LUCKETT FARM GUIDE · EAT & DRINK
Our local: The Masons Arms, Knowstone
Food & wine: Woods, Dulverton
Walk & lunch: Tarr Steps and Tarr Farm Inn
Our advice: Book for food, particularly at weekends.
Updated: October 2026
Find your next pub lunch
Explore all 11 pubs on the map. Tap a numbered pin or choose a pub for its website, directions and our recommendation.
In this guide
2. The Exmoor Forest Inn, Simonsbath
3. Woods Bar & Restaurant, Dulverton
6. The Grove Inn, Kings Nympton
7. The Bell Inn, Chittlehampton
8. The Staghunters Inn, Brendon
10. The Thatched Inn, Abbotsham
From proper village locals and fireside inns to destination pubs serving some of the best food in the region — these are the North Devon and Exmoor pubs we think are worth knowing about.
A good pub is an essential part of a North Devon holiday.
Preferably there has been a walk first.
Perhaps a beach.
Possibly some rain.
Then you find a pub with a fire going, a decent pint, something good coming out of the kitchen and absolutely no reason to leave quickly.
North Devon and Exmoor still have plenty of proper country pubs. Some are principally village locals. Others have become destinations for their food. The best manage to be both.
Here are 11 of our favourites, from our local in Knowstone to pubs worth making a special journey to.
1. The Masons Arms, Knowstone
Official pub website → Get directions →
Best for: Our local · Quality pub food · Sunday lunch · Drinks · Village atmosphere
From Luckett Farm: Very close
Luckett Farm favourite: ★★★★★
We have to start with The Masons Arms.
It's our local pub in Knowstone and, as of September 2026, it's beginning a completely new chapter under the ownership of Tina Boyle and family.
The aim is simple: to put The Masons Arms back at the heart of village life as a proper Devon country pub — somewhere locals, visitors, walkers and dogs can all feel welcome.
The food follows the same philosophy. British countryside cooking, seasonal ingredients, familiar favourites and a little of the modern gastropub about it, but without losing the relaxed character of a village pub. Sunday lunch is firmly part of the new offering too. The Masons Arms
The building itself has plenty of history and character, making it exactly the sort of pub you hope to discover when staying in rural Devon.
Luckett Farm says
The great advantage?
It's just down the road.
There are days when you want to drive across Exmoor for dinner.
And there are days when you want a good meal, a pint or a bottle of wine somewhere close to home.
This is the latter.
Our recommendation: Keep an eye on current menus and opening hours because Tina and Holly are still developing the pub's new chapter.
2. The Exmoor Forest Inn, Simonsbath
Official pub website → Get directions →
Best for: Excellent food · Local produce · Exmoor · Special lunch or dinner
Luckett Farm favourite: ★★★★★
Right in the heart of Exmoor, The Exmoor Forest Inn is somewhere we'd recommend to people who genuinely care about food.
Its cooking is strongly connected to Exmoor itself, its landscape, farms and seasons.
This is the sort of pub we'd make part of a proper day exploring Exmoor rather than simply driving there, eating and coming straight home.
Walk around Simonsbath or along the River Barle, explore the moor and then settle in for something good to eat.
Luckett Farm says
One for the food lovers.
Do the walk first.
Then you've earned lunch.
Our recommendation: Book ahead, particularly for dinner and weekends.
3. Woods Bar & Restaurant, Dulverton
Official pub website → Get directions →
Best for: Excellent food · Wine · Drinks · Lunch or dinner · Dulverton
Luckett Farm favourite: ★★★★★
Woods deserves to be right near the top of our list.
Tucked away in Dulverton on the southern edge of Exmoor, Woods manages to combine two things we particularly like: seriously good food and the atmosphere of a proper bar.
The food combines traditional British cooking with continental influences and makes good use of locally sourced produce. But the wine is every bit as important. Woods has an award-winning wine list and describes its bar as a “cave of bottles”, alongside real ales and local spirits. Woods
Add rustic interiors, stone fireplaces and open fires and it's exactly the sort of place that works particularly well after a day on Exmoor.
This isn't somewhere we'd recommend simply because you happen to be in Dulverton.
We'd happily go to Dulverton specifically to eat here.
Luckett Farm says
One of our favourite places for food and drink.
Go for lunch.
Go for dinner.
Or simply sit at the bar with a good bottle of wine.
And don't feel you need a special occasion.
Sometimes a good meal and a bottle of wine is the occasion.
Our recommendation: Book ahead if you're planning to eat, particularly at weekends. Woods currently takes restaurant bookings by telephone rather than email. Woods
4. Tarr Farm Inn, Tarr Steps
Official pub website → Get directions →
Best for: Walk + lunch · Sunday roast · Dogs · Exmoor atmosphere
Few pubs have a setting quite like Tarr Farm Inn.
