Roborough is a village in the

South Hams South Hams is a non-metropolitan district, local government district on the south coast of Devon, England. Its council is based in the town of Totnes, although the largest town is Ivybridge. The district also contains the towns of Dartmouth, ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

, England. Former home of

Plymouth City Airport Plymouth City Airport was an airport located within the Plymouth, City of Plymouth north northeast of the city centre in Devon, England at Derriford (formerly Roborough, South Hams, Roborough). The airport opened on this site in 1925 and w ...

(and formerly to

RAF Roborough Royal Air Force Roborough or more simply RAF Roborough was a Royal Air Force station in Roborough located north of Plymouth, Devon which used Plymouth City Airport as their base. History RAF Roborough began when the Air Ministry started t ...

), Roborough lies just outside the northern boundary of the city of

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

on the main road to

Tavistock Tavistock ( ) is an ancient stannary and market town and civil parish in the West Devon district, in the county of Devon, England. It is situated on the River Tavy, from which its name derives. At the 2011 census, the three electoral wards (N ...

, and is a popular dormitory village. The Lopes family, descendants of Jamaican-born

Tory A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...

Member of Parliament and

Baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

of Sephardic-Jewish Portuguese origin Sir Manasseh Masseh Lopes, 1st Baronet, lived in Roborough and acquired the title Baron Roborough in the twentieth century, after moving from nearby

Maristow House Maristow House in the parish of Bickleigh (formerly Tamerton Foliot), Devon, England, is a large country house set in landscaped parkland, on the River Tavy to the north of Plymouth. It was built in about 1560, rebuilt in the mid-18th century a ...

on the

River Tavy The Tavy () is a river on Dartmoor, Devon, England. The name derives from the Brythonic languages, Brythonic root , once thought to mean 'dark' but now generally understood to mean 'to flow'. It has given its name to the town of Tavistock and ...

and before relocating to Gnaton, a smaller mansion on the coast near

Noss Mayo Noss Mayo is a village in the civil parish of Newton and Noss in the South Hams district of Devon, England, south-east of Plymouth, inland on the southern bank of Newton Creek, an arm of the estuary of the River Yealm. On the opposite, northern ...

. The very old village pub, which stands on the main street (long since bypassed by a modern dual carriageway) is called the Lopes Arms. One important son of Roborough is shoemaker and early trade unionist

George Odger George Odger (1813 – 4 March 1877) was a pioneer British trade unionist and radical politician. He is best remembered as the head of the London Trades Council during the period of formation of the Trades Union Congress and as the first Presid ...

. After travelling to London in search of work, George became the first trades-unionist to stand for Parliament, the leader of the

London Trades Council The London Trades Council was an early labour organisation, uniting London's trade unionists. Its modern successor organisation is the Greater London Association of Trades (Union) Councils History Leading figures in the London trade union mov ...

and the president of the First

International Workingmen's Association The International Workingmen's Association (IWA; 1864–1876), often called the First International, was a political international which aimed at uniting a variety of different left-wing socialist, social democratic, communist, and anarchist g ...

, an historically important organisation of socialist, communist, anarchist and working-class activists in which

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

played a prominent role. The Plymouth Argaum Rugby Club grounds are just east of the village. Roborough Down is the name given to the long stretch of undulating moorland over which the road to Yelverton and Tavistock passes. It lies within

Dartmoor National Park Dartmoor is an highland (geography), upland area in southern Devon, South West England. The moorland and surrounding land has been protected by National parks of England and Wales, National Park status since 1951. Dartmoor National Park covers ...

, but is owned by Lord Roborough's Maristow Estate. The down has a rich array of wildlife such as ravens, buzzards, foxes, deer and semi-wild ponies and its vegetation consists of pasture, gorse and bracken with frequent stands of hawthorn, oak and birch. However, the down's unique wildlife and environment is threatened by increasing deforestation and grazing pressure.

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External links

{{coord, 50, 26, 26, N, 4, 6, 30, W, display=title, region:GB_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki Villages in South Hams Bickleigh, South Hams