[4] Lapford is part of Taw Valley ward whose population at the above census was 1,629.

[8] Originally a Norman chapel, the church of St Thomas of Canterbury is listed Grade I and partly dates back to shortly after the murder of Thomas Becket (1170), having been almost completely rebuilt, extended and then re-dedicated on the orders of King Henry II by William de Tracey, one of the assassins.

The wall paintings and plasterwork were lost at the time of the Reformation and the original 12th-century chancel was rebuilt in the late 19th century.

Like many Devon churches, St Thomas' has a fascinating series of intricate carved pew ends, variously dating from the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries.

He murdered his curate, in the 1860s, but was spared from the gallows by a jury consisting of many of his village parishioners and returned to his parish duties.