Below is some genealogy information and websites about the history and social geography of Newton-Abbot.

North-East, North-West, South-East, South-West, Midlands, London, East Anglia

Description: Located in Devon, Newton Abbot sits o the River Teign near to the south coast of England. Traditionally a market town, Newton Abbot produced wool, cloth, leather, corn, cattle, cheese and onions. The clay industry was growing by the end of the 1700s with some exported to the Wedgewood factories mostly by ship. The Stover canal, built in 1792, helped to reduce time to the local ports. Coal and manure were also transported in this way. Granite was also mined nearby and shipped by canal. Local granite was used in the production of London Bridge in 1825. The Newton Abbot poorhouse, where inmates were used to untwist old rope, producing oakem, was re-built in 1839. In 1846, Newton Abbot was connected to the rail network. Locomotive works were set up here belonging to the South Devon Railway company which later produced steam engines. Granite quarrying went into decline in the second half of the 1800s as Cornish mines came to prominence. Newton Abbot suffered some bomb damage during the Second World War.

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