ferns, high tufts of
grass, or little bushes, with the clearest water streams between them.
The bridge is over the East Dart, above the meeting of the waters, and
from just below it is possible to get a charming view of the arches
thrown up against a sunlit mass of shimmering leaves.

From here the Dart runs south almost to Holne, the birthplace of that
true lover of Devon, Charles Kingsley. At this point it makes a great
loop to the north, flowing among lovely scenery along a steep and narrow
valley, where great rocks break through the woods; then curving round in
Holne Chase, it turns south again to Holne Bridge, which is crossed by
the Ashburton road. The town is about three miles to the east.

Ashburton is one of the old stannary towns, and besides mining, it was
known for its trade in woollen goods, especially serges. In fact, 'the
seal of the Port-reeve bears a church between a teasel and a saltire,
with the sun and moon above.' The teasel was used to raise the nap in
making cloth, and was a symbol of that industry, as the sun and moon
were symbols of mining. In 1697 the manufacturers felt foreign
competition so keenly that the Port-reeve, traders, and inhabitants of
Ashburton signed a petition to Parliament, begging that an Act might be
passed to discourage the importation of Irish and other foreign woollen
goods.

This borough sent members to Parliament from the reign of Edward I, but
in time its representation ceased. The privilege was given back to the
borough after the Restoration, through the intervention of Sir John
Northcote, and was held until Ashburton was disfranchised in 1868.

A few miles farther down the river is Buckfastleigh, a small but very
flourishing town, and one of the very few that still produce the serges
and woollen goods for which the county was once famous, in the sixteenth
century especially, for then, as Green tells us, 'the broadcloths of the
West claimed the palm among the woollen stuffs of England.' The church
stands apart on a height overlooking the town, and the tapering spire
adds to the effect given by its commanding position. By far the most
interesting building here is Buckfast Abbey, founded in the reign of
Henry II, on the site of a Benedictine abbey of Saxon days. The place
must have been very remote and inaccessible when the Benedictines first
settled there, and the Saxon name given in Bishop AElfwold's charter in
1016 was 'Buckfaesten, _i.e._, Deer-fastness,' which wo