Bere Alston

Bere Alston is a small village in the county of Devon, England.

With a population of approximately 2000, the village lies in the Bere peninsula, between the rivers Tamar and Tavy. Its origins lie in the once thriving local mining industry and market gardening sector. At one time, the mainline trains to London would stop at the village to pick up locally grown produce destined for the capital.

Trains still run to Bere Alston railway station on the picturesque Tamar Valley Line, and there has been discussion of making the town a junction once again by reopening the former 'main line' to Tavistock, the largest town in Devon currently without a railway station. Occasionally reopening the whole line through to Okehampton and Exeter is suggested, since the current Plymouth-Exeter route is dependent on an extremely vulnerable route below the sea cliffs at Dawlish Warren [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/7344204.stm BBC News] ] .

Bere Alston elected two members to the Unreformed House of Commons. Only a few burgage holders were entitled to vote but as most, if not all, of these holdings were held by a single individual for most of the time that Bere Alston was a parliamentary borough elections were seldom contested. (see rotten borough). Its MPs included Sir George Beaumont, 7th Baronet, Peter King, 1st Baron King and Josceline Percy. The borough was stripped of its franchise in the Reform Act 1832.

Once home to numerous pubs, the village now only has one public house, The Edgcumbe Hotel, located on Fore Street.

Architecture

The village is notable for having one of the oldest primary schools in Devon. Erected by Sir John Maynard in 1665, the original building still forms part of the primary school today.

The Bere Alston Reform Church is a curious building on Fore Street, dedicated in 1811 and bearing more of a resemblance to a house than a place of worship.

See also

* Bere Alston (UK Parliament constituency)
* Tamar Valley Line

External links

* [http://www.berealston.devon.sch.uk/index.html/ Bere Alston Primary School]
* [http://www.wt-woods.org.uk/BereAlstonWoods/ Bere Alston Woods]
* [http://www.berealstonunitedchurch.org.uk/ Bere Alston United Church]
* [http://www.devon.gov.uk/localstudies/100427/1.html/ History of Bere Alston on Devon Libraries' webpages]
* [http://www.clubwebsite.co.uk/berealstonutd/ Bere Alston United]
* [http://www.hfstephens-museum.org.uk/pages/topics/callington/callington.htm/ A Short History of the Bere Alston and Calstock Light Railway

References