Brook Cottage, the Local Area

East Budleigh is a charming village in the East Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, surrounded by farmland, narrow lanes, clifftop walks and commons like the one shown here. The huge sandy beach at Exmouth is about five miles away, and the quieter pebble beach at Budleigh Salterton only about two miles away.

Our self catering holiday cottage lies on the edge of the village. East Budleigh itself is a delight. It has a scarecrow festival in June, and here are some of the scarecrows.

Actually the ones in the middle are not scarecrows; they are the Raddon Hill Clog Morris Dancers who visit the village from time to time. There are two pubs in the village, and they join in the scarecrow festival too. The Sir Walter Raleigh, on the left below, is only about a hundred yards from Brook Cottage, the Rolle Arms is at the other end of the village, half a mile away. The piggy in the middle is in the garden of the village primary shool.

The village was once called Budleigh Town, and was one of the major ports in the South West, but the haven silted up, and so the village is now two miles from the sea. That means that for many centuries there was no pressure on building land, which is presumably why an ancient cob and thatch cottage like ours has survived all that time. The Otter Valley Association has more pictures and information about East Budleigh, including a lovely picture of the High Street looking up towards the church, which is very near our cottage.. There is a community shop in the village hall, a short walk from Brook Cottage.

The village is very keen on its floral displays, and it has won gold award for the South West region of the Britain in Bloom competition. We play our part with our pretty little front garden. The East Budleigh in Bloom website has lots more information and some lovely pictures.

East Budleigh is the birthplace of Sir Walter Raleigh. He was born at Hayes Barton just a mile down Hayes Lane from Brook Cottage. This fine statue of him is in the heart of the village near the church.

Nearby there are the charming and slightly old-fashioned seaside towns of Sidmouth and Budleigh Salterton, both well worth visiting. The walk along the river Otter between Budleigh Salterton and East Budleigh gives you a glimpse of some of the varied wildlife of the area, and there are viewing hides for bird watchers. There are nice walks further upstream too, around villages with charming names such as Colaton Raleigh, Tipton St John and Ottery St Mary.

Below are two maps of the area. Brook Cottage is in the middle of the large scale map on the right, not far from Vicar's Mead. You can also see Budleigh Brook, after which the cottage is named, coming down from Washmoor Farm, past the cottage and through the village. It finishes its journey on the little aquaduct at the bottom, from which it tumbles into the River Otter. Hayes Lane lane leads up onto East Budleigh Common, which connects to several other commons. As you can see on The Pebblebed Heaths Conservation Trust site, this is a huge area for walking. In fact there are several delightful walks accessible from Brook Cottage. Apart from the beautiful unsploit countryside, they can take in local attractions such as Otterton Mill, Sir Walter Raleigh's birthplace and Bicton Park Botanical Gardens.