The Valiant Soldier Museum and Heritage Centre

The Valiant Soldier was a village pub for more than two centuries before it closed in the 1960s, and much of it was left as it was. Today the building is a museum and heritage centre where visitors can walk through rooms furnished as they were in the 1940s and 1950s, including a parlour with an open fire, a kitchen, a scullery and a bathroom of that era, and an attic that is best explored with a torch. Displays cover the history of Buckfastleigh and its people, the town's wool trade and a First World War collection built from local donations. The museum runs a sheep-spotting trail for children during school holidays and seasonal events such as candlelit evenings. It is a small, easy visit that suits families interested in local history and older buildings, and there is a gift shop in the visitor centre.