Explore Devon’s Hidden Gem

The monks welcome you to their home and hope you find, peace and tranquility here. Enjoy the Abbey's beautiful architecture and gardens, restaurants and shop, visit the Monastic Way exhibition, all located on the southern slopes of Dar tmoor. Why not stay overnight in Buckfast Abbey's Nor thgate House Hotel it o ers perfect seclusion and is an ideal base from which to explore the surrounding countr yside. To book accommodation call 01364 645630 and quote WELSD23

Please go to our website to check opening times before you star t your journey

Just south of Exeter is Powderham Castle, built in 1391 and remodelled in the 19th century. The home of the Earl and Countess of Devon, its charms include a magnificent medieval-style great hall with linenfold panelling, a restored Victorian kitchen and parkland roamed by 600 fallow deer.

Set in the Mid Devon countryside, Tiverton Castle, originally built in 1106 by order of Henry I, was once home of the powerful medieval Earls of Devon and a Plantagenet Princess. There’ve been several additions down the centuries, so you’ll see all periods of architecture from medieval to modern. The public are allowed in for a gander from Easter Sunday to the end of October.

West of Exeter on the wilds of Dartmoor near Chagford is Lutyens masterpiece Castle Drogo, a National Trust property perched above the Teign Gorge where you can wander around the formal gardens, complete with croquet lawn and rose garden.

Nearby, lovely Stone Lane Gardens display sculpture in sylvan woodland, mostly birch and alder. They also sell local wildflower honey and ice cream.

Greenway was once the home of crime writer Agatha Christie. This National Trust-owned house is a must for fans of the author. It includes a recreation of Poirot’s elegant study and first editions on the shelves. Jazz age Coleton Fishacre is another National Trust gem, with Lalique lamps and acclaimed gardens.

Nearby Overbeck’s Garden is a stunning sub-tropical paradise, with a great collection of palm trees. The house itself displays the quirky inventions of former resident Otto Overbeck: his ‘rejuvenator’ administered electro- magnetic shocks, with the aim of prolonging life and improving wellbeing.

Just east of Plymouth in Plympton, the splendidly symmetrical mansion of Saltram was a Tudor property given a lavish Georgian makeover by the Parker family.

Sir Joshua Reynolds was their regular guest, and he left 14 portraits of the family behind. The Saloon, designed by Robert Adam, is a dizzying confection of pistachio and buttercup-yellow stucco, set off by a swirly Axminster carpet woven especially in 1770.

It’s easy to see why John Betjeman fell in love with the timeless town of Sidmouth, sitting pretty by high red cliffs on a stretch of the fabled Jurassic coastline. >> p31