The Luppitt Inn is the only

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

Luppitt Luppitt is a village and civil parish in East Devon situated about due north of Honiton. The historian William Harris was preacher at the village's Presbyterian chapel from 1741 to 1770. Towards the end of his life, the painter Robert Polhill ...

, Devon. Located in the front rooms of a farmhouse, the building is constructed from stone, rendered on one side and includes a tiled roof. The main house, still part of a working farm, was built in the early 19th century. The pub entrance is on the north side of the house, leading to a two-roomed pub. The serving room includes a simple counter made of matchboard, and some simple shelves, as well as a few seats, whilst the second room includes a brick fireplace. The toilets are outside, across the yard. The only table in the pub is covered in puzzles. The unique layout has meant that the pub is on the

Campaign for Real Ale The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) is an independent voluntary consumer organisation headquartered in St Albans, England, which promotes real ale, cider and perry and traditional British pubs and clubs. With just under 155,000 members, it is th ...

National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors The National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors is a register of public houses in the United Kingdom with interiors which have been noted as being of significant historic interest, having remained largely unchanged for at least 30 years, but usu ...

. Previously known as the Red Lion Inn, Luppitt, it is a farmhouse pub which would have been common around England in the 19th century. One of the last small, informal alehouses in Britain, it does have the licence to sell alcohol. However, it sells only one beer, brewed locally at

Otter Brewery Otter Brewery is a brewery in Luppitt, near Honiton, Devon, and named after the nearby River Otter. The brewery was founded in 1990 by David and Mary Ann McCaig and is still run by the family, who also run a pub owned by the company, the Holt in ...

, drawn directly from the

cask A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers for liquids, u ...

; ciders in a tin and there is a small selection of spirits and the only food on offer is peanut snacks. The room has no till, music or electrical distractions, and the only staff member for many years was the landlady, Vera Mary Wright (commonly known as Mary), latterly more often than not supplemented by members of her family who nevertheless rarely serve anyone but the local regulars. Mary had a reputation for testing new customers by handing them three dimensional metal puzzles to solve. The pub has been run by Wright's family for more than 100 years; Mary inherited it from her husband, William Wright, who in turn inherited it from his father, Charles Wright. Alas Mary Wright died on 23 December 2020 and the running of the pub is now solely in the hands of her relatives.

References

National Inventory Pubs Pubs in Devon East Devon District {{Use British English, date=August 2014