Chulmleigh

With its narrow cobbled lanes, courtyards and quiet squares, Chulmleigh is a delight to explore. Sprawled across the hills above the leafy valley of the Little Dart river, it is one of several attractive small towns in mid Devon which prospered from the wool trade in the Middle Ages and then declined into sleepy, unspoilt communities. Chulmleigh’s prosperity lasted longer than most since it was on the old wagon route to Barnstaple that in 1830 one of the newfangled turnpike roads was constructed along the Taw valley, siphoning off most of its trade. A quarter of a century later the Exeter to Barnstaple railway was built along the same route, the final straw for Chulmleigh as a trade centre. But this charming small town has been left with many original thatched cob cottages that cluster around a fine 15th-century church noted for its lofty pinnacled tower and, inside, a wondrously carved rood screen that extends 50 feet across the nave and aisles.

To the south of Chulmleigh is Eggesford Forest where, in 1919, the newly-formed Forestry Commission planted its first tree. This event is commemorated by a stone unveiled by the Queen in 1956. The stone also marks the planting of more than one million acres of trees by the Commission. There are two walks through the forest, each about one mile long, which provide visitors with the opportunity of seeing the red deer that live here.