Cornworthy and Its Medieval Priory: A Quiet South Hams Parish

Cornworthy is one of the quieter villages on the run of lanes between Totnes and Dartmouth, and the centre of an old parish that takes in some of the prettiest farmland in the South Hams. This Cornworthy village guide is for visitors who want to combine a short walk, a medieval priory ruin, an honest village pub and the kind of unhurried lunch that the area is good at.

Where Cornworthy Sits

The village is about five miles south of Totnes, halfway down the lanes that thread between the River Dart and the open South Hams countryside. You can reach it via Ashprington and Tuckenhay from the north, or up from Dittisham and the Bow Creek crossing from the south. Either approach involves narrow lanes with high hedges, so allow more time than the map suggests, and take care meeting traffic on the bends.

Cornworthy itself is small. There is a single street through the centre, a green, the church above it, and the pub. Postcode TQ9 7HJ will put you in the heart of the village. The lanes around are excellent for cycling if you are confident with hills and blind corners.

The Priory Ruin Above the Village

The standout sight is Cornworthy Priory, a Grade I listed ruin a short walk uphill from the village. It was founded around 1238 by Eva de Braose in memory of her husband and run by Augustinian nuns for the best part of three centuries. At its founding there were thirteen nuns; numbers fell over time, and the house closed during Henry VIII’s dissolution of the monasteries in 1539.

What survives now is mostly the impressive gatehouse, a square block of weathered stone standing in a private field that you can view from the lane and the public footpath. It is one of the most photogenic ruins in this part of Devon, particularly with the late afternoon light from the west. Please respect that the surrounding ground is in agricultural use and stick to the marked rights of way.

St Peter’s Church and the Village Centre

St Peter’s Church sits on the high side of the village and is worth a look for the tomb of the Harris family, who held the manor from the mid-16th century onwards. The building is largely 14th and 15th century, with a heavy tower, and the churchyard gives you a small view back over the rooftops to the fields beyond. Like many parish churches in the South Hams, it is left open during the day; please leave it as you found it.

Around the green you have the usual scatter of cottages, a small village hall and not much else. There is no shop, so if you want supplies bring them, or pick up something in Tuckenhay or Dittisham on the way through.

The Hunters Lodge Inn

The village pub is the Hunters Lodge Inn, a reliable South Hams local that took new ownership in 2019 under Yorkshire-born Sue and Grahame. It is the kind of place that takes its beer seriously (a rotating range of guest ales alongside the regulars) and turns out homemade pub food without trying to be a destination restaurant. There is a beer garden for warm afternoons and a real fire for cold ones.

They have four guest rooms upstairs including one set up for guests with dogs, which is useful if you are coast-pathing or doing a multi-day Dart walk. Booking for food is sensible at weekends and through the summer.

Walks From Cornworthy

The classic short walk from Cornworthy is the loop down to Bow Creek and back via the priory. From the village take the footpath signed towards Tuckenhay, drop through the woods to the creek, and pick up the riverside lane that runs towards the Maltsters Arms. From there you can either turn it into a pub-lunch walk and call a taxi back, or climb back up via the parallel footpath to come round to the priory and into the village from above.

It is around four miles for the full loop, with two significant climbs. Dogs are fine on leads; cattle are common in the fields, and the creek path can be muddy at any time of year. For something shorter, the lane up to the priory and back is half a mile and gives you the gatehouse view without the full circuit.

Practical Notes

There is informal parking on the green and a small lay-by near the church. Be considerate; this is a residential village. There are no public toilets and no shop, so plan around that. Mobile signal is patchy. The Hunters Lodge is the only obvious lunch option in the village itself; the Maltsters at Tuckenhay and the Ferry Boat Inn at Dittisham are the two near alternatives if you want options.

Cornworthy works well as a half-day from Totnes, often combined with a stop at Tuckenhay for a creekside pint or a longer walk on to Dittisham for the ferry across to Greenway. If this guide has helped you find a corner of the South Hams you had not noticed before, the Go Totnes Tuckenhay and Dittisham guides are the natural next reads.