Tavistock is one of the old stannary [tin mining] towns in Devon. As such it had its own courthouse dispensing stannary law. It has remained a lively town, even while increasingly being like a dormitory for Plymouth Probably its main appeal now for visitors is as an excellent centre for a large part of Dartmoor and proximity to the first bridge upriver from Plymouth [where the Tamar Bridge is subject to a toll] across the Tamar into Cornwall.