Attractions and Places To See around Queen'S Nympton - Top 5

Square good for coffee stop

Great place to stay and recover. From their webpage https://www.thepoltimoreinnnorthmolton.co.uk: The Poltimore Inn is a full 7 days a week pub, open 11:30am to 2:30pm and 5:30pm to 11pm on Monday to Thursday and all day from 11:30 am to 11pm on Friday, Saturday and Sundays.

South Molton is a market town centred round a market square. It was a major part of the UK's wool trade and markets still thrive twice a week, although no longer just the domain of wool. There are plenty of cafes in South Molton for mid-ride nourishment

Castle Hill was built in 1730 by the Fortescue family and reconstructed following a large fire in 1934. It was caused by the boiler for the newly installed central heating and tragically killed both the housekeeper and a maid. On top of the hill behind the house is Sham Castle. The family still live on the estate which is now also used as a wedding and conference venue and the gardens are open to the public. For more information visit their website https://www.castlehilldevon.co.uk/

A Grade II-listed church, St Michael's is tucked in the hamlet of East Buckland. The tower likely dates back to the 15th century with the rest of the church rebuilt later. The churchyard is classically higgledy-piggledy and there are old thatched cottages around the edges.

Overlooking the TawValley, at the northern end of Heywood Wood, stand the remains of an early medieval motte and bailey castle. Motte and bailey castles are medieval fortifications introduced into Britain by the Normans. This type of castle was made up of an artificial mound, or motte, on which was built a wooden or stone structure known as a keep. Next to this at least one bailey, a fortified embanked enclosure containing additional buildings, would be built. Although many were occupied for only a short period of time, motte and bailey castles continued to be built and occupied from the 11th to the 13th centuries, after which they were superseded by other types of castle. Heywood CastleAt Heywood the circular motte is about 8 metres high and almost 50 metres in diameter, surrounded by a rock-cut ditch 4 metres wide and 2 metres deep. Around the top of the motte is a bank, up to 4 metres high in places. The crescent shaped bailey which lies to the north-east of the motte is 60 metres long and 40 metres wide and bounded on all sides by a bank 2 metres rising to about 4 metres on the eastern side, where there is an entrance with a causeway across the ditch which extends to the outer bank, which surrounds both the motte and bailey. From the bailey to the motte on the north east side there is the possibility of a bridgeway. On the north side of the bailey a more modern entrance has been formed. https://www.devon.gov.uk/historicenvironment/explore-devons-heritage/heywood-castle-eggesford/

This place is well worth a visit, it is a huge Norman castle mound. No structures are visible (Probably only a wooden keep now long gone) but really worth seeing, it is still quite imposing 1000 years on. "At Heywood the circular motte is about 8 metres high and almost 50 metres in diameter, surrounded by a rock-cut ditch 4 metres wide and 2 metres deep. Around the top of the motte is a bank, up to 4 metres high in places. The crescent shaped bailey which lies to the north-east of the motte is 60 metres long and 40 metres wide and bounded on all sides by a bank 2 metres rising to about 4 metres on the eastern side, where there is an entrance with a causeway across the ditch which extends to the outer bank, which surrounds both the motte and bailey. From the bailey to the motte on the north east side there is the possibility of a bridgeway. On the north side of the bailey a more modern entrance has been formed. The castle at Heywood possibly took the place of an earlier castle some 500 metres to the south in the grounds of Heywood House, on the steep valley side above the River Taw. An alternative theory is that both date to the 1130s and 1140s, and were built during the civil war between Matilda, daughter of Henry I, and his nephew Stephen." https://www.devon.gov.uk/historicenvironment/explore-devons-heritage/heywood-castle-eggesford/