More information : (Centred SX 801604) Totnes is one of the four Saxon royal boroughs of Devon first noted on the evidence of coin minted intermittently there between the reigns of Edgar (959-
975) and William Rufus. It is possible, although there is no record of it, that a small settlement existed here before the burh. The limits of the Saxon burh are probably represented by the lines of the Medieval walls (see SX 86 SW 19).
Totnes still belonged to the king in 1066, when William granted it to Judhael, who probably built the castle (SX 86 SW 38) at the north-west end of the burgh before he was deprived of his lands in 1088-9.
The main source of wealth of the Medieval town was the cloth trade, and by the time of Henry VIII, Totnes was second in Devon only to Exeter in merchant wealth. The town failed to keep pace with 17th-18th century developments in textiles however, and its industrial history virtually ends in the
1660s.
Sixteen to seventeenth century merchant houses (known as "a deux coupes de batiments", with a separate kitchen at the rear connected to the main house by a gallery) are features of the town. (1-3)
Additional bibliography (4). |