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Summary

An orchard in Lustleigh has been documented since at least the early-mid 19th century and is depicted on the Tithe Map, but may have been established much earlier than this. The orchard has strong community value and was gifted to the Parish in the 1960s. Site of the annual May Day celebrations and contains a large granite boulder historically used as site to crown May queens. A throne was installed in 2000 on the rock, which bears the names of past May queens.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• Dartmoor Non-designated Heritage Asset (Communal): 05/09/2022

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• ORCHARD (First mentioned, XVIII to XIX - 1800 AD (Between) to 1840 AD (Between))
• DEDICATION STONE (Constructed, Mid 20th Century to Unknown - 1954 AD (Post))

Full description

South West Heritage Trust, 1838-1848, Digitised Tithe Maps and Transcribed Apportionments (Cartographic). SDV359954.

Ordnance Survey, 1880-1899, First Edition Ordnance Survey 25 inch map (Cartographic). SDV336179.

Ordnance Survey, 1904 - 1906, Second Edition Ordnance Survey 25 inch Map (Cartographic). SDV325644.

Mason, P. F., 2022, Clarification regarding the May Day rocks, Lustleigh (Personal Comment). SDV365232.

(December 2022) Noted that the current boulder in the Orchard includes names of the May Day queens from 1954 onwards. The original May Day rock lies elsewhere and is recorded under the record MDV133613.

Bray, L., 2022, Lustleigh Town Orchard (Un-published). SDV364997.

Lustleigh Town Orchard lies within the Lustleigh Conservation Area. The earliest evidence for the site is from the Lustleigh Tithe Map of 1838 which shows four areas: Apportionment Nos. 477 (Town Orchard), 497 (Clover Field), 498 (West Orchard) and 499 (Town Meadow). Two of these being cultivated as orchards. However it is likely that the area had been in orchard cultivation for many years before that. The Orchard contains a number of old apple varieties.
By the time of the 1884 survey for the Ordnance Survey 25 inch mapping the Town Orchard is shown as a single entity of 5.078 acres. The maps also show the leat which runs through the Orchard today and which used to supply some of the water to Lustleigh Mill.
In 1966 the Town Orchard was gifted to the Parish as an amenity for the local population. It was described in 1993 by Common Ground as the “longest established community orchard” in England.
The Town Orchard has been used for Lustleigh May Day on an annual basis since 1954 when the ceremony moved from its original site on the other side of the valley. There is a large granite rock in the centre of the Orchard which is used for the crowning of the Queens. A permanent throne was installed on the rock in 2000. The rock bears the names of all the May Queens.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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