(From the Dartmoor National Park guide book edited by Prof. W. G. Hoskins, first published 1957)

Drewsteignton is one of the most varied and beautiful areas within the National Park, with its deeply rolling country broken by small combes and above all by the luxuriantly wooded gorge of the Teign.

Fingle Bridge is in this parish and is the most notable of all the Dartmoor bridges for the beauty of its setting.

The Iron Age hill-fort of Prestonbury Castle, high above the bridge, commands a superb view and is far less frequented.

The village centre is most pleasing, with its moorstone (granite) houses covered with thatch, and its attractive parish church. Most notable of the secular buildings is the Church House which was left to the parish in 1546. This is an excellent example of moorland building from the early Tudor period.

About one mile south-west of the church is Castle Drogo*, superbly sited on a promontory dominating the Teign valley. This granite building is one of Sir Edwin Lutyens masterpieces (1911 – 1930) and is the last great country house to be built in England. The house is owned by the National Trust and open to the public between Easter and October.

Castle Drogo
This granite fortress, commanding spectacular views of Dartmoor, was built between 1910 and 1930 for the self-made millionaire tea baron Julius Drewe. One of the most remarkable works of Sir Edwin Lutyens.
The terraced formal garden has an established rhododendron and magnolia collection, spring bulbs, summer and autumn flowering herbaceous borders, rose garden, shrub garden and circular croquet lawn. There are delightful varied walks through the River Teign Gorge.
Perched more than 900 ft overlooking the wooded gorge of the River Teign, you can enjoy breathtaking scenery. The interior of the castle combines the grandeur of a medieval castle with the comfort of the 20th century.

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