Ivybridge - History

History

The name Ivybridge is derived from a small 13th-century hump-backed bridge of the same name. Apart from swimming, it was the only means of crossing the river until 1819. "Ivy" was used to describe the bridge, because there was ivy growing on the bridge. As the bridge was the centre of the village and important to its very existence, it was named the "parish of Ivybridge" in 1894. Edmund Barron Hartley was born in Ivybridge on 6 May 1847. He was awarded the Victoria Cross in Moirosi's Mountain, Basuto War, 5 June 1879.

The first mention of settlement in Ivybridge was the manor of Stowford in the Domesday Book of 1086. Although the first mention of Ivybridge came in 1280 when it was described as "dowry of land on the west side of the River Erme, by the Ivy Bridge." There was a chapel, that was on the site of Saint John's church, since 1402. From the 16th century onwards mills were built in the town, harnessing the power of the river. Records show that in the 16th century there was a corn mill, a tin mill and an edge mill. One of the mills, 'Glanville's Mill' (a corn mill), was situated where many of the town's shops are today and gives its name to the shopping centre. The first church (Saint John's) was built in 1790 as a chapel of ease, but 45 years later in 1835 it was consecrated as a district church. In 1819 the Ivy Bridge lost its position as the only means of crossing the river when the 'New Bridge' was built joining Fore Street and Exeter Road.

In 1977 Ivybridge became a town. Throughout the 1980s and 90s it underwent a period of rapid growth, perhaps due to the A38 road by-pass. Between the censuses in 1981 and 2001 the population more than doubled from 5,106 to 12,056.