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 Of Ddrtmoor and its Borderland. 29 CHAPTER IV. From the Erme to the PIym« Ivy bridge — The Erme — Church of St. John— Inscribed Stone — Fardle — Blatchford — Comwood — Hawns and Dendles — Cross at Cholwich Town — ^An Ancient Farmhouse — Blackaton Cross — Cadaford Bridge. Situated on the high road to Plymouth, from which town it is distant about eleven miles, and having a station on the Great Western Railway, Ivybridge is easily reached by the tourist, and there can be no better place from which to explore the extensive commons that fringe the South quarter of Dartmoor Forest. The first object to claim our attention in this pleasant little town will be the old bridge spanning the river, and covered in great part with ivy, but whether it is the actual one whence the place derives its name is open to question. There is, however, not much doubt about its being the same that existed in Sir William Pole's day. That writer states that " Ivebrigge tooke its name from ye bridge which lieth over ye Erme beinge much inclined to the ivy,"* but as the village was known by the name it now bears long before his day, it would seem that the bridge took the place of a more ancient one. It is plainly noticeable from beneath, that at some period it has been widened. The original purpose of the bridge^ that of affording the means of horses only crossing the stream, would not have necessitated the construction of one of the width of that now existing. With our modern ideas we should regard it as narrow, but we must not forget that there is some difference between what would be required for the passage of a pack-horse, and for a wheeled vehicle. It • This was written in the early part of the seventeenth century, Sir William Pole dying in 1635.