A Surprise Heritage Open Days Bonus: Hear Devon’s History Brought to Life
The Morley Consort comes to Tavistock this Thursday, and Heritage Open Days visitors can attend FREE.
One of the pleasures of Heritage Open Days is discovering something unexpected, and this week we have a rather special addition to A Thousand Years of Tavistock in Ten Days.
On Thursday 17 September at 18:00, the young early-music ensemble The Morley Consort will perform Of Still and Loud Noise at St Eustachius’ Parish Church, Tavistock.
The concert was not part of our original Heritage Open Days programme. In fact, its timing is a happy coincidence. But once we discovered what the Morley Consort were bringing to Tavistock, we thought it fitted our festival far too well not to tell you about it.
Devon’s history through music
Of Still and Loud Noise explores pivotal moments in Devon’s history through a combination of early music, historical readings and storytelling.
The journey stretches across centuries, encompassing the legends of King Arthur, the violence and upheaval of Viking raids, the Civil War, changing climate and, inevitably, one of Devon’s most famous and controversial figures, Sir Francis Drake.
The Morley Consort brings together four musicians specialising in historical performance: Sophia Mücke, Madison Marshall, Tess Roberts and Jude Chandler. Their work combines musical performance with historical and musicological research, using period instruments and historical sources to explore how the music of earlier centuries might actually have sounded.
It makes for an intriguing proposition: rather than simply being told about Devon’s past, audiences are invited to hear something of its sound-world brought back to life.
From Tavistock to the Golden Hinde
There is another wonderful thread running through the tour.
Tavistock is its first stop, but the journey eventually takes the Morley Consort to London for a performance aboard the Golden Hinde, the recreation of Drake’s famous sixteenth-century ship.
For Consort member Jude Chandler, the connection is particularly close. Alongside his work as a musician, he is involved in the restoration of the Golden Hinde itself.
So a musical journey beginning in Drake’s home town will eventually conclude aboard the ship most closely associated with his extraordinary circumnavigation of the globe.
A special offer for Heritage Open Days
Although Of Still and Loud Noise is an independently organised, ticketed concert, the Morley Consort have very generously made FREE tickets available to Tavistock Heritage Open Days visitors.
To claim yours, simply book through Eventbrite and use the promotional code:
opendays26
OF STILL AND LOUD NOISE📅 Thursday 17 September 2026🕕 18:00📍 St Eustachius’ Parish Church, Tavistock🎟️ FREE with promo code: opendays26
It wasn’t in our printed programme, but we think this is a splendid bonus for Heritage Open Days: another opportunity to discover the history of Devon and Tavistock, this time not through archaeology, buildings or documents, but through music, words and stories.
And sometimes the events you weren’t expecting turn out to be rather special.
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