Bovey Tracey brings together local history and crafts with trails in the great outdoors. The River Bovey flows through the town; MAKE Southwest is located in Bovey Tracey on the edge of Dartmoor. The nearby Parke Estate is another option for walks: you can reach it on foot from the centre along the riverbank. This means you can shape your stay around exhibitions and historic traces in the town, as well as trails through woodland, pasture and along the water.
Crafts and Local History
The Bovey Tracey Heritage Centre preserves archives, photographs and artefacts about life in the town—from its medieval origins to the present day. Its changing exhibitions explore the pottery industry, the granite tramway, local mining, agriculture and the town’s railways. This brings different aspects of local history together: crafts and transport, as well as farming and life in Bovey Tracey.
The site includes the remains of an internationally significant pottery kiln and a restored GWR brake van. The Heritage Centre also has an activity area for children. Bovey Tracey’s pottery industry was established in the 1750s. Riverside Mill was built in 1850 as a stable block, when the building belonged to John Divett, the owner of Bovey Pottery. Here you can encounter both the history of a local industry and that of a particular building from the time when John Divett owned Bovey Pottery.
Cromwell's Arch is the only surviving remnant of a monastery demolished in 1822. Alongside the Heritage Centre’s exhibitions and objects, the arch offers another tangible point of reference to the town’s history. If you are interested in architectural traces of the past, you will find here a surviving testament to a monastery as well as the industrial history.
Glass, Pottery and Play
House of Marbles is a visitor attraction in Bovey Tracey and comprises four museums dedicated to games, glass, pottery and marbles. There is more to explore than marbles: interactive features include marble runs, an in-house embossing machine and fairground mirrors. The different themes offer distinct perspectives on play and craftsmanship; you can explore glass and pottery as well as the marbles that give the venue its name.
Walking Trails and Connections
The nearby Parke Estate offers walking trails through woodland and pasture, as well as along the riverbank. From the centre of Bovey Tracey, the footpath there follows the riverbank. The landscapes vary even within the Estate: depending on the route, the focus may be on trees, open pasture or the riverbank. The River Bovey also flows through the town, providing another connection to the water in the area.
The Stover Trail connects Newton Abbot with Bovey Tracey and continues via the Wray Valley Trail towards Dartmoor. This is a different kind of route from the walking trails at Parke Estate: here, the trail links named places and continues towards Dartmoor, while those trails lead through woodland, pasture and along the riverbank. The two options help distinguish nature trails from a trail connecting several places, without assuming a specific walking time for either.
Visitor Information and Event Dates
The Bovey Tracey Information Centre is next to the library in Riverside Community Centre, right by the Station Road car park near the river bridge. Visitors can get information there about attractions, activities, walking trails, cycling, maps and local transport. If you want to plan your explorations using maps or transport information, this is a convenient place to start.
Bovey Tracey’s Craft Festival takes place every year in June. Check the specific event dates before travelling, as they may change. This lets you take the festival into account when choosing your travel dates and decide how much time to set aside for exhibitions, local history and walks.
Discover more destinations: Tipton Saint John, Bishop's Tawton, South Pool, Chittlehamholt, Hatherleigh, Hemyock, Noss Mayo, Chudleigh.
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