A collection of walks, discoveries, insights and pictures of exploring Dartmoor National Park
July 1, 2020
FOGGINTOR SCHOOL AND SCHOOL HOUSE
Inspired by two Dartmoor Magazine articles (Autumn 1988, school in the middle of nowhere by Barbara Stevens and Spring 1989, memories of life at Foggintor school house by Ivan Stoyle), I realised that in spite having parked here on dozens and dozens of occasions I didn’t really know much history about the school or its exact and precise location. With a bit of further research from “old schools remembered” by Mary Stanbrook and an old map from side-by-side I ventured out in the rain to confirm my findings.
My thanks to Kate Tobin, Caroline Easton, Martyn Smith and Nigel Machin for supplying many of the photographs in this post and to Dennis Martin for providing the link to the Tavistock Times Gazette below:
What a wonderful piece of visual nostalgia! I am in the process of producing a collection of highly detailed pen and ink drawings mainly of ancient and/or famous trees in the UK for a forthcoming book. I am familiar with the fir tree at the school and although it is of no great age, at least in the world of trees I feel it would be the ideal subject on which to finish the book as it has such a poignant and unusual tale attached to it. Very much enjoyed your photographs.
Hi Bernard, great to read your comment and that you would like to use my Grandad’s tree in your book. By coincidence, I have always worked with trees and nature and I ran the “Great Trees of East Devon” project 15 years ago which highlighted stories of ancient and heritage trees. So if it’s not too late, I’d love to talk to you about your book and this story – and can give you access to one or two original photos. If you would like that, perhaps you can ask Steve to put us in touch offline so emails aren’t shared publicly?
Hi Steve, lovely to see all this brought together. Glad the photos and stories have been useful. I have the originals of many of these photos. I think your uncle and my Grandad would have been pleased that Foggintor School hasn’t been forgotten and the stories continue to be told.
Hi Kate and Steve, I’ve been looking into Foggintor school as, from Ancestry, I found out that Fred Stoyle’s wife, Fanny (ne Ellacombe), is my great grand aunt (my Mum’s great aunt).
My Mum is in her mid eighties now. We are planning a visit to this site in the summer as she is excited to learn more about this and to see the site. So you guys must be relatives of ours too! Any further info would be fab to hear about…
What memories revived! In the mid 1960s I was a reporter on the Tavistock Times. My family lived in Buckfastleigh and I regularly passed the school. It must have been in its last days but I always thought it had a surprisingly modern look.
Not far away across the road was a former chapel giving way gracefully to the woodworm. I wrote a piece on the lady (Mrs Jean Hext?) living in the associated cottage. No doubt this is another building that has fallen foul of time and the Dartmoor weather.
Thank you for your comments. You may wish to also view the “Then and Now” section of this website, which contains a post on the Dartmoor Mission Hall and the Foggintor Quarry School (Wesleyan Chapel).
Stephen Fryer September 4, 2020
Fantastic bit of research! Well done. Learnt more about the school than I knew before and so good to see some photos.
SteveGrigg1961 October 13, 2020 — Post author
Thank you Stephen.
Bernard F Carter December 15, 2021
What a wonderful piece of visual nostalgia! I am in the process of producing a collection of highly detailed pen and ink drawings mainly of ancient and/or famous trees in the UK for a forthcoming book. I am familiar with the fir tree at the school and although it is of no great age, at least in the world of trees I feel it would be the ideal subject on which to finish the book as it has such a poignant and unusual tale attached to it. Very much enjoyed your photographs.
Kate Tobin April 2, 2022
Hi Bernard, great to read your comment and that you would like to use my Grandad’s tree in your book. By coincidence, I have always worked with trees and nature and I ran the “Great Trees of East Devon” project 15 years ago which highlighted stories of ancient and heritage trees. So if it’s not too late, I’d love to talk to you about your book and this story – and can give you access to one or two original photos. If you would like that, perhaps you can ask Steve to put us in touch offline so emails aren’t shared publicly?
Tavistock Taxis March 24, 2022
This is fascinating Steve. I am currently sat in this carpark! tavistocktaxis.co.uk
Kate Tobin April 2, 2022
Hi Steve, lovely to see all this brought together. Glad the photos and stories have been useful. I have the originals of many of these photos. I think your uncle and my Grandad would have been pleased that Foggintor School hasn’t been forgotten and the stories continue to be told.
Trevor Church April 3, 2023
Hi Kate and Steve, I’ve been looking into Foggintor school as, from Ancestry, I found out that Fred Stoyle’s wife, Fanny (ne Ellacombe), is my great grand aunt (my Mum’s great aunt).
My Mum is in her mid eighties now. We are planning a visit to this site in the summer as she is excited to learn more about this and to see the site. So you guys must be relatives of ours too! Any further info would be fab to hear about…
Malcolm Ross July 12, 2022
What memories revived! In the mid 1960s I was a reporter on the Tavistock Times. My family lived in Buckfastleigh and I regularly passed the school. It must have been in its last days but I always thought it had a surprisingly modern look.
Not far away across the road was a former chapel giving way gracefully to the woodworm. I wrote a piece on the lady (Mrs Jean Hext?) living in the associated cottage. No doubt this is another building that has fallen foul of time and the Dartmoor weather.
SteveGrigg1961 July 12, 2022 — Post author
Dear Malcolm,
Thank you for your comments. You may wish to also view the “Then and Now” section of this website, which contains a post on the Dartmoor Mission Hall and the Foggintor Quarry School (Wesleyan Chapel).
Kind Regards,
Dartmoor Explorations
Caroline Easton March 4, 2023
Great article and photos. Thanks Steve.
SteveGriggDartmoor March 5, 2023 — Post author
Thank you Caroline