Until the River Otter to the east silted up, the village was a market town and port; it was still being used by ships in the 15th century, according to John Leland.

[1] Sir Walter Raleigh was born in nearby Hayes Barton in c.1552, and his parents are buried in All Saints churchyard in the village.

The 14th-century church contains attractive pew ends including one bearing the Raleigh coat of arms.

In 2006 a life-size bronze statue of Raleigh by sculptor Vivien Mallock was unveiled by the Duke of Kent and is positioned at the top of the village close to the church.

The cost of £30,000 was met by British American Tobacco,[2] and was unveiled in the week when new anti-smoking laws came into effect in England and Wales.