WEST COUNTRY

FIND A B&B IN THIS AREA

As well as information about the area, here are some tourist attractions and places of interest to visit with direct links to their websites.  Useful websites for a full selection are:

THE NATIONAL TRUST               HISTORIC HOUSES ASSOCIATION      CORNISH ASSOCIATION OF TOURIST ATTRACTIONS

ENGLISH HERITAGE                   HERITAGE TRAIL                 THE NATIONAL GARDEN SCHEME    

DEVON ASSOCIATION OF TOURIST ATTRACTIONS

Or for more specific places:

CASTLES AND HISTORIC HOMESBack to top

A LA RONDE, DEVON – A unique 16 sided house

BUCKLAND ABBEY, DEVON - The former home of Sir Francis Drake

DUNSTER CASTLE, SOMERSET – Breathtaking views

EXETER CATHEDRAL, DEVON - Built in the decorated gothic style, it has the longest uninterrupted medieval gothic vaulting in the world

GLASTONBURY ABBEY, SOMERSET – Romantic Ruins – Once the grandest and richest Abbeys in England. A great Glastonbury experience awaits you here!

HARTLAND ABBEY, DEVON - Many ancestors have been prominent here, politicians, high sheriffs and even pirates!

LYTES CARY MANOR, SOMERSET - This intimate manor house was the former home of medieval herbalist Henry Lyte and his famous 16th-century plant directory, Lytes Herbal

PENDENNIS CASTLE, CORNWALL -  Henry VIII’s coastal stronghold and a secret war base

POWDERHAM CASTLE, DEVON - Set in a beautiful deer park on the Exe estuary

RUMP CLIFF CASTLE, CORNWALL - A stunning example of iron age fortifications in a staggering location

ST MICHAEL’S MOUNT, CORNWALL - Discover a medieval castle and a sub-tropical paradise

TINTAGEL CASTLE, CORNWALL - These ruins with dramatic views are said to be the birthplace of King Arthur

WELLS CATHEDRAL, SOMERSET

GARDENSBack to top

ARLINGTON COURT, DEVON - Gardens that nestle in the thickly wooded valley of the River Yeo

BICTON PARK BOTANICAL GARDENS, DEVON - 60 acres of soft sweeping lawns, elegant water features & fragrant English borders.

CARWINIAN GARDENS, CORNWALL - Victorian gardens, home to one of the most spectucalur collections of bamboo

CANNINGTON WALLED GARDENS, SOMERSET - Lying in the grounds of mediaeval priory, these gardens have classic and contemporary features

HESTERCOMBE GARDENS, DEVON – A unique collection of gardens spanning three centuries of garden history and design

LANHYDROCK HOUSE & GARDENS, CORNWALL - One of the most beautiful properties in Cornwall, this is a must-see all year round

LOST GARDENS OF HELIGAN, CORNWALL - Hailed ‘the garden restoration of the century’

MOUNT EDGCUMBE HOUSE & GARDENS, CORNWALL - Set in Grade I Cornish gardens within 865 acres of country park

ROSEMOOR GARDEN, DEVON - A unique place, set in the Torridge valley

ROUGEMONT GARDENS, DEVON – Shakespeare is performed here every year during July & August

TINTINHULL GARDENS, SOMERSET - A harmonious small garden, one of Britain’s best.

TREBAH GARDENS, CORNWALL - A wooded sub-tropical ravine with its own beach

TRELISSICK GARDEN, CORNWALL - A 20 acre garden, set on many levels, with fine open lawns, a superb collection of tender and exotic plants, providing year-round colour and superb views

TRENGWAINTON GARDEN, CORNWALL - Experience stunning views and an abundance of exotic trees and shrubs

TRESCO ABBEY GARDEN, ISLES OF SCILLY - The tropical garden is home to species from 80 countries, ranging from Brazil to New Zealand and Burma to South Africa

FAMILY ATTRACTIONSBack to top

THE BIG SHEEP, DEVON – Family Park with Sheep Racing, Outdoor Laser Games, Pony Rides, Plant Nursery, Brewery and indoor play area

CHEDDAR CAVES & GORGE, SOMERSET - 450ft high limestone cliffs and beautiful caves, home to Peregrine falcons and rare bats

DONKEY SANCTUARY, DEVON - Donkeys, goats, sheep, pigs, rabbits & guinea pigs to feed & pet

THE EDEN PROJECT, CORNWALL - A gateway into the fascinating world of plants and people

LAND’S END, CORNWALL - The most South-Westerly point of the British Isles with breathtaking scenery five visitor attractions, shopping village and restaurants

MINACK THEATRE, CORNWALL - The famous outside theatre clinging to a cliff face, with amazing views

MONKEY SANCTUARY, CORNWALL - Monkeys, wildlife gardens, playground and bats!

MORWELLHAM QUAY, DEVON - 200 acres of outstanding natural beauty where the Victorian age is brought back to life including travelling underground to experience an authentic copper mine

NATIONAL MARINE AQUARIUM, DEVON - Britain´s biggest, Europe´s deepest and UK´s best aquarium!

