Dartmouth Friary

Dartmouth is a town near the mouth of the River Dart, on its steep western bank. Its church at Townstal, an historic parish in the higher part of the settlement, was granted to Torre Abbey in about 1198, shortly after the founding of that Abbey by the Premonstratensian order. In 1329 the vicar of Townstal allegedly drowned himself and the Bishop of Exeter punished this crime by issuing an interdict that forbade any religious services from taking place at the church for two years. The Bishop gave permission to William Bacon, one of the wealthiest burgesses of the town, to hold private services at his house, but nothing was done for the general public of the town. In 1330 King Edward III…