The parish, which lies about five miles south east of the town of Great Torrington, is surrounded clockwise from the north by the parishes of Little Torrington, Beaford, Dolton, Huish, Petrockstowe and Peters Marland.

The parish church, on the west side of the village, is dedicated to All Saints and dates from around 1400.

[2] It suffered a heavy Victorian restoration between 1872 and 1875 by R. M. Fulford, but the east window of the north chapel retains many fragments of late medieval stained glass.

[2][5] Merton Moor on the border between the parishes of Merton and Petrockstowe, has been the site of ball clay extraction for many years, and the North Devon and Cornwall Junction Light Railway ran through the west of the parish between 1925 and 1982 to serve the ball clay industry.

[2] Today the former railway line forms part of the Tarka Trail series of footpaths and cycle tracks.