NATIONAL MARITIME MUSEUM, CORNWALL - Celebrating the sea, boats and Cornwall

NEWQUAY ZOO, CORNWALL - Experience the world’s wildlife at this award winning zoo

PAIGNTON ZOO, DEVON - See all your favourites such as lion, tiger, gorilla, orang-utan, flamingo, elephant and giraffe, as well as some more unusual species

POLDARK MINE  & HERITAGE COMPLEX, CORNWALL - Follow in the footsteps of 18th century Cornish tin miners

QUINCE HONEY FARM, DEVON - The largest honey farm in the country where you can view working colonies of honeybees

SEAL SANCTUARY, CORNWALL - Seals, Otters, Penguins, Sheep, Ponies and Goats!

SOUTH DEVON RAILWAY - A fantastic day out with steam and diesel locomotives

WILDLIFE & DINOSAUR PARK, DEVON - Explore 26 acres of stunning gardens with cascading waterfalls and 100´s of exotic birds and animals

WOOKEY HOLE CAVES, SOMERSET - Britain’s most spectacular caves

INFORMATION ABOUT THE AREABack to top

The ironbound coast of Cornwall, its granite fangs breaking the spirit of the North Atlantic rollers, points the way to an ancient land of mystery, myth and legend.

Its antiquity is borne out by a countryside from Land’s End dotted with Celtic crosses and the remains of Iron Age villages and stone circles.

Leaving the sunken skeletons of windjammers and steamers to the rocks and reefs of the north Cornish coast – one of the most stunning in England – we are drawn to Tintagel – the fabled birthplace of chivalry and the tales of King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table. Even in these days when science debunks romance, there is an indefinable magic about Tintagel’s castle ruins and Merlin’s cave. 

Inland to the wilderness of Bodmin Moor, where its tors and the remains of the round stone huts of the farmers of 4,000 years ago set off its prehistoric past and the industrial archaeology of the copper miners and granite quarrymen. It also plays its part in the Arthurian legend of the region with Dozmary Pool.  Dark and silent, and said to be bottomless, the pool is reputed to be where a hand surfaced to receive King Arthur’s sword, Excalibur. All this in just a 10-mile square.          

          ((Parson and huntsman Jack Russell was born in Dartmouth in 1795 and gave his name to the popular terrier he bred to go down fox holes.))     

            We’ll fall to the call of the wild and move on to Dartmoor.  Splendidly desolate, its granite tors, standing stones, heather clad hills and ancient stone clapper bridges over sparkling, clear rivers and streams rise up to more than 2,000 feet.  Some mystery. At Hound Tor a devil dog is said to haunt the area searching out unbaptised children. This legend is among several that inspired Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to relate Sherlock Holmes’ encounter with the Hound of the Baskervilles.  Wistman’s Wood adds to the surreal world that is Dartmoor. Here, clumps of stunted oaks – some more than 600 years old – grow among moss and ivy clad boulders.

Exmoor straddles the Devon/Somerset border and is a world apart from Dartmoor.  From a plateau of moor and heathland and beech-hedged fields, fast-flowing streams carve their way through wooded valleys to the coast. Exmoor, with its red deer and buzzards, is the setting for another book of mystery and violence – R. D. Blackmore’s Lorna Doone. The little church at Oare is the setting for the near fatal shooting of the heroine.  On the eastern edge of the moor is the fine medieval village of Dunster dominated by its Norman castle on one side and wooded slopes on the other.

                ((The first house in the world to be lit by gas is in Redruth.  In 1794, William Murdock, a mining engineer, used the gas produced by burning coal.))

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Let’sLet’s Let’s join the pilgrims of old and marvel at one of the finest cathedrals in Britain in England’s smallest city – Wells, nestling in the foot of the Mendips. Built between the 12th and 14th centuries, its west front is spectacular.  Exeter, too, boasts a magnificent cathedral, with its two great towers dating back to the 12th century.

Some superlatives – at Cheddar. Its gorge is Britain’s largest; the Cheddar Yeo, in Gough’s Cave, is its biggest underground river; the Gorge Cliffs are the country’s highest inland limestone cliffs and Britain’s oldest complete skeleton was found in the cave, all of 9,000 years old. And there’s the eponymous cheese…claimed to be Britain’s best.

More Arthurian legend.  This time at Glastonbury Tor, the site of the marshland ‘fairy isle’ of Avalon where King Arthur and Queen Guinevere are said to be buried. And it’s said Joseph of Arimathea buried the Holy Grail here.  For millions of afficianados the annual Glastonbury Festival is the holy grail of music.

The ancient fishing villages of Cornwall are well worth visiting – among them Mousehole (pronounced Mouz’l) and St Ives. They were centres of the pilchard fishing industry.  Now, St Ives is home to the Tate Gallery of the West.  Still busy ports are Newlyn, near Penzance, Looe, Polperro and Brixham, along with the great natural harbours of Plymouth and Falmouth. On the rugged north coast there are fishing villages such as Clovelly and spectacular views from Hartland Point over one of the most treacherous stretches of water in Britain.

By sharp contrast, Selworthy, with its thatched cottages set in soft Somerset woodland is the perfect picture postcard village.   

Back to the age of the dinosaurs…to the Jurassic Coast.  Eastwards from Exmouth for nearly 100 miles, the cliffs and foreshore are recognised by UNESCO as one of the wonders of the natural world.

Enjoying one of Britain’s mildest climates, the region is also a paradise for plants with countless gardens to visit. It is appropriate that the Eden Project should be based here, successfully combining horticulture, ecology, science, art and architecture.

And don’t forget…Somerset is where the cider apples grow!