It's beside Tarr Steps and the River Barle, making it one of the easiest pubs in this guide to build into a day out.
Walk beside the river.
Explore Tarr Steps.
Then have lunch.
The inn dates back centuries and combines an informal country-pub atmosphere with more substantial dining.
Luckett Farm says
This is one of our favourite walk + pub combinations.
Don't treat Tarr Steps and Tarr Farm Inn as two separate outings.
Put them together.
Tarr Steps → River Barle → Tarr Farm Inn.
That's a very good Exmoor day.
Our recommendation: Book Sunday lunch rather than assuming you'll get a table.
5. The Pyne Arms, East Down
Official pub website → Get directions →
Best for: Excellent food · Country-pub atmosphere · Dinner
Hidden away at East Down, The Pyne Arms is exactly the sort of place visitors hope somebody local will tell them about.
It's a small country pub rather than a huge operation, and that's part of the attraction.
This is somewhere where the food matters.
But it still feels like a pub.
That's an important distinction.
Luckett Farm says
One we'd recommend when somebody asks:
“We don't mind driving. Where should we go for a really good dinner?”
Book ahead, particularly at weekends.
6. The Grove Inn, Kings Nympton
Official pub website → Get directions →
Best for: Proper village pub · Local produce · Real ale · Sunday lunch
The Grove Inn is reassuringly traditional.
It's the sort of rural Devon pub we want to keep in this guide alongside the more food-led destinations.
There's an emphasis on local ingredients, West Country ales and cider, proper home-cooked food and a relaxed village-pub atmosphere.
And Sunday lunch is a particularly good reason to visit.
Luckett Farm says
Come here when you want a proper Devon village pub.
Good beer.
Good food.
No unnecessary fuss.
Sometimes that's exactly what you're looking for.
7. The Bell Inn, Chittlehampton
Official pub website → Get directions →
Best for: Traditional pub · Real ale · Families · Dogs
Another proper North Devon local.
The Bell at Chittlehampton has been in the same family for decades and remains very much a traditional village pub.
It's particularly well known for its real ale and has a long association with CAMRA's Good Beer Guide.
There's locally sourced pub food, a broad drinks selection and a relaxed atmosphere.
Luckett Farm says
Come here when you're looking for a pub, rather than a restaurant that happens to have a bar attached.
There's an important difference.
8. The Staghunters Inn, Brendon
Official pub website → Get directions →
Best for: Traditional Exmoor · Walking · Local food · Country-inn atmosphere
Deep in the countryside near Lynton, The Staghunters Inn feels properly Exmoor.
It's a traditional family-run inn in the Brendon Valley, surrounded by some superb walking country and within easy reach of Lynton, Lynmouth and the coast.
Expect traditional food, local ingredients and the sort of atmosphere that works particularly well after a day outside.
Luckett Farm says
We'd combine this with Lynton, Lynmouth, Watersmeet or an Exmoor walk.
A countryside inn at the end of a day's exploring.
Exactly what you want.
9. The Thatch, Croyde
Official pub website → Get directions →
Best for: After the beach · Drinks · Casual food · Croyde atmosphere
Not every recommendation needs to involve open fires and a quiet Exmoor valley.
Sometimes you've spent the day on the beach.
That's where The Thatch at Croyde comes in.
It's one of Croyde's best-known pubs and makes perfect sense as part of a Croyde or Baggy Point day.
The atmosphere is more relaxed and lively than some of our country-pub choices.
And that's exactly why it's on the list.
Luckett Farm says
Do this one in the right order:
Baggy Point → Croyde Beach → The Thatch.
Or:
The Thatch → Croyde Beach for sunset.
Both work.
10. The Thatched Inn, Abbotsham
Official pub website → Get directions →
Best for: Traditional Devon pub · Families · Dogs · Westward Ho! day
Near Westward Ho!, The Thatched Inn is another traditional country pub worth having in the address book.
It's particularly useful when you're exploring this side of the North Devon coast.
Rather than making a special trip just for lunch, we'd build it into a day around Westward Ho!, Northam Burrows or the Torridge coastline.
Luckett Farm says
This is exactly how we want people to use the Luckett Farm Guide.
We're not just giving you a list of pubs.
We're helping you connect them with beaches, walks and places worth exploring.
11. The Fox & Goose, Parracombe
Official pub website → Get directions →
Best for: Exmoor · Country inn · Food after walking · Exploring the northern moor
Sitting at Parracombe, The Fox & Goose is particularly useful when exploring the western and northern side of Exmoor.
It's well placed for days around Arlington, Heddon Valley, Lynton and Lynmouth.
