North Devon's Top Attractions

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Clovelly's harbour with houses built right on the shore

Honey, sheep, a cliff railway – and the Beast of Exmoor... These are just some of the attractions that North Devon offers. Add in scenic walking, a restored corn mill, and a village that’s privately owned, and you begin to get some idea why this area has such incredible holiday pulling power.

1 Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway
Where: The Esplanade, Lynmouth EX35 6EQ
Open: Mid-February to first week in November
Website: www.cliffrailwaylynton.co.uk
Info: 01598 753908

There’s a little part of North Devon that’s known as the English Switzerland. Steep gorges, towering rock formations and peak-roofed houses perched on hillsides combine to create scenes that are reminiscent of the mountainous landlocked country. This tiny region huddles around the two towns of Lynton, perched high up on the cliff top, and Lynmouth, 600 feet vertically below, where the River Lyn meets the sea. In 1890 a phenomenal construction was designed to link the twin towns; a cliff railway. The journey takes two minutes 15 seconds. This is the steepest cliff railway in the country and one of only three remaining water-balance cliff railways in use. It’s a journey that must be experienced to be appreciated. And there’s more...
Clifftop Lynton has a Victorian charm; it’s a resort in miniature with restaurants, independent shops and a couple of art galleries. In Lynmouth from the base of the cliff railway, a path in front of the 14th century thatched, whitewashed Rising Sun pub leads to a view of the small harbour. The River Lyn rushes shallow over boulders that it has propelled down from Exmoor, and the architectural style that’s vaguely Swiss is evident in the houses that cling to the valley of the River Lyn.

2 Valley of the Rocks
Where: 1 mile from Lynton, signposted from the A39 and Lynton

One mile from Linton lies some of the most dramatic scenery Britain can offer. The Valley of the Rocks runs parallel to the coast. It’s a river valley without a river, an ancient formation once part of the Lynn river valley; the river’s course was diverted by coastal erosion during the Ice Age. Towering rocks in weird, erosion-hewn formations rise above a valley populated by a herd of wild goats. It’s a land of screes and jagged rocks, silent except for birdsong. Walking’s the pursuit here. The land descends steeply alongside the gigantic rock that heads the valley closest to the coast; views of the sea stretch out beyond. Take care if you follow this path, as the edge of the cliff is close. The view of cliffs and sea are awesome.

3 Clovelly
Where: 12 miles from Bideford, just off the A39.
Open: All year
Website: www.clovelly.co.uk
Info: 01237 431 781

North Devon’s unique traffic-free, cobble-paved fishing village is privately owned. John Rous inherited the estate of 2000 acres of woodland, farmland and village and works passionately to ensure Clovelly retains its immense character. There’s an admission charge to the visitor's centre and it can sometimes appear that this is needed to walk down the cobbled street to the harbour, but in fact village access is free. Clovelly is quaint in the extreme. There’s one main street, the hill is steep and no cars come into Clovelly, so the 200 residents use sledges made of robust plastic boxes lashed to wooden frames to drag everything from the top of the hill where they park their cars. Clovelly consists of 50 cottages, two chapels, two hotels and a 14th century harbour. Today the harbour is the part of the visitor experience that will best encapsulate the essence of Clovelly. Cottages are built right on the shore here. Clovelly attracts 200,000 visitors a year and we can well see why. You leave with a clear idea of what life was once like here, in the days of 12 or so children living in one cottage, sleeping on straw, of herring fishing, of water from wells and cooking pots over fires.
Clovelly, though, has a modern side, a visitor centre of starkly modern architecture that contains a restaurant with a balcony overlooking the village and a collection of shops. Clovelly is quintessentially charming in a rustic, unchanged way. At once, it’s a good walk, a journey back through time, and a window on the fishing way of life that shaped not just Clovelly but the North Devon coastline.

