In 1493 the town was recorded as "Morton Hampstead" in the Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem,[10] with 'ham' and 'stede' both being Anglo-Saxon words for a home or enclosed area,[11][12][13] but seemingly unnecessary to the historical context of the settlement.

Over time, it was divided into a number of estates, and one of these divisions included all land within the boundaries of the rivers Teign and Bovey, with Moreton as its major settlement.

It remained a royal estate immediately after the Norman Conquest of 1066, as is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it is listed as the 45th of the 72 Devonshire holdings of King William the Conqueror.

Thenceforth it descended with the Powderham estate and, in the time of Pole (died 1635), belonged to Francis Courtenay (1576–1638),[21] de jure 4th Earl of Devon.

In 1207 King John granted a weekly market and an annual five-day fair,[2] indicating that Moretonhampstead had developed into an important local community.

The town grew steadily through the Middle Ages and remained prosperous until the end of the 17th century, when the wool industry began to decline.

The town continued to be a local trading centre and a rest stop for travellers on the difficult routes across Dartmoor and from Exeter and Newton Abbot.

A series of fires in the 20th century destroyed many of Moretonhampstead's ancient buildings, but sufficient still remain to demonstrate the Saxon and medieval heritage, and its later industrial prosperity.

Previously Vice-President of Magdalen College, Oxford, he married Elizabeth Bertie but they had no children, and his property in Moretonhampstead was inherited by his nephew, also James Fynes (died 1798).

All the windows are of standard Perpendicular design, and according to Pevsner there is "a singular absence of fitments of interest", due to the heavy restorations the church was subjected to in 1856 and in 1904–5.

All the ledger stones were removed with the floor flagstones in the first restoration, but above the south door a wall memorial to Rev Francis Whiddon, MA (died 1656) who "was 32 years minister of this parish" survives.

There is also a classical monument by Edward Bowring Stephens to a Captain John Newcombe (died 1855), and a tower screen of wood and glass of 1980.

Moretonhampstead has a good range of sporting facilities and the proximity of Dartmoor makes it popular with ramblers and cyclists, in particular for mountain biking.

[28] Moretonhampstead has an annual carnival, held in the fourth week in August which raises funds for local groups and associations.