Luckett Farm says
If you're already exploring this part of Exmoor, this is exactly the sort of place we'd have in mind for lunch or dinner.
Someone reading our Heddon's Mouth walking guide shouldn't then have to start searching for somewhere to eat.
Our favourite combination:
Walk here → eat here → explore here next.
That's the idea.
Which pub should we choose?
If you don't want to read the entire guide again while everybody is asking where you're going for dinner, here's the short version.
| If you're looking for… | We'd choose… |
|---|---|
| Our local | The Masons Arms |
| Food-led Exmoor experience | Exmoor Forest Inn |
| Food & wine | Woods, Dulverton |
| Walk + lunch | Tarr Farm Inn |
| Destination country-pub dinner | Pyne Arms |
| Traditional village pub | Grove Inn |
| Real ale & local atmosphere | Bell Inn |
| Traditional Exmoor inn | Staghunters |
| After the beach | The Thatch, Croyde |
| Westward Ho! day | The Thatched Inn |
| Northern Exmoor | Fox & Goose |
Best pubs for food
If food is the main reason you're going, we'd particularly look at:
Exmoor Forest Inn
Woods
Pyne Arms
They're quite different, which is why we're happy recommending all three.
Choose Exmoor Forest Inn when you want a meal closely connected to Exmoor and its produce.
Choose Woods when you want excellent food combined with a really good wine list and a bar you'd happily spend the evening in.
Choose Pyne Arms when you want a destination country-pub dinner.
And if you're staying at Luckett Farm, don't overlook The Masons Arms simply because it's close. Its new incarnation is specifically focused on quality British country-pub cooking and seasonal produce. The Masons Arms
Best pub for Sunday lunch
There are few things better than a proper Sunday lunch after a morning walking in North Devon.
Tarr Farm Inn is an obvious choice if you're exploring Tarr Steps.
The Grove Inn is another we'd consider for a traditional country-pub Sunday.
And now that The Masons Arms has reopened under Tina and Holly, Sunday lunch at our local is going to be particularly useful for Luckett Farm guests. Its current dining hours include Sunday lunch from noon until 4pm. The Masons Arms
Our advice?
Book.
Sunday lunch in a good country pub isn't something we'd leave to chance.
Best pub after an Exmoor walk
This is where things get easy.
Tarr Steps
Walk: Tarr Steps & River Barle
Eat: Tarr Farm Inn
Simonsbath
Walk: River Barle / Simonsbath
Eat: Exmoor Forest Inn
Dulverton
Explore: Dulverton and southern Exmoor
Eat: Woods
Lynton & Lynmouth
Walk: Watersmeet or Heddon's Mouth
Eat: Staghunters Inn
A walk, a good lunch and somewhere to explore next: that is our kind of Exmoor day.
You shouldn't just find somewhere to walk.
You should be able to build a day.
Best pubs for dogs
North Devon is generally very dog-friendly, and many country pubs welcome dogs.
But policies vary.
Some allow dogs throughout.
Some allow them only in the bar.
Some have dog-friendly areas.
Others restrict dogs from dining rooms.
So we'd always check the individual pub before travelling.
Check current dog policies using the official pub links in the map. Tarr Farm welcomes dogs; The Thatched Inn welcomes dogs in its bar only, not its restaurant.
A perfect North Devon pub day
We wouldn't actually plan a holiday around visiting as many pubs as possible.
Well…
Probably not.
Instead, we'd connect a pub to whatever you're already doing.
Exmoor
Tarr Steps → River Barle walk → Tarr Farm Inn
Dulverton
Explore southern Exmoor → Dulverton → Woods
Croyde
Baggy Point → Croyde → The Thatch
Lynton & Lynmouth
Watersmeet → Lynmouth → Staghunters
Close to home
Slow morning at Luckett Farm → countryside walk → Masons Arms
That's much more our style.
Don't forget the village pub
There's another reason we're including pubs in the Luckett Farm Guide.
They're part of rural life.
A village pub isn't simply somewhere to buy dinner.
It's a meeting place.
A local employer.
A customer for local farmers, breweries and producers.
And increasingly it's one of the last communal spaces remaining in a rural village.
Our own Masons Arms in Knowstone is a perfect example. Its new owners explicitly want to return it to the heart of village life. The Masons Arms
So when you're here, use these places.
Have lunch.
Have dinner.
Have a pint.
Buy the bottle of wine.
We'd quite like them still to be here the next time you visit.
Back to Luckett Farm
Then comes the best bit.
Back to the farm.
No more driving.
Shoes off.
Fire on.
Perhaps one last drink.
And tomorrow you can decide whether it's another pub, a beach, an Exmoor walk…
…or absolutely nothing.
We can highly recommend the last option too.