Clovelly
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Missing image Clovelly.descent.arp.750pix.jpg Looking down the descent to Clovelly harbour. The Bristol Channel can be seen above the rooftops. |
Missing image Clovelly.harbour.arp.750pix.jpg Clovelly harbour |
Missing image Clovelly.harbour2.arp.750pix.jpg Looking inland from the harbour. Parts of the route down can be seen in the upper left hand of the picture |
Clovelly is a village on the north Devon coast, England near Bideford. It is a major tourist attraction, famous for its history, extremely steep car-free cobbled main street, donkeys, and beautiful location looking out over the Bristol Channel. Thick woods shelter it and render the climate so mild that even tender plants flourish.
Charles Kingsley was born here.
Clovelly used to be a fishing village and in 1901 had a population of 621. It is a cluster of wattle and daub cottages on the sides of a rocky cleft; its main street resembles a cobbled staircase which descends 400 feet (120 metres) to the pier, too steeply to allow wheeled traffic. Sledges are used for the movement of goods. The street is lined with houses, shops and eating-places. To accommodate the huge number of visitors a car park and visitor centre have been built above the top of the village. An entrance charge is made to such visitors.
All Saints church, restored in 1866, is late Norman, containing several monuments to the Carys, lords of the manor for 600 years. The surrounding scenery is famous for its richness of color, especially in the grounds of Cary Court, and along The Hobby, a road cut through the woods and overlooking the sea. Clovelly is described by Charles Dickens in A Message from the Sea and painted by Rex Whistler, whose cameos of the village were used on a china service by Wedgwood.
External link
Official web site (http://www.clovelly.co.uk/)