TAVY (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Tavistock, hundred of Lifton, Tavistock and S. divisions of Devon, 4 miles (N. E. by N.) from Tavistock; containing 1552 inhabitants. The parish is situated on the road from Plymouth to Barnstaple, through Tavistock and Oakhampton, and comprises about 1143 acres, exclusively of the glebe and the waste land, including the whole of Blackdown. A lead and a copper mine are in operation, employing together about 627 hands. The river Tavy runs through the parish. The living is a rectory, valued in the king’s books at £14. 5. 7½., and in the gift of John Buller, Esq.: the tithes have been commuted for £207. 10., and there is a parsonage-house, with about 30 acres of glebe land, independently of a field of 8 acres, which has been rendered waste by mining operations. The church is partly in the later English style, and contains the staircase to an ancient rood-loft. There are two places of worship for Wesleyans. Tungstate of lime has been found among other geological curiosities.
Source: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis Fifth Edition Published London; by S. Lewis and Co., 13, Finsbury Place, South. M. DCCC. XLV.
