North Tawton 600 ft (185m) east-west by 390 ft (120m), and was located adjoining the Roman road between "Isca Dumnoniorum" (Exeter) and Okehampton. In addition, the site of a temporary marching camp has been identified half a mile to the north. By the time of the Domesday survey (1086), there were six farm / manor holdings in what is now North Tawton Parish, including that of Tawton which was the forerunner of the town we know today. St Peter's Church is first recorded in 1257. Only the tower of the present building dates from that time, with the rest being mostly 14th
Insula (Roman city) forum around which the most important public buildings would be sited. Insula (Roman city) An insula (Latin for "island") is a city block in an ancient Roman city plan, i.e. one that is surrounded by four streets. The term was also used for apartment buildings that took up an entire city block. A standard Roman city plan was based on a grid of orthogonal streets and was probably founded on the ancient Greek model of Hippodamus and was used when new cities were established, e.g. in Roman coloniae. The main streets of each city would be the Decumanus Maximus (east–west-oriented)