Buckfastleigh Racecourse (21 June 1883 - 27 August 1960) was a British horse racing venue. Not such a grand stand and jump - Buckfastleigh - geograph

History

Horse racing is first recorded at

Buckfastleigh Buckfastleigh is a market town and civil parish in Devon, England situated beside the Devon Expressway ( A38) at the edge of the Dartmoor National Park. It is part of Teignbridge and, for ecclesiastical purposes, lies within the Totnes Deanery ...

in the mid 1850s, on a course on Wallaford Down. In 1883, the town's race meeting was relocated just outside Buckfastleigh to a place called Dean Court on the Dean Marshes, close to the A38 between Plymouth and Exeter. The first race meeting was held at this new location on 21 June 1883 and continued unbroken for over 75 years, until the final race " under rules" took place on 27 August 1960. The course was on land owned by Lord Churston, and when this was sold as part of the general decline of the old "great estates", racing had to cease and five days scheduled for 1961 were cancelled. The race days were taken over by the surviving Devon venues,

Newton Abbot Racecourse Newton Abbot Racecourse is a thoroughbred horse racing venue located on the north bank of the River Teign in the parishes of Kingsteignton and Teigngrace just north of Newton Abbot, Devon, England. The course is a tight, flat left-handed oval of ...

and the then Devon and Exeter Racecourse."Buckfastleigh dates quickly filled", ''

Nottingham Evening Post The ''Nottingham Post'' (formerly the ''Nottingham Evening Post'') is an English tabloid newspaper which serves Nottingham, Nottinghamshire and parts of Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Lincolnshire. The ''Post'' is published Monday to Saturday ...

'' page 12, 13 February 1961

Legacy

The main grandstand remains, and has become a well-known landmark in the area. A sister grandstand was relocated to

Plainmoor Plainmoor is an association football stadium located in the Plainmoor suburb of Torquay, Devon, England. Since 1921, the stadium has been the home of Torquay United Football Club, who currently compete in the National League, the fifth tier of E ...

, home ground of

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

football club in 1927. Point-to-point meetings continued to be held from 1960 until 1977, during which time most of the course returned to farmland. Point-to-points have subsequently been revived and continue to this day.

Notable races

* Dartmoor 3 mile

Chase Chase or CHASE may refer to: Businesses * Chase Bank, a national bank based in New York City, New York * Chase Aircraft (1943–1954), a defunct American aircraft manufacturing company * Chase Coaches, a defunct bus operator in England * Chase Co ...

References

Defunct horse racing venues in England 1883 establishments in England 1960 disestablishments in England Sports venues completed in 1883 {{horseracing-venue-stub