Haunted Hosts

The oldest heritage inn in Devon and Cornwall, Grade II listed with extraordinary historical depth spanning 5,000 years. The site began as a sacred Neolithic location marked by the South Zeal Menhir Standing Stone, carved from Dartmoor granite around 3000 BC - predating Stonehenge by 1,000 years. In the 12th century, Benedictine monks constructed a nine-roomed, two-storey granite and oak monastery around this ancient stone, incorporating the pagan monolith into their Christian religious building. However, substantial historical revision notes a lack of documentary evidence for the monastery claims. The Burgoyne Family purchased the estate after the monks departed in the 1300s, adding the beautiful cut-block granite frontage described by English Heritage as 'the most beautiful facade of any building of its period in Devon.' In 1451, Earls William and John Oxenham purchased the Manor, and in 1530 the famous sea captain John Oxenham was born here - becoming Sir Francis Drake's companion and navigator, and the first English captain to sail the Pacific. Licensed continuously as an inn since 1477, the building has maintained its role as both a place of hospitality and spiritual significance for over five centuries. The ancient stone still stands within the Snug Bar exactly as it appeared 4,500 years ago, making this one of Britain's most archaeologically significant hospitality venues.