Drewsteignton is both a village and a parish. It gets its name from Baron Dru (or Drogo) who was Lord of the Manor in the early 1200s and from the River Teign, which runs past from Dartmoor, via Chagford, on its way to the sea. The whole parish has a population of under 600 adults but its history goes back to Neolithic times, as evidenced by the burial chamber, Spinsters Rock. There were Iron Age hill forts here, on either side of the Teign and tin was being mined before the arrival of the Saxons. Six manors were mentioned in the Domesday Book.

The Holy Trinity church contains part of a Norman font and the earliest recorded rector is 1310. Some parts of the building indicate 14C but the bulk of the church, including the tower, is from 15C. The most recent rebuilding work was in 1862. The Lady Chapel altar store was once part of the mill leat at Fingle Bridge. The Bell Ringers Articles hang on the wall in the north aisle.

The area is supposed to have once been a major centre for Druids (based on the evidence of the Druid Cromlech (Spinsters Rock) and, in the 19C, the New Inn was renamed the Druid's Arms. Julius Drewe, the founder of the Home & Colonial grocery store chain, claimed to have traced his ancestry back to Baron Dru, built the last castle to be built in Britain, Castle Drogo, above the village and the River Teign and was instrumental in renaming the inn - the Drewe Arms. The first photograph on this page is the view of the village from Castle Drogo.