Synopsis: Cycled from Exeter to Clyst St George from where my walk included Ebford, Woodbury & Clyst St George. Incorporates two churches, St Swithuns, Woodbury, and Clyst St George parish church.
(selection of photos from Flickr photo set – use link above to view album)
Back in the saddle. It had been, until today, one of my longest layoffs from walking and cycling, in large part due to my having suffered with a back problem that came on last September. So, after a lengthy lapse, here I am back with a blog post describing today’s outing.
Not planned to be far from home, I was able to cycle to the start point for today’s walk at Darts Farm, Clyst St George, where there are to be found excellent cycle parking facilities. Darts Farm has evolved over the years, starting as a little pick-your-own fresh food market attached to a farm. Today it has grown to become a major retail outlet, and one that quite evidently is proving extremely popular.
Having parked my bike in the shelter I changed from cycling shoes to walking boots and set off on my way, picking up a cycle track which led me to a lane into Ebford. The village of Ebford isn’t particularly attractive, being rather strung out and having a good deal of modern bungalow build within it. These old cottages close to the old Ebford village centre, provided an attractive interlude as I went on my way.
I followed quiet lanes from Ebford all the way to Woodbury. The path was easy and the day sunny and pleasant. It felt good to leave the city behind for a while, and be in the tranquil countryside once again. Crossing a busy main road I was soon dropping down a back lane into Woodbury approaching a rear entrance to the church lined with quaint old thatched cottages.
I discovered a wooden bench that looked directly towards the church and made this my lunch stop. It was extremely pleasant to eat my picnic lunch looking out on the church lit by the bright January sun. It was however a little chilly, so as soon as I’d finished my lunch I engaged in a quick circuit of Woodbury village prior to visiting the church.
One of the buildings of Woodbury that I have always thought of as most picturesque was once the old post office. Unfortunately, on my visit today, the building housing Woodbury Antiques (Grade II Listed), wasn’t looking at its best, as it was clad in scaffolding. To give a better idea of its past charm, I’ve included below a photo from the Francis Frith collection showing the building in its post office guise.
The Parish Church of St Swithun (Grade I Listed) is quite a large and imposing for a village of this size, perhaps reflecting the fact that the church in the later medieval period was held by the Vicars Choral of Exeter Cathedral. There is 5-bay hammer-beam roof to the nave, which is rather unusual in a parish church. I was at first perplexed at the description of ‘scissor brace chancel roof with ‘ogival profile’, until I remembered ogival describes an ‘S’ shaped design, which can clearly be seen in the chancel roof; once again, rather unusual. Interesting to see a squint, which I hadn’t heard of until last summer’s visit to Colebrooke. St Swithun’s made for an interesting visit.
I left the churchyard by the rear path along which I had approached the church, and then followed a lane ascending out of the village. I then picked up a path adjacent to Watery Lane, which was causing me some consternation, but it needn’t have. The path actually runs parallel with the green lane so named, and watery (and overgrown) it did look, but my way was easy and dry on the inner-side of the field boundary, precisely as shown on maps.
I then walked a short stretch of lane before entering a track named Moor Lane. Here I did need to follow this track, and in places it was rather waterlogged, but it was wide and I could squeeze past the few large puddles of water that I did encounter. Once negotiated, it was plain sailing along country lanes all the way to Clyst St George.
Approaching Clyst St George I passed the venerable old Pytte House (Listed Grade II), the former seat of the Gibbs family. The family’s prosperity grew substantially during the Victorian period. They were a benefactor of works in the nearby city of Exeter. I have supplied a little more detail about the Gibbs family in my narrative below.
As I followed the lane into Clyst St George the church steeple of St George Parish Church (Listed Grade II) came into sight on the brow of the hill. I’d read details of the building’s listed entry the night before and knew that the old church had been hit by a German incendiary bomb in August 1940 which had gutted all but the tower of the church. Most of the building’s fabric we see today was built in 1952.
The artist Leighton Hall Woollatt (1905-1974) [paintings] painted the ruins of St George in 1940, two images of these paintings are available to view on the Your Paintings web site from the BBC, and these are shown below:
The church rebuild of 1952 was not a copy of the previous church but a contemporary design. Since there are not that many modern church buildings in the county of Devon, it is interesting in this respect. Although there is little of the exterior appearance to give away its provenance, as soon as I stepped into the church I was immediately catapulted into the world of the 1950s.
I was very taken by the light and modern appearance of the interior. I felt it had an honest style that reflected the time at which it built, but that it in no way jarred with notions of what a village parish church should look like. Careful thought to style had been applied, and the materials and craft seemed to be of a high standard. In my humble view, a very worthy replacement of the church devastated by war.
I knew, from previous visits to Tyntesfield (NT), bought by William Gibbs (b.1790) in April 1844, that this was the old stomping ground of the Gibbs family. I was on the lookout for evidence of the family’s presence here in Clyst St George parish church. What I discovered was the name Gibbs certainly does appear several times in the church. The family name can be found in the roll of vicars, a WWI/WWII commemoration to the fallen, and a substantial wall monument to George Gibbs of 1708 (follow links in the description of these photographs to learn more about each of the Gibbs family members mentioned here).
From the church it was a short walk along busy roads to Darts Farm to regain my bicycle for the journey home. As I approached Darts Farm the sun was just beginning to set behind trees on the horizon ahead of me. There was just enough light left in the day to get me most of the way home in some daylight. The day left me feeling good to be back in the groove.
Cycle/Walk Statistics:
Total Distance (Combined Cycle/Walk): 17.4 miles -:- (Walk): 9.2 miles
Elapsed Time (Combined Cycle/Walk): 6hrs 52min -:- (Walk): 5hrs 22min
Moving Time (Combined Cycle/Walk): 4hrs 42min
Stopped Time (Combined Cycle/Walk): 1hr 26min
Total Ascent (Combined Cycle/Walk): 291 metres
Maximum Elevation (Combined Cycle/Walk): 69 metres
Buses: (none)
Cycled from Exeter to walk start/finish point of Darts Farm, Clyst St George
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