Easy hikes and walks around Colaton Raleigh

Harnessing the power of moving water to drive a mill wheel is an ancient invention of human ingenuity, whose origins can be traced back to ancient times. Thanks to such a design, a watercourse – natural or artificial – made it possible to simply replace human or animal muscle power with the power of natural elements, for example, to grind grain into corn or press oil from fruit. There are essentially two drive variants for watermills: * Either the flowing water simply hits the blades of the water wheel from below to set it in motion; or * the water is guided above the wheel – usually through a so-called "mill channel" – and falls onto the blades. This design utilizes natural gravity to achieve greater efficiency.

this road becomes flooded would avoid when on yellow 🟡 weather warning cause you might need a boat, but otherwise it's very pretty and worth a visit great pubs for food nearby and air BnB places

Using the power of moving water to drive a mill wheel is an ancient invention of the human spirit of discovery, the origins of which can be traced back to times long past. Thanks to such a construction, human or animal muscle power could be replaced by the power of the natural elements through a watercourse - natural or artificial - in order to grind grain into corn or press oil from fruit, for example. There are essentially two different ways of driving watermills: * Either the flowing water simply hits the blades of the water wheel from below to set it in motion; or * the water is guided above the wheel - usually through a so-called "mill channel" - and falls onto the blades; this type of construction is more efficient due to natural gravity.

Woodbury Castle is a large Iron Age hill fort. The earthwork ditches and wall mounds are clearly visible as you run around the now wooded area.

The pebblebed heath land is part of the East Devon AONB and a SSSI. The heathland and underlying Triassic pebblebed geology is an important habitat for the plants and animals that live here.

Otterton Mill has been working since Norman times. Milling declined in the mid 1900s but the mill was restored in 1977. Today you can visit the mill and see the workings. They mill flour here a couple of times a month. There is a also a cafe and shop open daily.

Otterton is a village and civil parish in East Devon, England. It lies on the English Channel and is surrounded by other parishes such as East Budleigh, Bicton, Colaton Raleigh, Newton Poppleford and Harpford and Sidmouth. It has a population of 656 according to the 2011 census. It is known for its beautifully thatched roofs and quaint cob and brick cottages, its oldest working water mill and its Jurassic Coast. It was first settled by the Saxons and was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. It has a church dedicated to St Michael, which belonged to the monastery of Mont Saint-Michel in France at the time of the Domesday Book.

Set beside the River Otter in one of Devon's most beautiful coastal valleys, a warm welcome awaits you at Otterton Mill - the place in Devon to experience the ancient traditions of flour milling, bread baking and much more.