Church House and Sexton’s Cottage

Church House and Sexton’s Cottage are adjoining early-16th-century stone buildings beside St Pancras’ Church in Widecombe-in-the-Moor. The larger Church House now serves as the village hall, while the cottage holds a separate shop and upstairs gallery. Its broad granite front colonnade gives the low, two-storey building a distinctive shape.

The stop has a long village story: it was still being used as a church house in 1608. In the mid-19th century, the ground floor was used as a poorhouse and the upper floor as a school.

Stand back for the long roofline and the row of seven granite columns on the front. In Sexton’s Cottage, the upstairs gallery shows work by Dartmoor artists and makers; the shop carries local books, woven baskets, pottery, gifts and homewares.

Treat this as a short historic stop, with the interiors as a bonus. Church House is a village community hall and opens for visitors on market days and selected dates, rather than as a daily museum. The cottage shop and gallery are listed separately, but reliable opening hours were not found. Check current details before making a special trip to go inside.