![]() Since the days of Henry VIII Brixham has played a part in the defence of the nation. Sometimes these were merchants, taking cargoes to far away places and bringing back exotic goods and rare spices sometimes they were carrying pilgrims, or gentlemen on the Grand Tour. Visitors can go on board.įor centuries, ships going down the English Channel have come into Torbay to seek refuge from the storms and to replenish food supplies. In Brixham harbour there is a full-sized replica of the ship, the Golden Hind, in which Drake circumnavigated the globe. In 1588 Brixham watched Sir Francis Drake attacking the Spanish Armada. Warships have been seen in Torbay from the days of the Vikings up until 1944 when part of the D-Day fleet sailed from here. On another occasion when there was a cholera epidemic, some Brixham smugglers drove their cargo up from the beach in a hearse, accompanied by a bevy of supposed mourners following the cortege drawn by horses with muffled hooves. Another villain was caught in possession but evaded capture by pretending to be the Devil, rising out of the morning mists. One humorous poem describes how a notorious local character, Bob Elliott (“Resurrection Bob”), could not run away because he had gout and hid in a coffin. ![]() There are many legends about the local gangs and how they evaded the Revenue men. Smuggling was more profitable than fishing, but if the men were caught, they were hanged. The first building seen when coming into Brixham from Paignton is the old white-boarded Toll House where all travellers had to pay a fee to keep the roads repaired. Similarly, Laywell Road recalls Our Lady’s Well. Salutation Mews, near that church, dates from when England was Catholic and the salutation was to the Virgin Mary. Lichfield Drive was the route that the dead (from the Anglo-Saxon ‘lich’ meaning a corpse) were taken for burial at St Mary`s churchyard. Monksbridge was a bridge built by the monks of Totnes Priory. Pump Street is where the village pump stood. The street names reflect the town’s history. ![]() Overgang Steps View of Overgang pictures by Christine Ellis A road leading from the harbour up a steep hill to where the Dutch made their camp, is still called Overgang, meaning ‘passage’ in Dutch. Many local people still have Dutch surnames, being direct descendants of soldiers in that army. William Prince of Orange, who became King William III landed in Brixham on 5 November 1688, during the Gloriuos Revolution, and issued his famous declaration “The Liberties of England and The Protestant Religion I Will Maintain”. It is possible that Saxon settlement originated by sea from Hampshire in the sixth century, or overland around the year 800Brixham was called Briseham in the Domesday Book Its population then was 39. Although there is evidence of ice age in habitants here, and probable trading in the Bronze Age, the first evidence of a town comes from Saxon Time. ![]()
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