A collection of walks, discoveries, insights and pictures of exploring Dartmoor National Park
June 7, 2025
Budler Farm
In Peter Tavy parish there is long since abandoned lesser known farm called Budler. It was tenanted in the 1840s by a John (George) Harvie, who was also the occupier of other tenements at Willsworthy, together with the those of Little Willsworthy and Snap. By the end of the decade the property had been handed over to his son William. From then onwards the property name appear to have been known as Budla.
George Harvie is on the 1841 census as ‘Harvey’, located at Will, and there was a Thomas Berry is at Budhill, which might well be a colloquial spelling of Budler. Had George Harvey (Harvie) sublet Budler (Budhill) in 1841, just two years after the Tithe Apportionment, had be relinquished the tenancy or is Budhill a totally different location ? George died in 1845 (he was around 59 years old) and searches for Thomas Berry on the 1851 census for Peter Tavy, draws a blank.
George’s widow Ann is listed at Will on the 1851 census as a farmer of 60 acres. Her son William was helping her, and she had 3 servants (one house, two farm). There is no entry for Budler, Budhill (or even Buddle) on the 1851 census, which makes one assume that the farm had been abandoned or subsumed presumably into the nearby Will Farm.
The former Budler Farm lies on private land and the author is grateful to the current occupier for permission to explore and record the site.
Budler (or Budla) Farm lies at the boundary of the two Parishes of Mary Tavy and Peter Tavy on the road between Horndon and WillsworthyThe extent of Budler Farm from the 1840 Tithe Map. The two nearby farms of Hilltown and Will are still extant todayFarm buildings at Budler. One might interpret the red rectangle as the Farmhouse, with the very small grey rectangle nearby as being the outhouse. Slightly to the north is an outbuildingView of the location of Budler Farmhouse from a field called Bove Town (field 836). The Tithe Apportionment for ‘Budler’ lists Field Number 834 as ‘House & Courtlage’ and Field Numbers 832, 833 and 835 all as ‘Garden’.Location of Budler Farmhouse, where there are some scattered rocks and a levelled area built into a east to west slope of the fieldThe location of the Farmhouse looking west onto a hedge line, beyond which is the Horndon to Willsworthy road The Farmhouse location is centred at SX52915 81300Sheep Creep in the hedge near Budler FarmhouseSheep Creep and a line of old wallingThe farmhouse location in relation to the curious line of old wallingBy referring to the old Tithe Map from 1840, one can see that just to the north of the Farmhouse there was a definite ‘triangular indentation’ where the lane would have extended westwards. The author speculates that this might have been the original access point to the Farmhouse from the laneThe ‘triangular indentation’ appears to have gone by 1873. With the demise of the Farm, speculated as being in the late 1840’s after the death of the tenant George Harvie, it is possible that the hedge line was re-aligned around this time, certainly completed by 1873The Tithe Apportionment in Peter Tavy was recorded on 4th April 1839, with the Tithe Map being dated 1840. Budler Farm was quite extensive and was around 45 acres in size, being mainly arable but with a large area of ‘Furze’ on open moorland. George Harvie was the tenant (he was also the tenant at Will Farm) and the Land Owner was Rev. Walter RadcliffeAerial view of the buildings at Budler Farm alongside the Horndon to Willsworthy laneTo the south of the Farmhouse is a pile of rubble, which the author speculates was either from field clearance or is the remains of the old Farmhouse blocks. According to 19th century maps, there possibly was an old shaft here (presumably relating to the old Wheal Jewell workings), so the blocks could also be associated with that, albeit there is no obvious upthrust from a shaft in the areaThe blocks are located in what was the Garden Plot (field 835). The Plot was 10 perches (around 250 sq. m)The Garden (Plot 835) is located at SX52893 81285To the north of the Farmhouse, there was an outbuilding, which according to the 1840 Tithe Map was roofless. It would have been located near to the modern gateway leading from the Horndon to Willsworthy lane. There is nothing immediately obvious here but there are subtle outlines which suggests something was once hereThe subtle outline of the outbuilding at SX52929 81344Possible old field boundary in ‘Barn Park’ (Field 831 – just over 2 acres in size in 1839 at the time of the apportionment)The LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) plot of the buildings at Budler Farm with a close inspection confirm the locations of the two buidlingsBlocks by the outbuilding – were these from the outbuilding or as a result of field clearance?Blocks, with outbuilding location to the left, track into the field on the right and gateway behindThe 1841 census, showing George Harvey (or Harvie) as tenant at Will, he was 53. There is no entry for Budler but an entry for Budhill with a Thomas Berry being the tenant. One assumes Budhill on the entry is Budler, both of which may be colloquial spellings of Buddle? When talking to the occupier of Will Farm, he called the old farm Buddla (or Budla)Beside some enclosure walls either side of the stroll (known as Buddla Corner) approaching yard gate are two war department stones, viz: WD 40 – On the north side of Buddla Corner ; WD 41 – On the south side of Buddla Corner. The Willsworthy Range is bounded by around 45 ‘WD’ standing stones which mark the tract of land that the War Department purchased in 1903. The route follows virtually the the line of the old Willsworthy Manor bounds, with some slight variations (of about 3200 acres) which were purchased from the Calmady-Hamlyn family. On the north west side of Budler Farm and on the Peter Tavy / Mary Tavy parish boundary (and the bounds of the old Willsworthy Manor Bounds) lie two boundary stones inscribed “R” and “WD42”. The “R” is thought to stand for the Roskilly family who farmed Willsworthy for several generations.It seems logical that the “R” stone represents the boundary of the lands of the Roskilly family. That said, noting the land owner hereabouts from the time of the tithe, might it be possible the “R” relates to Rev. Walter Radcliffe? Walter Radcliffe is probably the same landowner who was based at Tamerton Foliot.Will Farm, Little Will and Snap from the 1839 Tithe Apportionment (with field names), all of which was tenanted by George Harvie who was recorded as also being the tenant of Budler at the time. Note, that all the land was owned by Rev. Walter Radcliffe
