It is situated 2 1/2 miles east of Newton Abbot, in the south of the county.

[1] Haccombe House is a "nondescript Georgian structure" (Pevsner), rebuilt shortly before 1795[2] by the Carew family on the site of an important mediaeval manor house.

[5] Next to the house is the small parish church dedicated to Saint Blaise, remarkable not only for the many ancient stone sculpted effigies and monumental brasses it contains,[6] amongst the best in Devon,[3] but also because the incumbent has the rare title of Archpriest and is accountable not to the local bishop (Bishop of Exeter), as are all other parish churches in Devon, but to the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The archpresbytery was established in 1341 with six clergy; only the archpriest survived at the Reformation.

The manor was the seat of important branches of the Courtenay and Carew families.