There is an excellent little publication, illustrated here "A Walkabout Guide to Throwleigh" compiled by the late C.A. Howis Croxford, in aid of St. Mary the Virgin, Throwleigh.

Throwleigh shares with Gidleigh a pre history of human habitation of 3,00 years or more, as evidenced by the remains of hut circle villages, all along the moorland road and extending up the slopes of Cosdon. The district was a winter camp for moorland Mesolithic people who withdrew to this corner of the moor to renew their hunting armoury of flint arrowheads, coming from the Dorset coast. The West Saxons occupied parts of Throwleigh soon after 710 AD and it was held by them at the time of the Norman conquest.

The Latin name 'Trula' was used in the Domesday Book and the name has undergone many changes - 'Throwlega', 'Truleg', 'Trowlee', 'Thrulegh', 'Throughley' and 'Throwley'. The 'Truh' part relates to a grave or coffin and the 'leah' is a place or clearing. So, it would seem, that the name means something like 'a burial ground' but don't tell the villagers, they like it (and justifiably so).

Just in the moor, lying to the South of Throwleigh Common is Shilstone Tor, an impressive rocky outcrop. Just outside the village of Throwleigh itself, at Wonson, is the Northmore Arms, one of only two pubs in the whole of Devon that is open 24/7, so I was reliable informed when I moved here. Unfortunately, I have not had the opportunity to prove or disprove this but it has never been shut when I have been lucky enough to go there. Mine hostess, Mo and her feline and canine friends provide a genuine, country local for locals and visitors alike.

A stone's throw away is Gidleigh. It has a church, a village hall, a castle and a famous hotel - all it appears to be missing, is a village! Bill Savage cuts the grass in the churchyard.