Home > Devon > Princetown > Devils Elbow Hotel Devils Elbow Hotel

Picture source: Clive Schneidau

The Devils Elbow Hotel was situated on Two Bridges Road. This pub was built in 1827 and originally was the northern terminus for the Plymouth & Dartmoor Granite Railway, prop 1818 and built 1823-25. First used as a workshop and stables (Stable Bar) for said railway. It was abandoned from railway use before 1877, when the G.W.R. built their branch line which terminated some quarter of a mile short of the pub. The pub was first known as The Railway Inn, up to 1954.

In 1989 I was on tour with an indie band from London. We had played Exeter and were on the way to Plymouth. We found ourselves in Princetown and thought we'd go for a pint. We pulled up at the Devils Elbow and saw the painted board hanging outside with a quite gruesome image of the devil and even our hardened bass player, loving all things rock n' roll, voted not to go in. It was February I think and the town itself seemed to have an odd atmosphere with the prison dominating the skyline. This was one pub too far for us rockers and we travelled on to wherever we went next for that pint!

William Carson (February 2020)

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Other Photos

Picture source: Clive Schneidau

Date of photo: 1960s

Picture source: Mary Churchley