Pictures of Clovelly
About Clovelly
Beautiful Clovelly, mentioned in the Doomsday book, has its origins rooted deep in Saxon times. Often referred to as Devons' Secret
Treasure, this lovely place has remained largely unchanged for centuries.
With its single cobbled street plunging in wide steps between quaint cottages to the sea some half a mile below, Clovelly is not for the feint hearted. To visit this, one of Englands' prized "Showplace" villages, the visitor needs plenty of stamina and comfy walking shoes for transport up and down the steep slopes is - on foot! Those who do decide to decend down the narrow slope are richly rewarded by the beguiling sight of flower decked cottages all tantalizingly different in shape, size and colour. The picture is very much of cottages tumbling over one another and at some of the steepest points, the door of one house looks out on the roof of its neighbour.
Once below, you are greeted by a small curving quay with an old inn facing the sheltered harbour estuary. The harbour is alive with pleasure boats and fishing craft, many of which provide locally caught crab and lobster to the cafes and inns that populate this pituresque village.
The Hamlyn family, Lords of the Manor, first occupied Clovelly Court in 1738 and much credit is due to this family for preserving the village and maintaining many of its cottages. Both house and village are now owned by a trust. At the top of a cliff close to this great house lies the church of All Saints which surprisingly has a Norman porch, a Jacobean pulpit and a monument to the novelist Charles Kingsley, author of Westward Ho, who lived in Clovelly as a child. The church and original court were built over 600 years ago. But the house was twice destroyed by fire and rebuilt - in the georgian era and in the 1940's when it was used as a convalescent home for Britains war wounded.
Many legends and customs still exist in these parts and on Shrove Tuesday, the village children drag tin cans and buckets up and down the cobbled streets. This action is said to scare off the Devil before Lent begins.
This area is a natural haunt for Devon's Artist community and there are many original paintings for sale in the local shops that are dotted up and down the main street and all around the harbour.
Clovelly is beautiful, it retains an 'Olde Worlde' charm that even along this breathtaking coastline, is simply incomparable.
