The Tavistock Inn was built on the road between Ashburton and Tavistock hundreds of years before Princetown existed.

On a cold winters day, it would have been a long and arduous journey across the moor on horseback, difficult to imagine in the warmth and comfort of a car. The Inn was, therefore, an important refuge and meeting place, as it still is today.

One of England’s oldest pubs, Tavistock Inn dates back to about 1413 when Newbridge (at the bottom of the hill on the way to Ashburton) was built. The bridge was “new” when it was built- hence it’s name – and so was the pub, a welcome stop for weary travellers who had just climbed Newbridge hill.

And little has changed, for good beer, wines, spirits and soft drinks, including a fine selection of real ales are still dispensed to visitors from near and far, together with some of the best pub food you’ll find in Devon with local produce being used when available.

The strangest guest to visit the “Tavi” must have been old Nick himself (yes The Devil). The story goes that in 1638bwhile on his way to knock down the tower of Widecombe Church and claim a poor soul called Jan Reynolds. He dropped in for a drink. The poem on the wall beside the fireplace tells the tale. A few years later in 1646 during the English Civil War, some Roundhead Gunners were billeted at the pub.

A more conventional guest around the end of the 19th century was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes, who stayed at the Inn while he wrote Hound of the Baskervilles.

So if you’re looking for a traditional pub, serving good beer and food and full of characters  – you’ve found it at Poundsgate!!!