This tour starts at Exmouth 1 [map], where the River Exe meets the sea. Its 2 miles (3km) of golden sand are the finest in East Devon. As one of the first seaside holiday spots, the Exmouth seafront has all the traditional attractions of a resort, as well as a big windsurfing centre.
Two miles (3km) out of Exmouth just off the Exeter road, A La Ronde 2 [map] (NT; tel: 01395-265 514; daily Feb–Oct 11am–5pm) sits high on the hill with amazing views over the estuary. This eccentric 16-sided house was designed in 1795 by Jane Parminter, who, helped by her cousin Mary, decorated it with feathers and seashells, seaweed and sand, cut paper and marbled paint.
Leaving Exmouth, the B3178 winds around the hills before descending into Budleigh Salterton, a genteel place, with a long shingle beach framed in a red-cliff bay. At the east end are salt flats where the River Otter reaches the sea. Sir Walter Raleigh was born a couple of miles away at East Budleigh.
Branscombe’s picturesque church.
Lydia Evans/Apa Publications
Otterton Mill
Two miles (3km) inland, towards Bicton, is a crossroads with a brick signpost that dates from 1743. Here in this lovely valley is Otterton, a village of attractive whitewashed cob houses with a stream beside the main street heading for the River Otter. In 1414 there were two woollen mills and a flour mill in the village, and boats could anchor by the bridge. Otterton Mill 3 [map] (tel: 01395-568 521; www.ottertonmill.com; daily Apr–Sept10am–5pm; check website Oct–Mar opening; free) is still functioning, in a complex with a restaurant, art and crafts centre, and shops selling local produce.
A couple of miles further up the road are Bicton Park and Bicton House 4 [map] (tel: 01395-568 465; www.bictongardens.co.uk; daily Apr–Sept 10am–5pm, Oct–Mar 10am–4.30pm). Henry Rolle’s country house garden design of 1730 has been embellished with palm house, museum and a railway.
A right turn on the A3052 will bring you down into the crowded valley of Sidmouth 5 [map], the most attractive and best preserved of East Devon’s resorts. Narrow lanes of tearooms and traditional shops back onto a grand seafront dominated by a parade of Regency houses with wrought-iron balconies.
Take the A3052 east for a couple of miles to the Donkey Sanctuary (www.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk; daily 9am–dusk), a rest home for abused donkeys.
Windsurfing at Exmouth.
Lydia Evans/Apa Publications
Branscombe and Beer
From the sanctuary a lane descends into Branscombe 6 [map] (meaning branched combe or valley). There are corners of real beauty and character here; at the top end of the village is the 12th-century Norman church dedicated to the Welsh saint, Winifred. Grapes used to be grown in this sheltered valley for the monks of Sherborne Abbey.
The shingle and pebble beach at Branscombe.
Lydia Evans/Apa Publications
Branscombe was also known for its lace-makers, as was the next-door village of Beer (derived from ‘beare’, meaning wood), up over the hill. But besides smuggling and lace, Beer’s fame comes from its limestone, used to build Exeter Cathedral and many other great churches and country houses of the region. Beer stone is unusual in that it is relatively soft and easy to quarry, but hardens on exposure to air. Part of the former underground workings are open to the public, on the Branscombe to Beer road, in Beer Quarry Caves 7 [map] (tel: 01297-680 282; www.beerquarrycaves.co.uk; daily April–Sept tours every hour on the half hour from 10.30am, last tour 4.30pm, Oct last tour 2.30pm). In these vaulted caverns, which supplied stone for 24 cathedrals, everything was done by hand. Many of the masons carved their names on the walls, and the pick marks made by the Romans are still visible.
Up the hill above Beer, Pecorama (tel: 01297-21542; www.pecorama.info; indoor exhibition all year, outdoor attractions daily Apr–Oct 10am–5.30pm; reduced facilities and times Nov–Mar) is an excellent diversion for children, with rides on small trains, entertainers, an outdoor play area and crazy golf.
The Jurassic Coast
Keen walkers can follow the South West Coast Path from Exmouth to Beer Head. This is part of the Jurassic Coast natural World Heritage Site, which continues to Studland Bay in Dorset, representing 185 million years of Earth history in 95 miles (153km) of coast. The East Devon rusty red section is the oldest and is home to Britain’s richest mid-Triassic reptile sites. More info: www.jurassiccoast.org; www.southwestcoastpath.org.uk.
The Jurassic Coast has some of the richest fossil finds in the world.
