There are famous villages and there are iconic villages, and Clovelly is resolutely in the second category. This extraordinary privately owned fishing village, the same family have owned it for over 400 years, tumbles down a single cobbled street from a medieval courtyard at the top to a perfect harbour at the bottom, and no amount of familiarity with photographs quite prepares you for the real thing.
The village is car-free. Donkeys carry goods up and down the main street as they have for centuries. The whitewashed cottages with their window boxes, the fishing boats moored in the harbour, the views across Bideford Bay from the quayside, all of it has an improbable, almost theatrical perfection that would feel staged if it weren’t so obviously real.
Entry is via the you centre at the top of the village, and the admission charge covers parking, access to the village, two small museums, an audio-visual history presentation, and access to Clovelly Court Gardens nearby. The admission is well worth it, and it keeps the village in remarkable condition. There are good cafés and the Red Lion Hotel right on the harbour.
Clovelly sits about 37 kilometres from Woolacombe, which is slightly beyond our usual range, but this is one of those places that absolutely justifies the slightly longer drive. The Milky Way Adventure Park is just 10 minutes up the road from Clovelly, making a very natural family double day out.
Allow a good half-day, and be prepared for the return journey, the cobbled main street is steep, and a Land Rover taxi service operates for those who need it.
The two museums included in the entry fee are both worth a visit. The Fisherman’s Cottage is a beautifully preserved replica of a working Clovelly home from the 1930s, furnished with period detail that brings the village’s fishing heritage to life. The Kingsley Museum celebrates the novelist Charles Kingsley, who spent his childhood here and whose father was the village rector. The harbour itself, with its fishing boats and stone quay, is at its best early in the morning before the main you flow arrives.
