Eastern Dartmoor · Teign Valley
Bridford
An upland village where a carved medieval church screen, a characterful free-house and short routes into tor, woodland and reservoir country make a compact Dartmoor base.
- Landscape
- Eastern edge of Dartmoor National Park
- Signature walk
- 4.5-mile Blackingstone Rock loop
- Village landmark
- Grade I St Thomas à Becket
The Fox verdict
Come for the carved screen; stay for a tor walk and the inn.
Bridford works best as a small-scale village visit with one substantial walk, rather than a checklist of attractions.
The strongest pairing is St Thomas à Becket, whose early-16th-century rood screen retains original gilding and colour, and the Bridford Inn, a family-run free-house in a former farmhouse. Add the 4.5-mile Blackingstone Rock loop, the shorter Bridford Wood circuit or the easy reservoir circuits to shape the day.
Where to go
Places in Bridford
Every place below is checked against a published source, listed with what it is and how long to give it.
Local signatures
3 placesThe Bridford Inn & Village Shop
A family-run 17th-century free-house in a former farmhouse, with an inglenook fireplace, original bread oven, exposed oak beams, four handpumps, a cider and scrumpy bar, and a south-facing garden overlooking the Teign Valley.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Allow about 1 hour 15 minutes for a meal stop
- Locality
- in the heart of the village
- Access
- The inn welcomes children, dogs and horses.
Church of St Thomas à Becket
This Grade I church has a 14th-century chancel and mainly 15th-century fabric. Its early-16th-century rood screen retains original gilding and colour, with carved saints, prophets and musicians, while the wagon roof includes a Three Hares boss.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Allow about 35 minutes to see the church interior
- Locality
- in the village centre
- Access
- The church sits at the top of a lofty flight of steps.
Blackingstone Rock Loop
An easy loop of about 4.5 miles leading to a prominent granite tor, with steps cut to its summit and wide views.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Allow about 2 hours for the 4.5-mile loop
- Locality
- from Bridford
- Access
- The route is described in the research as an easy 4.5-mile loop.
Walks & outdoors
1 placeBridford Wood Loop
A roughly 3.1-mile circuit through ancient semi-natural oak woodland managed by the National Trust, alongside the River Teign.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Allow about 1 hour 15 minutes for the 3.1-mile loop
- Locality
- via Dunsford
- Access
- The sourced route is a loop via Dunsford.
Things to do
1 placeKennick, Trenchford and Tottiford Reservoirs
Easy reservoir circuits suited to all ages, with family walking and wildlife spotting at Kennick, Tottiford and Trenchford.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Allow about 1 hour 30 minutes for a reservoir circuit
- Locality
- Kennick, Trenchford and Tottiford reservoirs
- Access
- The research describes the circuits as easy and accessible, and suitable for all ages.
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Three ways to explore Bridford
Signature outings
Carved saints and musicians
The church's eight-bay rood screen keeps its original gilding and colour, with lively carved figures rather than painted panels.
Ancient oak beside the Teign
The shorter Bridford Wood loop follows ancient semi-natural oak woodland alongside the River Teign.
Three reservoirs for a gentle circuit
Kennick, Trenchford and Tottiford offer easy, accessible circuits suitable for all ages, with family walking and wildlife spotting.
The village story
The Bridford story
The locked article moves from the village inn to church, landscape, mining history and present-day practicalities.
A farmhouse that became the village pub
The bar top in the Bridford Inn came from a demolished chemist's shop in Exeter, and is said to be the widest bar in the country. The ceiling beams above it are ship timbers from the Appledore boatyard, salvaged during construction of the Mayflower replica. None of this was planned. The building was a 17th-century Devon farmhouse, then two cottages, and only became the village pub in the late 1960s.
Dean and Lyn Staniforth run it with their son Sam. It is a free-house with an inglenook fireplace, a bread oven still set into the stonework, and exposed oak beams. The village shop lives inside it, open during all pub hours, which in a place this size is a sensible arrangement.
Food, ale and the Teign Valley view
The food does most of the talking. The Sunday roasts have been called the best in Devon often enough that people repeat it, and the pub made the Telegraph's list of top places for Sunday lunch. Ham, egg and chips is a menu staple. Home-made desserts come with Orange Elephant ice-creams and sorbets. One TripAdvisor reviewer put it as "Restaurant quality grub with pub price!!" Lunch runs Wednesday to Saturday, dinner Wednesday to Saturday evening, roasts on Sunday; Monday and Tuesday the kitchen is dark.
There are four handpumps, with Dartmoor Jail Ale as the regular and rotating guests alongside. The cider and scrumpy bar carries fifteen and more from Devon and Somerset, which is how it came to be CAMRA Cider Pub of the Year in 2019. The garden faces south, with picnic tables and a long view over the Teign Valley below.
The church and its carved screen
The church sits at the top of a steep flight of steps in the middle of the village. St Thomas à Becket is Grade I listed, dedicated in 1259, and holds a rood screen that is one of the greatest works of art in Devon. The screen's saints and musicians are carved rather than painted, some of them playing zinks, and it was probably put up early in Henry VIII's reign under the vicar Walter Southcote. Look up and there's a wagon roof with carved bosses, including a Three Hares boss. The December carol service is lit largely by candlelight.
You are on the eastern edge of Dartmoor here, above 1,100 feet in places, with ancient oak woodland and the River Teign in the valley below. The Blackingstone Rock loop is about four and a half miles to a granite tor with steps cut to its summit. Bridford Wood, National Trust oak alongside the Teign, makes a shorter circuit. The reservoirs at Kennick, Trenchford and Tottiford are flat and easy.
Bridford Barytes Mine and Domesday
The Bridford Barytes Mine worked below the village until 1958, producing over 400,000 tons of barium sulphate, most of it carried out by rail to Exeter until the line closed. The Domesday surveyors found fifty-nine households here in 1086 and called the place Brideforda, the brides' ford.
Exeter links and village practicalities
Exeter is about nine miles off the B3212, with a bus running in. The post office opens on Thursdays, two hours in the village hall, and there is a fête every July.
Stay around Dartmoor
Make a longer stay of it
Travel Fox holiday homes around Dartmoor, linked directly to their property pages.
A guide with a point of view
Written from research. Edited for real journeys.
Use the Official site links for live practical details, then use this guide for context, ideas and room to explore.
Sources
Every place on this page is checked against a published source. Each entry links the record we used and names who publishes it.
- The Bridford Inn & Village Shop — bridfordinn.co.uk operator, sector body or destination organisation
- Church of St Thomas à Becket — historicengland.org.uk statutory register or public authority record not machine-readable; publisher restricts automated access
- Blackingstone Rock Loop — dartmoor.gov.uk statutory register or public authority record not machine-readable; publisher restricts automated access
- Bridford Wood Loop — heritagerecords.nationaltrust.org.uk other published source
- Kennick, Trenchford and Tottiford Reservoirs — swlakestrust.org.uk other published source