On January 13, 1944, a Halifax heavy bomber took off from RAF Lindholme for a night navigation training flight. At 20,000 feet a fire in the port outer engine led to a general fire and the aircraft breaking up with subsequent loss of control. The bulk of the wreckage, which fell at about 01:40 on January 14, was found to the east of Holsworthy, near Anvil Corner. All of the crew perished in the crash.

A Hunt Class Destroyer, commissioned in 1941, seeing extensive service during the Second World War.

Prior to the various Education Acts of the 1870s and 1880s - the amount of schooling a child received depended solely on their sex and their parentsâ?? financial situation, social class, religion and values. The earliest found mention of any organised schooling in Holsworthy is in 1792 when it is recorded that Mr Walter Friend of Waterloo Farm ran a boys day school â?? the only school in the entire district.

In 1852, a petition signed by 317 local inhabitants, brought about a great meeting at the Stanhope Arms Hotel, during which a â??highly influential committeeâ?? was appointed to form a company to provide a railway from Bideford to Plymouth, via Torrington, Holsworthy and Launceston, linking with the canal terminus at Blagdon Moor. Named the â??Bristol and English Channel Junction Railwayâ?? the scheme was not to reach fruition and, after initial enthusiasm the plans were shelved. Holsworthy was to wait another 25 years before getting its railway.

A copy of the records showing the Holsworthy men who gave their lives in both World Wars

Fair Week commences in the second week of July with the Court Leet, after which the Ale Tasters make their way into the town to sample the ale in all the Hostelries. Fair Day (Wednesday) commences with the reading of the Charter by the Town Crier, on the spot where the Great Tree used to be. At 12 noon the "Pretty Maid" (the identity of whom is always a closely guarded secret) emerges from the doors of the belfry to the cheers of the waiting crowd. All the tradition is still actively maintained, and the current location is the former Manor grounds, now the main town car park

The Poor Law Act of 1834 sought to set up one system of poor relief for the entire country - the Holsworthy Poor Law Union formally came into being on 1st December 1835 and, like all other Unions, its administration and operation were overseen by a Board of thirty Guardians representing its 23 constituent parishes. The first meeting of the Holsworthy Union Board of Guardians was held in the White Hart Hotel on 1st February 1837. The new Union Workhouse was built in 1853 in Mr Daweâ??s field. Designed by Mr Edward Ashworth, the â??Tâ?? shaped building was built to hold up to 80 inmates.

The tree stood at the south-east corner of the Lower Square, near No. 1 Chapel Street. A stone let into the ground (replaced in 1998 by a brass plaque) still marks the spot, and a slate tablet mounted on the adjacent building in 1975 commemorates the site. The proclamation at the opening of St Peterâ??s Fair has been read at this spot since time immemorial. The Town Crierâ??s proclamation states that it has to be made â??under the great tree of Holsworthy.â?