Luppitt, Honiton, Devon
About 4 miles north of Honiton, down steep narrow lanes is Luppitt; centuries old cottages, scattered farmsteads, and perched up on the hill, the parish church. It’s a friendly village with a healthy sense of community – you know, they all get together for regular events in the village hall, quiz nights, big breakfasts and the like. For a while the painter Robert Polhill Bevan (of the Camden Town Group) had a little cottage here and so the beautiful Devon landscape of these parts is immortalised in his pictures.
Otter Beer is brewed here too, on an old farm in the hills, and funnily enough it’s the only beer that’s sold at the Luppitt Inn, which is by no means your everyday pub. Opening hours largely depend on how the landlady (in her 90’s) is feeling or what she’s watching on telly. The Luppitt Inn is on the Campaign For Real Ale’s National Inventory of Public House Interiors as it harks back to the days of parlour pubs, popular in the 19th century. The ‘pub’ consists of the two front rooms of a working farmhouse, and the loos are across the yard. It’s been run by the same family for more than 100 years and is unique in this day and age; but like we say, one type of beer, no food, maybe peanuts, but that’s it.
Luppitt is good walking country, with several footpaths leading from the village; it’s a bit of a climb but not far at all to Dumpdon Hill and Luppitt Common, and well worth it for the views.
All information correct at the time of writing.