This morning we left Costislost B&B in Cornwall and made our way north to the village of Clovelly, which is actually in Devon. It was featured on Britain's Village of the Year, which Marty and I had watched while passing time during Covid, and since we were fairly near, I thought it would be nice to add to our trip.
It's nestled along a cliff front and leads down to the sea. It was owned by William the Conqueror, who gifted the village to his wife. In 1242, the village changed hands to the Giffard family.
The village itself passed through several owners over the years. Christine Hamlyn inherited it in 1884 upon her father's passing. She married 5 years later, and she and her husband renovated many of the houses in Clovelly. She wanted to promote it as a private community that would attract tourists. Many of the houses bear a date which represents the year that the renovation was completed.
There is a charge to enter the village, but the monies go to maintaining the houses that line the same cobblestone street that has been there for centuries.
You can see the charm of the streets as we made our way along.
Here's an example of the walkway. We needed to walk slowly and carefully along those stones.
It's easy to see why this place is recognized for its beauty.
Marty felt right at home!
The village has a state of the art rescue center near the sea. The emergency team is ready to jump into their special vehicle which is driven down the ramp and into the water in order to rescue anyone who is in trouble nearby at sea.
There are shops and tea rooms along the village street, and we decided to stop in and purchase some freshly made fudge. There were too many delectable flavors to choose from.
Marty thought it would be a great idea to go for the special: 4 bars for £10. So we picked salted caramel, tray bake, clotted cream and chocolate. Delicious!
We could have taken the land rover drive back to the top, but decided that we'd trek up the same hill that we had ventured down. At the top were the stables that house four donkeys: Bert, Rex, Alfred and Ernie.
They were actually quite entertaining. They are very well cared for, and spend their evenings in the pastures around the village.
And they do appreciate a friendly pet.
Many years ago, donkeys like this were used to transport goods up and down the streets. Their efforts have been replaced by skids with wheels. I'm pretty sure the donkeys aren't complaining about that change!
We had some distance to cover, so we headed out on the road to Dunster Castle, which should have been an hour or so away, but ended up being much longer. There was a long stretch of road construction on one of the highways which caused some delay, and just when we thought we were in the clear, we found ourselves on a narrow road, with cars parked along the edge of a cliff while people stood outside the cars, peering through binoculars at something in the distance. There were also a LOT of empty horse trailers, and we'd spotted a couple of well dressed men atop horses while driving along.
I did manage to see far in the distance, what appeared to be a large group of horses with riders hunched over on top, running at high speed. We were in the Exmoor National Forest, and apparently some sort of horse riding event was happening. Marty seemed to think it might have been a simulated fox hunt. I read that they have point to point horse races in that area.
Either one would have been quite a feat as the terrain was rolling hills with deep drops, scattered with heather and sheep. But from the number of cars that were tucked along the side, this had to be some sort of huge event.
The real hold up for us wasn't the parked cars on the side of a very narrow road. It was a caravan being pulled by a car, coming the opposite way that caused the tie up. It had to squeeze by the parked cars as well as horse trailers and one large truck. It was really quite a fiasco, and resulted in a significant delay in our arrival.
We had just half an hour to tour the place, but once we checked in at the visitor center, an attendant offered to drive us up to the front door in a land rover. I wasn't passing on that opportunity!
The only downside is that I didn't get a photo of the front, and it was spectacular! Far different from anything so far. But who knew we'd be exiting out the back with no return? And we were lucky that they let us in to begin with!
A moat and bailey castle stood on this spot as early as 1066, and in 1617, a Jacobean mansion was built. It was renovated in the mid 1800's and some of the rooms stand as they would have in the 1920's.
The grandeur is obvious the minute you walk into the front door.
Around the corner from the grand entrance was a sitting room decorated in soft, pastel green with lovely paintings of women from the Lutrell family adorning the walls.
The ceiling was delicately adorned.
There were grandiose fireplaces throughout. This one was modernized in 1860 but made to look older.
The dining room ceiling was installed in 1681.
These arched doorways were unique.
And the staircase was magificent and was installed in the 1680's as well.
The carvings feature fox and stag hunting, some Charles II silver shillings and a trophy of arms.
Upstairs there was another sitting room
and several bedrooms for guests.
These leather hangings are the most expensive items in the house. They have been at Dunseter since 1741. I thought they were magnificent.
Another bedroom features this elaborate fireplace
as well as this delicate painting.
On the ground floor there is a billiards room that stands in what was once a kitchen. You can see the large fireplace in the background.
And, of course, every castle needs a library, and this one was no different.
There was so much to see, but with the delay in arrival, our options were cut short. We headed out the back door to make our way to the car park.
Along the way, I spotted these unusual flowers.
Isn't that just amazing?
We're not in Cornwall anymore, but there appear to be palm trees in Devon as well!
We could see the gatehouse on our way out.
And I did manage to get this photo of the castle from the car park before we left.
Then we headed to Somerton in Somerset for our next three night stay. The place is a manor house called Lynch Manor. I had picked it because it was a handy area, and was set off the road a bit offering some quiet rather than a pub with rooms.
I never imagined what would greet us. It's an old manor that has been converted to a B&B. The owner lives in the house and he is the mind behind the manor. He has an assistant, Lynn, who checks people in. Here is the bed in the room that I had booked.
We laughed, because we thought that this looked like beds we were taking photos of in historic houses this week!
The B&B owner, who is a real pistole, is 96 years old! He was a jazz musician whose travels included playing as an entertainer on the Queen Mary as it traveled the ocean from England to the US.
He is quite interested in learning about his guests and he was excited to hear that we were from Pennsylvania. Something tells me that breakfast is going to be quite entertaining, and I might have difficulty extracting Marty from the room.
I'll keep you posted!
