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In the centre of Tavistock, between the Wharf and Fitzford, is a public park known as The Meadows, through which the River Tavy and the Tavistock Canal flow. There are many facilities here for sport, including the Meadowland's swimming pool, the Sir Francis Drake Bowling Club, the tennis courts, various exercise equipment and a children’s play area.
In the C19th the Meadows was used as pasture for cattle or for growing hay. The central area was known as Jessop's Hay, and the area between the canal and Plymouth Road, as Frog Meadow. The landowner was the Duke of Bedford, and to protect the rights of the lessees of the hay meadow there was no public access to the meadowland, except along the pathways and the banks of the river and the canal.
One of the lessees was a Mr Jessop, but it is not clear when he leased it. However, Jessop's Hay was already being used for sport in the C17th, when Thomas Larkham, vicar of Tavistock from 1649–1660, wrote in his diaries that after a sermon he went down to the football in Jessop's Hay.
From the 1850s, the townspeople had been pressing the 7th Duke, Francis, for the area to become a public park. In 1861 he was presented with a petition of 300 signatures indicating that the Meadows would be suitable. Duke Francis replied that a designated public park was not necessary as the whole of Tavistock already provided these facilities.
In 1874, his son William Russell, 8th Duke of Bedford, provided seating along the watersides, and in 1878 he built a bridge over the canal to improve access to the river from the grand villas on Plymouth Road. In 1879 an article in the Tavistock Gazette again called for the Meadows to become an area of public recreation. Nine years later, in 1888, the area was still described in the Western Morning News, as having a rough and barren appearance. The disused canal, which had closed as a commercial waterway in 1873, was often evil smelling.
In 1895 the Tavistock Parish Council wrote to the Duke asking for the Meadows to become a public recreation area. He agreed in 1898 to a 21 year lease with the newly formed Tavistock Urban District Council (UDC), which acquired responsibility for maintaining and improving the area.
In 1911, Herbrand, the 11th Duke, sold much of his property in Tavistock and in 1912 the UDC bought many properties from the Duke as public amenities for the town, including Jessop’s Hay and Frog Meadow. The UDC added croquet then bowling to the facilities for tennis that already existed in Frog Meadow. The tennis courts, bowling green and pavilion were to be known as the Recreation Ground, and were formally opened on 20th May 1914, by John Bird German, a local councillor who had donated a pavilion.
Jessop's Hay however, remained as rough grassland after the opening of the Recreation Ground in 1914. Renovations were delayed by the outbreak of the First World War and not resumed until 1923. The council then built shelters, a bandstand and a footbridge over the canal. Shrubs and trees were planted, and paths, seats, a fountain and a children’s paddling pool were added. The derelict canal was cleaned and restored. In 1923 a miniature golf course was added next to the bowling green in the Recreation Ground, and in the 2000s this was converted into an adventure cycle track. In 1928 Benson's Meadow, the land which has St John's Well dating from the time of Tavistock Abbey, on the opposite bank of the River Tavy to Jessop’s Hay, was purchased for the town by Mr John Benson. In the same year Richard Tucker, chairman of the UDC, campaigned for the removal of an old German war trophy from the Meadows, and it was eventually removed in 1933.
On 6 May 1935, to coincide with King George V's jubilee, the Meadows were formally designated as a public park. The new chairman of the UDC, Alfred Treloar, planted a red oak tree where the German gun had stood, and a ceremonial King George V arch, marking the riverside entrance to the Meadows, was opened.
During the 1980s the shelters and children's paddling pool were removed and the play area re-located to make way for the Meadowland's pool. In the 2000s, the tennis courts were improved with all-weather surfaces and floodlights, and a popular skateboarding facility was installed in Benson's Meadow.
Detailed descriptions of events in the history of the Meadows can be found in volumes 3, 8, 21, 22 and 23 of Gerry Woodcock’s excellent series Tavistock’s Yesterdays on sale at Tavistock Museum and local bookshops.