Despite its proximity to the city, the village is difficult to find, as it is surrounded by twisting-narrow-lanes and deep valleys, tucked away in the shelter of the Haldon Hills.

St Michael’s contains the greatest collection of medieval stained glass to be found in situ anywhere in Devon, apart from that in the Great East Window of Exeter Cathedral.

[4] These panels left Exeter over five hundred years ago - around the time of the Wars of the Roses - transported out of the city during the late Middle Ages on a cart and hauled up and down the precipitous Haldon Hill, before being installed in the church for which they were made.

[5] The first record of Town Barton was in the Domesday Book of 1086 when Doddiscombsleigh was known as Terra Godeboldi under the reign of one Godbold the Bowman.

Town Barton was renowned for its twenty acres of apple orchards which produced "remarkably fine cider", no doubt supplying the local hostelries.

It did not formally become The New Inn until 1838, although it is believed to have been informally established in the late 18th century to provide "liquid refreshments" for the many men who worked in the mines of the hills at Ashton, Doddiscombsleigh and Christow, in their efforts to satisfy the huge demand for manganese for use in the potteries and for bleaching.

[6] The name of the pub came from 1952 when the landlord died, and the undertaker and the pallbearers failed to notice that there was no body in the coffin when it was buried in the village churchyard.