Thurlestone with its red sandy beach and its prominent holed rock is an ideal place to venture during spring and autumn evenings. Indeed, the name Thurlestone is thought to originate from the Anglo-Saxon word “Thirl”, (also Thurl or Thorl), which means nostril or small hole and “Stan” meaning stone. In the Domesday Book of 1086, Thurlestone was written as Torlestan. In various other old documents, it has appeared as Torleston,
Thorleston, Thurleston and finally the Thurlestone that we all know today. A priest at Totnes, at around the same time as the Domesday survey, even wrote it as Turlestagnum or “Stagnant Pool”. It is thought that he was thinking of the marshy ground behind the beaches. In the 1700’s, the beaches around Thurlestone were used for smuggling. Apparently, more rum and brandy were smuggled into Devon and Cornwall in