Sparkwell is a small village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

in the

South Hams South Hams is a local government district on the south coast of Devon, England. Services divide between those provided by its own Council headquartered in Totnes, and those provided by Devon County Council headquartered in the city of Exete ...

district of

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

. Historically it was part of Haytor Hundred. Its local Anglican church is All Saints Church, Sparkwell. Its local non-conformist church is Lee Mill Congregational Church, which is affiliated to the EFCC. It is home to an erstwhile one-Michelin-star pub and restaurant, the Treby Arms, previously run by MasterChef: The Professionals winner Anton Piotrowski. Dartmoor Zoological Park is located on the outskirts of the village. The true story of Benjamin Mee's acquisition of the zoo inspired his book

We Bought a Zoo ''We Bought a Zoo'' is a 2011 American family comedy-drama film loosely based on the 2008 memoir of the same name by Benjamin Mee. It was co-written and directed by Cameron Crowe and stars Matt Damon as widowed father Benjamin Mee, who purchas ...

, which was later adapted into a film starring

Matt Damon Matthew Paige Damon (; born October 8, 1970) is an American actor, film producer, and screenwriter. Ranked among ''Forbes'' most bankable stars, the films in which he has appeared have collectively earned over $3.88 billion at the North Ameri ...

. The Hemerdon Mine is located in the parish.

References

Villages in South Hams Civil parishes in South Hams {{Devon-geo-stub