Hartland
The crowds trundle past Devon’s remotest corner on the busy A39, heading for Cornwall’s surf. But they’re missing one of southern England’s least spoilt little corners - the Hartland area of north Devon.
This north western point has fantastic daunting cliffs, scary rocky shores and memorably bracing walks - especially at inappropriately named Welcombe Mouth and what’s left of storm-battered Hartland Quay. Amid pastel painted Hartland village you can browse galleries of the artists who seem to get drawn to this wild spot. The sturdy ‘Cathedral of North Devon’, St Nectan’s, has Devon’s tallest church tower - a navigational aid for ships battling the notorious headland.
Nearby Hartland Abbey’s Moorish interiors were bizarrely inspired by Granada’s Alhambra. Its peacock-filled parkland fills a lush valley leading to the sea. The winding lanes to the west stop dead at Hartland Quay. The Atlantic thumps against gnarled jaws of black rocks here. Stern cliffs march to the horizon on both sides. The stone quay was smashed by constant waves 100 years ago. No-one has dared repair it since. Walk north to a lighthouse or south to cliff waterfalls. At the foot of the cliff, the isolated but homely Hartland Quay Hotel has an atmospheric bar, shipwreck museum, basic grub and rooms. Stay here for the location, not the luxury. Best bit is its ultra creamy ice-cream from a farm near Holsworthy.
A few miles down the lanes, Docton Mill’s clotted cream teas have won Devon’s Best Cream Tea title. There are cottagey gardens alongside its ancient waterwheel too.
I found Cheristow Country Restaurant in a farmhouse down a high-hedged lane. Farmer/chef/builder Graham cooks meat he reared (includes beef, duck, goose, chicken, lamb and pork) and his own seasonal veg. Three surprisingly accomplished courses in his old farmhouse lounge cost around £25. While I was there he took a mid-evening break to feed his pigs and let my toddler daughter help. Wife Wendy apologized to everyone and manned the stoves. There’s a cosy self-catering cottage alongside.
A few hundred yards away, Downe Health Spa shows the 21st-century is finally reaching Hartland (from £370 for a one-bed cottage for three nights). Drive past fields of lambs and flowers to park in a barn, stay in Victorian farm buildings converted in a shiny-pine-and-whitewash style and, if it’s your thing, wallow in treatments in the sofas-and-pot-plants spa next to the farmhouse. Some involve seaweed goo or heated pebbles… or gorge on clotted cream tea in the garden instead.
Useful links
Cheristow Country Restaurant
Docton Mill Gardens
Downe Health Spa
Hartland Abbey & Gardens
Hartland Quay Hotel
Added 2008/10/20 @ 23:40:04
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