History
For centuries, the history and life of the parish church were interwoven with the life and work of the Benedictine Abbey of Our Lady and St Rumon, which lay immediately to the south of the present church.
The Abbey was built by Ordulf, Earl of Devon, and was completed in 981, when its charter was granted, but was looted and destroyed by Danish invaders in 997. After being rebuilt, the Abbey continued to function until the Dissolution of the monasteries throughout England in 1539.
The first fully authenticated reference to the Church of St Eustachius dates from 1265. St Eustachius was a Roman general in the second century who became a Christian. He was disgraced and exiled and was finally martyred with his family for refusing to sacrifice to the Roman gods. He is one of the fourteen Auxiliary Saints or Holy Helpers who are commemorated in particular at Vierzehnheiligen in Bavaria.
Read more: A short history of the church
The church has had a ring of bells since at least the fifteenth century. It is recorded in 1423 that a new wood frame was provided and in 1470 the bells were "shifted" at a cost of five shillings. A new bell was purchased in 1574/5 and the "little bell" mended. These bells disappeared, perhaps being melted down, during the English Civil War (1642-1649).
Eight bells of the present peal date from 1769, given by the 4th Duke of Bedford, they were cast by Thomas Bilbie of Cullumpton and were re-cast and re-hung in 1925 by John Taylor of Loughborough. Two hundredweight was added to the tenor bell. A treble and a second bell were cast by Taylors in 1998, being funded in part by the Millennium Commission, the rest being contributed by local people. The new bells were dedicated by the Bishop of Plymouth in December 1998.