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Mary Tavy is eminently suited to those who either want to visit Dartmoor and its surrounding attractions by car or to use it as starting point to explore the area at a more liesurely pace. It is ideally situated to begin a backpacking trip or trekk across Dartmoor.
It has a beautifully furnished Anglo Catholic church which lies in the old part of the
village, well away from the main road. The key to the church is held at "Homer"
(ask anyone locally for that location) and it can be obtained from there for viewing outside
normal service times.
There is a very recently restored peal of 5 bells and the
wonderful stained-glass windows are by the noted stained glass artist artist, Kemp,
of Soho, London. There is a delightful rood screen (carved by the accomplished Misses Penwell)
surmounted by a large crucifix and statues from Oberammergau, Germany, in
painted linden wood. The ornate reredos above the altar completes the picture.
The famous mines of the
Wheal Friendship
complex within the village are now only really visible to the enthusiasts eye, being
overgrown or dismantled.
This mine was taken over and managed by that great mining
engineer, John Taylor who came from from Norfolk in 1854 at the tender age of 19 years.
At one time Wheal Friendship was the most productive deep copper mine in the world.
In 1853, because of the influx of miners, the population stood at 1,500+ souls - but
there were only 66 houses!
There is hardly any trace of Mary Tavy's mining industry of the 18th and 19th centuries
except for the well preserved engine house (pictured right)
which is adjacent the A386 in the moorland valley as one approaches the village
from a northerly direction. This is the site of the lead/silver mine of Wheal
Betsy, or, as it was also once named, Prince Arthur Consuls.