Stunning coastal scenery goes hand in hand with the South West Coast Path. For no less than 74% of its length, the Coast Path journeys through protected landscapes – one National Park and five Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Southole being one of them! One third is owned and cared for by the National Trust.

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“ ...is the best way to enjoy the wonderful coastal scenery, wildlife and heritage...
and only a few minutes from the Barns!”

Tucked away in the far north-west corner of Devon, the Hartland Peninsula is a haven of peace, natural beauty and tranquillity. Breathtaking coastal scenery along 12 miles of spectacular Hartland coastline, wonderful cliff top walks, beautiful secluded beaches and waterfalls, stunning starlit skies and no noise or light pollution make it perfect for those wishing to escape from it all.

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In an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
BBC Drama Sense and Sensibility was shot in Hartland.
Set against the spectacular Atlantic coastline, the 17,000 acres of the Hartland Peninsula offer a landscape of wonderful contrasts.

Tucked away in the far North West corner of Devon, this area is a haven of peace and tranquillity, perfect for those wishing to escape the hustle and bustle of city life.

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• Twelve miles of spectacular coastline

• Breathtaking scenery

• Wonderful cliff top walks

• Beautiful secluded beaches

• An abundance of rare flora and fauna

• Stunning starlit skies

As you cross the peninsula, high open moorland and ancient woodland give way to coastal waterfalls tumbling from hanging valleys onto rocky shores. These meandering valleys create sheltered micro-climates which support an abundance of wild flowers, rare lichens, culm grassland, insects, birds and animals.

Here is a wonderful selection of beaches, whether you are looking for golden sands, waterfalls or secluded coves with rock pools.

Welcombe Mouth
Welcombe Mouth is one of Devon’s hidden coastal gems, a remote and wild Atlantic coastal valley with spectacular and highly visible geology. The steep-sided valley is particularly unspoilt and has scrubland and natural vegetation that gives an untamed and treasured atmosphere. 

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With the wave cut platforms and folded rocks of the beach and cliffs facing the full might of the Atlantic Ocean and a wild, rugged and unspoilt valley behind, it is all too easy to imagine it as the haunt of smugglers and wreckers in years gone by. Located on the Cornish border the coastline at Welcombe is one of the most dramatic, spectacular and yet peaceful stretches of coast. 

Duckpool
Nestling between the high headlands of Warren Point and Steeple Point (both over 100 metres high).
Duckpool is approached via a wooded valley. With a small free car park, this beach is a good starting point for a coast path walk south to Sandymouth.

Lovely views south to Trevose Head. Sandy beach at low tide but not suitable for swimmers.

Hartland Quay
The spectacular cliffs at Hartland Quay with their incredibly contorted rock layers are always worth a visit and at low tide there is plenty of sand, rock pools and rocks to scramble over.

With access to the South West Coastal Path both North and South from the Quay, it makes an ideal start/finish point for a wide variety of walks.

Mouth Mill Cove
A free National Trust car park at Brownsham leads to a pretty one-mile woodland walk down to Mouth Mill, a very quiet location dominated by Black Church Rock with its two vast windows carved out by the tide.

Access to the South West Coast Path to either Clovelly north or Hartland Point south.

Peppercombe
Delightful fairly steep one mile walk from Horns Cross through woodland passing a myriad of flora and fauna. There is a constant sound of water as the stream makes its way through the valley to the sea by way of a mini waterfall. Unique red cliffs with sand along the beach at low tide, this is possibly the quietest and most secluded beach in the area.

Sandymouth
As the name suggests this large sandy well-sheltered National Trust beach is popular with swimmers and surfers alike. The cliffs surrounding the beach offer a great variety of wild flowers and there are breathtaking views south to Bude and Trevose Head. Large car park and lovely tearoom. Lifeguard cover during the holiday season.

Speke’s Mill Mouth
A twenty-minute walk south of Hartland Quay brings you to Speke’s Mill Mouth with its beautiful waterfall and long curving beach.
 

Access to the beach via steps gives you sandy stretches at low tide running down to the shore. Surfers like to visit Spekes for its renowned reef brake, yet it remains peaceful and quiet even at the height of summer.

Waterfalls
The Hartland Peninsula has many stunning waterfalls cascading on to pebbled foreshores and streams tumbling beneath bridges or meandering their way through yet another delightful valley towards the sea. Wargery, Blegberry, Blagdon and Beckland, but by far the most impressive and possibly the finest in the South West must be the waterfall at Speke’s Mill Mouth where Milford Water enters the sea.

Lundy lies off the coast of North Devon, where the Atlantic ocean meets the Bristol Channel with nothing between it and America, a granite outcrop, three and a half miles long and half a mile wide.

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The name Lundy is an adaptation of the old Norse for "Puffin Island" and it is the puffin which is Lundy's most famous resident. Lundy is a magnet for Puffin watchers, and a haven for bird-fanciers of any description. Dotterels, warblers, and firecrests are just some varieties of birds found here. Thirty-five bird species breed here each year, and over 280 unique species have been seen on the island.

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The rocky pools along the coast of Lundy are blessed with a wide variety of sea life, such as aneminoies, crabs, and corals. Visitors can book snorkeling sessions in company with the warden of Lundy to view the marine life close at hand.

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The island is now owned by the National Trust, but not long ago Lundy was a "kingdom". Eccentric Martin Harman proclaimed himself King of Lundy, and issued his own currency and postage stamps, which are now collectibles.

Regular ferries run to Lundy from Ilfracombe and Bideford in North Devon. The waters around Lundy are Britain's only Marine Nature Reserve.

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In the hubbub of the modern world it is a place apart, peaceful and unspoilt.