dignity and local situation ; and it eclipsed every re- 

 ligious house in Devonshire, in the extent, conveniency, 

 and magnificence of its buildings. The kings of Eng- 

 land, from the conquest at least, were reputed its 

 founders and patrons. 



Livingus, the second of its abbots, is entitled, from 

 his benefactions and services to Tavistock Abbey, to 

 be considered as its restorer after the fatal conflagration 

 by the Danes : he died in the eleventh century and 

 was buried at Tavistock. The conventual church is 

 said to have been 378 feet long, without including the 

 lady's chapel. It was finally taken down in 1670. 



Learning was patronized at this famous abbey, a 

 Saxon school was supported from its revenue, and ;i 

 printing press established for the circulation of books. 

 The famous charter, " De Libertatibus Comitatus 

 Devon/' granted by King John, and its confirmation 

 by his son, Henry III., were preserved in Tavistock 

 Abbey. Bishop Stapeldon took copies of these origi- 

 nals, and has inserted them in his register. 



In 1517, Richard Banham obtained from Pope 

 Leo X. a bull of such ample and extraordinary privi- 

 leges as expressly to exempt the Abbey of Tavistock, 

 with its several dependencies, from all archiepiscopal 

 and all episcopal jurisdiction, visitation, and superior- 

 ity, and to place it under the sole and immediate pro- 

 tection of the Holy See. As an acknowledgment for 

 such sweeping liberality, the abbot was annually to 



