Modbury, Church Street
Modbury is a small market town, which the visitor may be forgiven for missing as it is almost completely hidden by the contours of the South Hams. Modbury is comprised of three steep streets each of which is home to antique shops, art galleries and tea -shops. Many of the town’s houses and shops maintain period frontages and the town has an elegant grace all its own thanks to its many carved and pillared porticoes dating from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.
Modbury is derived from the Saxon "MootBurgh" which means meeting place. The town was sight of two civil war battles in 1642-1643. A street adjacent to Modbury’s impressive 13th century church is named "Runaway Lane" due to it being the means by which royalist forces fled the town after being routed by Parliamentarian soldiers.
To see Modbury at its finest it best to visit during its May fair which has been held in the town since 1329.