Buckfast & Buckfastleigh, although separated by a great limestone hill, are often considered one place. Buckfast means 'stronghold where the deer, or bucks, are'. Buckfastleigh is the 'ley' or clearing/meadow. Buckfast grew up around the Abbey founded in 1018 & the town developed soon after, a centre of the wool trade. The monks kept sheep on the surrounding hills & it became one of the wealthiest abbeys in the SW. In 1539 the Abbey surrendered as part of the Dissolution & its treasures went to the king. In 1882 it was bought by Benedictine monks & a new abbey was begun in 1907. You may have heard of Brother Adam & his work with bees. He bred the 'Buckfast Bee'! The abbey houses a hair shirt that once belonged to Sir Thomas More. It has become well known for its gardens, wine, honey & beeswax.