Totnes has a reputation, and most of it is deserved. It’s an independent-minded market town on the River Dart, built up a steep hill from the bridge, with a medieval street plan that was never designed with a Luton van in mind. As a Devon-based removal company that handles removals in Totnes regularly, here’s what we think genuinely matters when you’re planning a move here — because the town centre, the villages around it, and the practicalities of the move itself all need a slightly different approach than they would elsewhere in the South Hams.
Removals Totnes: The Old Town Is a Different Job to the Rest
Fore Street and the High Street, running up from the bridge to the Butterwalk and the East Gate arch, are the heart of Totnes and also its biggest access challenge. The road is narrow, part-cobbled, often one-way, and lined with Elizabethan and Tudor buildings whose front doors open almost straight onto the pavement. A full-size removal lorry simply doesn’t fit some of these streets, and even where it technically does, there’s rarely anywhere sensible to park it for the length of time a move takes.
For a property in the old town, we generally plan around a smaller vehicle, a tighter loading window, and sometimes a short relay to a bigger van parked somewhere more accessible — the Civic Hall car park or one of the riverside car parks near Steamer Quay tends to work better than trying to hold a pitch on Fore Street itself. If you’re moving into or out of anywhere near the top of town, tell your removal company the exact address before they quote, not just “Totnes” — the difference between a house on the flat by the bridge and one near the Guildhall changes the whole plan.
Bridgetown and the Flatter Side of the River
Cross the bridge and Totnes changes character. Bridgetown, on the eastern bank, is flatter and generally easier for a van, with a mix of Victorian terraces and more modern housing along and off Coronation Road. It’s still a compact town street pattern rather than a suburban one, so parking still needs a bit of thought, but it doesn’t carry the same steep-hill, narrow-cobble problems as the historic side.
Further out towards Bridgetown Hill and the roads leading to the A385 towards Paignton, properties open up into more conventional estate housing with driveways or nearby off-street parking — a straightforward job by comparison, and one where the time saved on access can go into the packing and loading instead.
Market Days, the One-Way System and Timing Your Move
Totnes runs a busy weekly market, plus regular Tuesday markets through the summer months, and both bring extra pedestrian and vehicle traffic into the town centre. The one-way system around the High Street and Coronation Road can also add unexpected minutes to what should be a short journey if you hit it at the wrong time. We’d generally avoid booking a Totnes town-centre move on a market day if you have any choice in your moving date, and an early start — loaded and away from the centre before mid-morning — makes a real difference on any day of the week.
Dartington, Ashprington, Staverton and the Villages Around Totnes
Totnes sits at the centre of a cluster of South Hams villages that each bring their own access questions. Dartington, just north-west of the town and home to the Dartington Hall estate, has a mix of estate cottages and newer housing on lanes that are easy enough for a van but benefit from local knowledge of the quieter routes. Ashprington and Staverton, along the Dart valley, and Harberton to the south, are proper rural Devon — narrow, high-hedged lanes, occasional passing places, and the odd farm gate or low branch to plan around. None of it is difficult if you know it, but a crew turning up cold can lose real time working out where to actually put the van.
If your move is out towards Diptford, South Brent or the wider South Hams countryside, we’d always recommend a quick chat about access before moving day — a five-minute phone call can save an hour of reversing on the day itself.
Getting In and Out of Totnes
The A385 connects Totnes to Paignton and Torquay along the coast, the A381 runs south towards Kingsbridge and Dartmouth, and the A38 Devon Expressway is a short hop away via Buckfastleigh or Alston Cross, giving fast access towards Plymouth or up to Exeter and the M5. Totnes railway station, on the Great Western Railway mainline, sits close to the river and the old town — useful to know if you’re coordinating a move with train travel, or if you’re relocating from further afield and want to see the town before committing.
Because Totnes is well connected but the town centre itself is awkward, the actual approach a removal crew takes often matters more than the headline distance on the satnav. We plan routes in and out of Totnes based on which roads a full-size van can actually use, not just the shortest line on a map.
Packing for a Totnes Move
Totnes has more than its share of period cottages, converted barns and self-built homes, and older properties here tend to turn up more than expected once you start clearing lofts, outbuildings and garden stores — decades of belongings that don’t show themselves until the move is already under way. It’s one of the most common reasons a moving day runs over its allotted time.
Our packing and unpacking service can take on a full house or just the awkward and fragile items, using proper materials and clear room-by-room labelling so nothing goes missing between addresses. If you’re packing yourself, start with the rooms you use least about four weeks out and number your boxes by room — it makes unpacking at the other end far quicker.
Why a Devon-Based Team Matters in Totnes
Any removal firm can quote for a job in Totnes on paper. Fewer of them know that Fore Street needs a smaller van, that the Civic Hall car park is often the better staging point for an old-town move, or that a Friday market morning is the wrong time to book anything near the High Street.
Being based just up the road in Newton Abbot means we’re in and out of Totnes regularly, and there’s no call-out charge added for fuel or travel time. That local knowledge — which lanes around Ashprington and Staverton actually take a van, which parts of the old town need a relay rather than a straight loading run — comes from doing the job here again and again, not from working it out on the day. Our house removals service covers everything from a flat above Fore Street to a converted barn out towards Dartington.
Moving To or From Totnes
We’re based in Newton Abbot and cover the whole of Devon, with Totnes sitting naturally within our regular South Hams and South Devon work — along the valley to Dartington and Staverton, or out towards Paignton, Brixham and the wider English Riviera. We also handle long-distance moves to and from the rest of the UK, whether you’re arriving in Totnes for the first time or moving on from the South Hams for pastures new.
More on how we cover the wider area: South Devon removals.
Get a Quote for Your Totnes Move
We offer free, no-obligation quotes for removals anywhere in Totnes and across the South Hams, either with an in-person survey or a short video call, whichever suits you better. Call us on 07792 215 204, see more about how we work on our Totnes removals page, or get in touch online and we’ll come back to you promptly.
Professional removal services across Devon. Helping families and businesses move with care since 2019.