IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Simms Hill, NEWTON ABBOT, TQ13 9RQ

The old pub near the church.

The thatched cottage and church tower can also be seen in Image

The date in the gable end is 1790, but the building is thought to have been a farmhouse before becoming a public house around 1816. The name probably reflects the self-contained nature of the community with a whole selection of different types of artisans living and working in the parish. The old Ordnance Survey map of 1889 shows the name of the building to be "Carpenters' Arms". The 1881 Census shows the following occupants:- George TARR, head of the household, married, age 41, born Bickington, Devon, occupation blacksmith employing 1 man Sarah TARR, his wife, married, aged 40, born Ilsington, Devon Anna J TARR, their daughter, aged 14, born Ilsington, Devon Bessie TARR, their daughter, aged 10, born Ilsington, Devon, scholar Tom TARR, their son, aged 9, born Ilsington, Devon, scholar Ruth TARR, their daughter, aged 6, born Ilsington, Devon, scholar Ellen TARR, their daughter, aged 4, born Ilsington, Devon, scholar Susan FORD, mother (of Sarah Tarr?), widow aged 78, born Buckland, Devon, pauper William H WILLIAMS, a lodger, unmarried, aged 25, born Briage, Cornwall, occupation iron miner Richard H SYMONS, a lodger, unmarried, aged 22, born Briage, Cornwall, occupation iron miner Henry TRUDGEON, a lodger, married, aged 50, born Madern, Cornwall, occupation iron miner Henry PHILIPPS, a lodger, married, aged 36, born Ludgeveen, Cornwall, occupation iron miner Two observations can be made about this. Firstly the head of the household described himself as a blacksmith and not a publican so the running of the public house was not his main occupation, and secondly the presence of the four Cornishmen who were working locally as iron miners, reflecting the existence of mining in the area, and the fact that these men were economic migrants.

A view of the church looking across the allotments to the south.

The southern aspect of this typical Dartmoor church, the very same church that I got married in all those years ago!

View NNW up the village street past thatched cottages to the church Image Simms Hill meets Old Town Hill.

The eastern lych gate into the churchyard of St Michael's church. The steps run down the side of the Carpenters Arms, a nice short walk for the post service pint.

The lych gate leads to Image, but was the scene of a near-tragedy on 17 September 1639. The room over the lych gate was in use as a school. A woman slammed the heavy oak gate causing the whole building to collapse. Four boys were thrown into the street, one into the churchyard, and others were buried in the rubble. Fortunately no boys were killed. The building was reconstructed in 1910.

A row of thatched cottages, seen in Image and from the other direction in Image