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Location Of Walk: Hexworthy Map Ref SX 655 726 |
How To Get There: Forrest Inn Hexworthy. Approx. 4 miles from Two Bridges, which is signposted off the B3357. Map Ref SX 655 726 |
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Parking: Forrest Inn (Check opening times) |
Type Of Walk: Road and a small amount of footpath |
Distance / Time: Approx. 2 Miles |
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Facilities: Full Public House facilities, (does have a family room). |
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The Walk: |
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The Ancient hamlets of Hexworthy and Huccaby lie deep in the heart of Dartmoor, facing each other across the West Dart River, a mile or so above Dartmeet. Exploring them makes a pleasant stroll for all the family. |
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Begin at Hexworthy's Forrest Inn, which is signposted off the B3357, about four miles from Two Bridges. Built in the 19th Century, the Forest Inn served the needs of the many farm labourers and tin miners who worked the surrounding hillsides. It began as a small, thatch-roofed building but after a serious fire it was rebuilt on a much grander scale. Walk down the lane from the Inn and very soon you will see Jolly Lane Cottage to your left, this cottage has the curious distinction of being the last house on Dartmoor to have been built in a day. The story goes that on midsummers day in 1836, a farm labourer named Tom Satterley took advantage of the fact that the local farmers were away at the annual ram roasting festival in Holne and built himself a home on the land on which the farmers held tenants rights. Starting at sunrise and helped by a group of friends, he had the roof on and a fire in the grate by the time the sun set. This extraordinary achievement gave him the right by ancient custom, to claim the house and the land enclosed around it as his own. When the farmers returned, there was nothing they could do. After Tom's wife Sally died in 1901 a second floor was added to the original cottage, and in 1976 an extension was built on the back, so that today the building bears little resemblance to the house that Tom built. Beyond Jolly Lane Cottage, the road crosses the West Dart on the narrow back of Huccaby Bridge. This elegant triple-arched structure looks like a medieval packhorse bridge but is in fact a late eighteenth century replacement for a clapper bridge that was washed away by a severe flash flood. It was in consequence of this that the new bridge was given an unusually high central arch, tall enough to accommodate even the most dramatic floodwaters. Crossing the bridge and continuing up the lane you will soon come upon Huccaby Chapel, standing under beech trees on the right of the lane. Dedicated to St. Raphael it was opened in 1868, and for many years served as both church and school. Inside the pews that doubled as desks can still be seen complete with inkwells. When the rural population dwindled, the school closed but occasional services and even weddings, are still held there. Return back down the lane and just after you cross the bridge you will see a footpath on your right, follow this across a few fields, through a farmyard and left along the lane to return back to the Forest Inn. |
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Author Not Known |
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Date 03/04/00 |
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