Salcombe Regis, Sidmouth, Devon
The little village of Salcombe Regis is tucked away in a valley on the Jurassic Coast in East Devon; it’s a pretty place with centuries old cottages and a church whose origins date back to 1120. There’s no pub and no shop, other than the one on the caravan park up the hill behind the village, but Sidmouth is conveniently just 2 miles away.
Delve into the history of the village and you’ll find out that it’s long and varied – medieval superstitions, the ongoing tensions between the Catholics and Protestants, the Napoleonic Wars and smuggling all feature. A thorn tree that stands in a walled enclosure in the village has been cultivated since Saxon times and is said to have grown from a cutting taken from the famous Glastonbury Thorn.
Salcombe Regis is a good starting point for walks up over the clifftops on the South West Coast Path; you can walk to Branscombe, to Sidmouth, and down to the beach at Salcombe Mouth, which is always quiet as there’s no access other than the footpath. Not far from the village are The Donkey Sanctuary, Beer Quarry Caves, Pecorama and Bicton Botanical Gardens.