Buckfast Abbey is a working Benedictine monastery about two miles north of Ashburton, and the most impressive ecclesiastical building in this part of Devon. The abbey church is large and architecturally confident — a neo-Romanesque structure built in the early 20th century by the monks themselves, a story remarkable enough to be worth reading before you visit.
The building is open to visitors and the monks run a shop selling their famous Buckfast tonic wine (a fortified wine with caffeine content that has achieved cult status in the UK for reasons the monks would probably prefer not to discuss), honey, and other produce. The gardens around the abbey are well maintained and the grounds along the Dart are pleasant for a walk. Allow at least an hour and a half, more if you want to attend one of the daily services.