Cockington village – a secluded corner unspoilt by civilization

Cockington village (photograph by David Dixon)

Cockington village with its toy-looking thatched cottages, looking more like the set for a period dramas than real settlement, is only 1 mile from Devon’s most popular resort of Torquay, but miraculously managed to elude the influence of the town with its erratic life style and encroachment of modern buildings. The horse-drawn carriages plying from Torquay’s seafront to Cockington only intensify the feeling of stepping back in time.

Cockington village (photograph by Neil Kennedy) Cockington Court: on the right (photograph by Trish Steel)

Nowadays only the names of some cottages gives a hint about the occupations of their former owners (The Old Granary, The Gamekeepers Cottage etc), since with the development of tourist business most of them were turned into gift shops and tea rooms with so unparalleled Devonshire cream tea that can probably only be beaten by Cornish cream tea. The blacksmiths left the 14-century Cockington Forge a long time ago, and only the “lucky horseshoes” being sold there now remind of the one-time occupiers. But if you are curious to see the blacksmiths in work, as well as glassblowers, rocking-horse makers and other artists you better visit Cockington Court, which history descends to Saxon times. The home of local squires in the past now it houses the Craft Centre where you can not only satisfy your curiosity and have a look behind the colourful curtains of art but also buy something you might like from the artist’s retail outlets. One of Agatha Christie’s traces leads from Torquay, the place where she spent a good deal of her life, to Cockington Court. Agatha used to be friends with the then manor’s holders and even took part in the performances of their amateur damatics.

Cockington Curch (photograph by Christine Mattews)

The Medieval church of St George and Mary with adjoining Rose garden can be a nice completion of the visit to Cockington. Its impressing dark wood pulpit is said to incorporate the timbers taken from a captured Spanish flagship by brave Sir Francis Drake during the Armada.

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