Looking down the descent to Clovelly harbour. Bristol Channel can be seen above the rooftops

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Clovelly is a village on the north Devon coast, England about twelve miles west of Bideford. It is a major tourist attraction, famous for its history, extremely steep car-free cobbled main street, donkeys, and location looking out over the Bristol Channel. more...

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Thick woods shelter it and render the climate so mild that even tender plants flourish.

Access

The village itself is not accessible by motor vehicle and space at the harbour is extremely limited.

Visitors usually park in a municipal car park above the town, at the end of the B3237 road; service buses make calls at the car park also.

There is a visitor centre (consisting of a barrier to the village, a cafe and gift and guidebook shop) at the car park and a number of tourist-oriented shop units. Visitors can enter the village through the visitor centre. There is a charge of £4.95 (in 2007) to do so. There are reduced prices for children but not for other concession groups. It is possible to walk to the village without using the visitor centre (and without paying the charge) by using the access road at the car park entrance. This is not well signed to encourage people to enter via the visitor centre. A Hackney Carriage (taxi) service operates in summer using Land Rover vehicles, between the car park and the harbour, at the foot of the main street; the charge for this is £2.20 per person each way (in 2007), and the entrance fee at the visitor centre is not payable.

There is a public road down to the harbour (followed by the Land Rover taxi), although parking at the bottom is all private, and there is a sign warning visitors against going down that road

The Village

Clovelly used to be a fishing village and in 1901 had a population of 621. It is a cluster of wattle and daub cottages on the sides of a rocky cleft; its main street resembles a cobbled staircase which descends 400 feet (120 metres) to the pier, too steeply to allow wheeled traffic. Sledges are used for the movement of goods. The street is lined with houses, and a small number of shops and a cafe and a public house.

All Saints' Church, restored in 1866, is late Norman, containing several monuments to the Cary family, lords of the manor for 600 years.

The surrounding scenery is famous for its richness of colour, especially in the grounds of Cary Court, and along The Hobby, a road cut through the woods and overlooking the sea. The South West Coast Path National Trail runs past the village, and the section from Clovelly to Hartland Quay is particularly spectacular.

Famous residents

The novelist Charles Kingsley lived here as a child from 1831 to 1836, while his father, the Reverend Charles Kingsley served first as Senior Curate then as Rector. Later, in 1855, his novel Westward Ho! did much to stimulate interest in Clovelly and to boost its tourist trade.