Synopsis: A name like Sheepwash is probably quite descriptive of a village’s past history. An elegant manor house, an old church, rustic farms, and hay stacks. A fine taster of the best of central Devon.
Walk! Devon
This walk is route 36 from the book Walk! Devon. This is a favourite book of mine, as the walks are very well written up, easy to follow, and each is provided with Ordnance Survey 1/25,000 maps. All the walks are ‘GPS Enabled’, by which is meant that each has a table of waypoint grid references that can be loaded to a GPS unit to facilitate easy navigation. To see other walks from this book that I have completed, use the link under Tags to the right.
There weren't a lot of bus options for this walk. I believe there are only two buses in and out of Sheepwash, both running on a Thursday. Not a lot of use to me. So this walk had to be done by my environmentally unfriendly car.
Cottages on the village square
Sheepwash, as my guidebook mentions, has a rather unusual aspect in that it has a village square. Although not unknown of in Devon, there aren't that many of them. It gives the village, with the exception of it's very Devon name, a rather continental quality. I half expected to see men playing boule and sipping wine.
The ideal retreat
The early morning mist had lingered long, but was now almost clear. The walk is down lanes, across open fields, along tracks and through woodland. Something for everyone! Buckland Mill is just a few cottages down a dirt track, highly suitable for the person who wants to get away from it all.
Buckland Filleigh manor house, built 1810 (grade II* listed)
The grand manor house at Buckland Filliegh is quite unusual for Devon, in that there aren't that many country mansions on this imposing scale. It was built in 1810 after the previous very early house was burnt down. It has fifteen bedrooms and the whole house is available for holiday lets! Note Buckland Filleigh is not to be confused with Filleigh 20km to the north-east.
Buckland Manor is a Grade II* listed building. In its listing the property’s description states, “This is one of the earliest surviving Greek Doric revival houses and remains very unaltered whilst incorporating probably the core of an earlier house.” The house was built for the Fortescue family, historically one of the most significant families in the county of Devon.
Grade II* listed church of St Mary's, Filleigh
I broke my walk to briefly look around the church of St Mary’s, Filleigh. I subsequently discovered that the church of St Mary’s is a grade II* listed building, so well worth a pause. This building has the advantage over the manor house, in that it is open to the public.
Old farm buildings of quite some vintage
From here I passed through some lovely old run down farms. For me it brings to mind Hardy's Wessex. This looks like bare-bones living. I saw a fox, strangely not paying me much attention for quite some time. I think it had it's mind on supper of the feathered kind, which I fear I may have spoiled for it. Even though the fox was distracted, and therefore I was able to get quite close to it, it still darted when it eventually saw me and my attempted photo contained no fox whatsoever!
So, it was a lovely day's walk, the Devon countryside being a pleasant change from the coastal path of recent walks.
Walk Statistics:
Total Distance: 7.8m
Total Ascent: 269 metres
Total Walk Time: (moving): 3 hrs 4 mins (elapsed): 4 hrs 20 mins
Maximum Elevation: 162 metres
Buses: (none, as very inaccessible by bus - travelled by car)
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