Clovelly's harbour with houses built right on the shore

4 Quince Honey Farm
Where: North Road, South Molton EX36 3AZ
Open: All year; see website for times.
Website: www.quincehoney.co.uk
Info: 017695 72401

Quince Honey Farm is the UK’s largest honey farm, with 1500 hives. It’s also home to colonies of Leaf Cutting Ants and Asian Weaver Ants. The Happy Bee Play Hive indoor play area keeps kids entertained amid an entanglement of climbing and tunnelling structures. Detailed information on honey creation and processing ensures that the Quince Honey Farm is far from just an attraction for children. And underpinning it all is the honey industry that was started in 1949. Now, the 1500 hives are spread over North Devon. They rent small amounts of land from farmers, in south-facing field corners, for the hives. Devon is ideal for bees because wild flowers are in abundance, which gives the honey a beautiful delicate flavour.

5 The Big Sheep
Where: Abbotsham, Bideford, EX39 5AP
Open: All year, but with limited attractions from November to April) – see website for details.
Website: www.thebigsheep.co.uk
Info: 01237 472366

This is surely Devon’s most inventive family tourist attraction. Built around one of the county’s farming traditions, The Big Sheep turns sheep into entertainment. Education on rare breeds is mixed in with the stagecraft of training sheep to behave for feed reward. It’s great fun to watch. The Big Sheep is still a working farm, although family entertainment is the main thing here. Ducks being rounded up by sheepdogs, through courses that involve a helter skelter and sliding into a pond; lamb feeding and sheep shearing demonstrations are among programmes of events that run daily during school holidays. You could spend all day here, until you reach the item on the programme with reads: 6pm: Sheep go to bed.

6 Exmoor Zoo
Where: Off A399 at South Stowford, Bratton Fleming EX31 4SG
Open: All year
Website: www.exmoorzoo.co.uk
Info: 01598 763352

The Beast of Exmoor. Legend? Hoax? Escaped exhibit? Whatever you believe, sightings of a black leopard on Exmoor have ignited fascination since the 1970s. Reports of black cat-like animals that can leap eight feet into the air were regular for several years. Coming face-to-face with a Black Leopard in North Devon, though, is easy. Exmoor Zoo, unsurprisingly, is themed around big cats. Biggest and most impressive are Zoysa and his partner Ebony. Pumas from South America are at Exmoor Zoo too, along with pumas, leopards and a pair of Fishing Cats from Sri Lanka, vividly spotted, and not unlike domestic cats in form and size. Exmoor Zoo isn’t all about felines though. Scarlet Ibis catch the eye for their flamingo-pink plumage, and tiny squirrel monkeys grab your attention by leaping against the glass walls of their enclosure.
There’s a New Guinea Singing Dog that howls loudly to get your attention, wallabies and inquisitive meerkats that sit up on hind legs to get a better view of visitors.

7 Hele Corn Mill
Where: Watermouth Road, Hele Bay EX34 9QY
Open: April to October
Website: www.helecornmill.com
Info: 01271 863185

The coastal hamlet of Hele is home to one of Britain’s few working corn mills, dating from 1870. Come here to explore the intricacies of milling craft and milling machinery – and then taste the proceeds in the form of a traditional Devon cream tea with scones made from flour ground at the mill. Restoration is the chief focus here. And families come first in terms of tourist entertainment, though the machinery will enthral engineers. Children get an activity booklet of quizzes and pictures to colour and the guided tour takes you through the horrible history bits of this mill... There once was a miller called Bill Briggs who was seized by a vicious rat. He died soon afterwards. When the mill was being restored a body of a rat was found, dried and preserved. It’s in a little glass case on a high beam, now, looking down on the visitors... Was this the rat that killed Bill? The sound of smooth-running cogs and gearing, rumbling drive-belts and water tumbling down the mill wheel to drive it readily recreates the engineering of yesteryear. This is history in action, a mill working just as it did in the days up to 1940 when it was in commercial use.

Intrigued?
Read about the best beaches of North Devon, here.
Fancy visiting South Devon instead?
For our pick of the top 10 beaches, click here.

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North Devon's Top Attractions

Honey, sheep, a cliff railway – and the Beast of Exmoor... These are just some of the attractions that North Devon offers. Add in scenic walking, a restored corn mill, and a village that’s privately owned, and you begin to get some idea why this area has such incredible holiday pulling power.

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