Ashburton is a small market town on the fringes of Dartmoor in Devon, lying adjacent to the A38 Devon Expressway.

It was formerly important as a stannary town (a centre for the administration of tin-mining), and remains the largest town within the National Park, with a population of around 3,500.

During the English Civil War, Ashburton was a temporary refuge for Royalist troops fleeing after their defeat by General Fairfax at nearby Bovey Tracey .

Ashburton was the first place to elect a candidate of the Official Monster Raving Loony Party to public office. The candidate was Alan Hope, a local publican, who was elected to Ashburton Town Council in 1989. He subsequently became Deputy Mayor and later Mayor of Ashburton.

External link

• Official town website

• Ashburton (DMOZ.org)