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The village of Beer itself clusters around a short main street which ends with a brief drop to the beach, where fishing boats are winched up and down the shingle. Beer’s buccaneering past is still remembered in an annual regatta.
It is difficult to tell where Beer ends and Seaton begins, but the two places are very different. Seaton is a big, holiday-camp-based resort spread across the flat of the Axe valley, with a good beach and little of further interest other than the Electric Tramway (www.tram.co.uk), which runs up-valley in summer to the small town of Colyton.
On the side of the Shute road out of Colyton stands the imposing gateway of Shute Barton (started in 1380). Administered by the National Trust, the house is open to the public for tours four weekends a year.
Shute Barton, a battlemented medieval manor house dating from the 14th century and one of the most important examples of its kind.
Lydia Evans/Apa Publications
Shops around Honiton
Many Honiton women still make lace as a hobby. Buy a sample or try out a lacemaking kit at the Honiton Lace Shop, The Barn, Elmfield Farm, Weston nr Honiton (by appointment only; tel: 01404-42416; www.honitonlace.com), or buy online. On Corrymoor farm in Stockland, Honiton (tel: 01404-861 245; www.corrymoor.com), the Whiteley family raises pedigree angora goats for mohair socks. The Brook Gallery, Fore Street, Budleigh Salterton (tel: 01395-443 003; www.brookgallery.co.uk) is the place to buy original prints and etchings.
Floral designs are typical of Honiton’s bobbin lace.
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Honiton
Continue on the A35 to the market town of Honiton 8 [map], administrative capital of East Devon. In the mid-19th century there were more than 4,000 makers of Honiton lace in the area, but the industry has since died. Presentation pieces are still made privately, and have been worn by all the recent royal babies. Examples are kept in All Hallows Museum in the town centre and the Honiton Lace Shop (see box).
A third of the way back to Exeter, south of the A30, is Ottery St Mary, a particularly attractive, largely 17th- and 18th-century town (Otrei in the Domesday Book) wedged into a small valley. The romantic poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, son of the local vicar, was born here in 1772. Up a steep hill from the centre is St Mary 9 [map], a stunning replica of Exeter Cathedral, far more impressive from the inside than out. The church was founded by Bishop Grandisson, who completed Exeter Cathedral, and has a matching 14th-century astronomical clock.
The beautiful fan vaulting in St Mary’s church, Ottery St Mary, echoes that of Exeter Cathedral.
Lydia Evans/Apa Publications
A mile or so northwest of Ottery, and visible from the B3174, is Cadhay ) [map] (tel: 01404-813 511; www.cadhay.org.uk; May–Sept Fri 2–5.30pm, also late May and August public holidays), a private house built around 1550 by solicitor John Haydon, probably using stone from local churches demolished by Henry VIII; every room has a different character. The house and its cottages are available for self-catering holidays. From Cadhay it is a mile (1.5km) to the A30, and thence back to Exeter.
Eating Out
Exmouth
Brasserie 16
16 Douglas Avenue; tel: 01395-270 222; www.brasserie16.co.uk; daily breakfast, lunch and dinner.
The restaurant of the Devoncourt Hotel is set in fabulous subtropical gardens near Lyme Bay. At lunch-time on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays there is a renowned carvery. ££
Les Saveurs
9 Tower Street; tel: 01395-269 459; www.lessaveurs.co.uk; Tue–Sat dinner only, opens 7pm, last orders 9pm.
For lovers of fresh seafood and fish, this is a must, and there are still choices for meat lovers, too. All are cooked with French flair, using seasonal, fresh Devon produce. £££
Beer
Steamers
New Cut; tel: 01297-22922; www.steamersrestaurant.co.uk; Tue–Sat 10am–1.45pm, 6.45–9pm, Sun 11.45am–1.45pm.
Excellent for locally-sourced produce from roast rack of lamb to sautéed scallops, Steamers is particularly popular for its seafood and fresh fish dishes. ££
Otterton
Otterton Mill
Otterton Mill; tel: 01395-56704; www.ottertonmill.com; daily 10am–5pm (check website Oct–Mar).
Dine on hunter’s pie or a smoked fish platter either inside this historic mill building or outside on the sun terrace. This is also a good place for breakfast or a cream tea. £
Honiton
Café 102 Bar
102 High Street; tel: 01404-42739; daily breakfast, lunch and dinner.
A little haven in the heart of Honiton, this bistro-style café-bar does full English breakfast, double-decker sandwiches, meaty mains sourced from local farms and delicious home-made desserts. There is also a garden for those sunny days. £