Devon - Broadhembury and soar above the village

By car: Broadhembury is north of the A373 (Cullompton to Honiton) and is signposted from this road, parking available roadside near the church.

By bus: For information use : www.travelinesw.com

[1] With your back to the War Memorial walk away from it down the street opposite with thatched houses on both sides.

(A) Many of these thatch and cob cottages have been standing since the 16th century.

Continue to the bridge and ford. Turn right after crossing the river Tale. Follow the road as it turns left around a playground and then slightly right until you reach a stile into a field on the left.

[2] Cross the stile and then walk straight ahead to a hedge corner. Keeping the hedge on  on your left, follow it up to, over a stile and on to the next stile which is to the left of the house Go onto the track which you follow keeping the hedge on your left hand.

[3] At the next stile, turn right and follow the right hand hedge to stiles into, through and out of the copse. Bear slightly right , across the field, to another stile taking you down onto a bridle-way where you turn right. Follow the bridle-way uphill.

Excellent views are to be had over the valley and Broadhembury behind you.

Continue along the track, going though two field gates. At the second one turn left almost back on yourself to follow the left hand side of the field. You are now on the glider field of the Devon & Somerset Gliding Club (B) so please keep  close to the edge of the field for your own safety. Just before the field corner turn down left through a bridle gate and follow the bridle-way around to the right through a wood.

(C) Note the old flint mine working below you.

Ignore a path that comes in from the left and follow around below the Glider field, then continue roughly in a straight line, with scrub to your right and a wood to your left till reaching a metalled road.

[4] Turn left, this next short section is on a steep, narrow road with an S-bend. Exercise caution and keep to the outside of the bends. Take the first turning left, pass the entrance to Hill House Farm and follow this country lane to a cross roads (Wind Whistle Cross). This section of the route has nice view across to Cullompton and the gentle rolling hills beyond. Go straight over and on into Kerswell, turning left at the fork in the road in the village. This takes you to an open space with a lane/track leading off it to the left in the direction of the hills above the village.

[5] Take this lane/track (signposted), at the top of which is a group of cottages/houses. Walk straight ahead towards a way post which you reach after crossing a sleeper bridge. Carry on into a wooded area with a deep ditch on your right to a stile. Cross this stile and then  the next two stiles, then look for a third in the left hand hedge to cross into field on left.

Turn half right and head for a field gate in the hedge opposite. Go through this gate and onto a metalled road.

[6] Turn right. Follow this road straight along until it turns right. Go straight ahead up steps, over stile and into a field. You can now see the tower of Broadhembury church and you know you are on the home straight! Go straight ahead with the fence on your left. At the end of the copse bear right (way-marked) and walk across the field to and over a stile. Now follow the left hand hedge down to the bottom left hand field corner, over a stile into a short track leading onto a metalled road with a thatched cottage in front of you.

[7] Turn left, looking out for an old oak window protected by glass in the wall of a cottage on your right (D). This road will bring you back to the bridge and ford. Turn right over the bridge or go though the ford to wash your boots off, and back to the start.

Broadhembury is set in the center of a horseshoe of the hills of Hembury Fort and North Hill, which rise to 1000 feet and create a sheltered, beautiful valley.

Hembury Fort, a prehistoric hill fort dating from 3000 BCE, was also used by the Romans. After the departure of the Romans, this area of Devon was sparsely occupied by the Celtic people. In those years Hembury Fort was called Handria. With the arrival of the Saxons, little wattle churches were built and the villagers lived in little cells or wooden huts. The Saxons brought the plough and cultivated the holdings. At the time of the Norman conquest of England in 1066, the population density of Broadhembury was 9 per square mile. During the Black Death of 1364, the population was affected, with two priests dying of it.

Henry VIII presented the land at Broadhembury to his faithful courtier, Thomas Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton, who sold it Sir Thomas Drewe, son of Edward Drewe. Edward Drewe was responsible for the building of the manor house adjoining a small farm house at Grange in about 1603. Edward was a sergeant at arms to Queen Elizabeth.

Broadhembury has changed very little in outward appearance during the last century, with many of the thatch and cob cottages standing since the 16th century.

Julius Drewe purchased the inn, and half the village, at the turn of the 20th century. Broadhembury House, the large thatched residence on the North side of the church, was converted by him from an old cottage. The garden, which is of particular beauty,

The descendants of Julius Drewe of Castle Drogo, Drewsteignton, still live in the village in Broadhembury House. It is thanks to Sir Cedric Drewe, who was a Member of Parliament for many years, that the village has kept its excellent character over the years.

North West of Kerswell, was a small monastic cell dependent on the Cluniac monastery of Montacute in Somerset, founded between 1119 and 1129. The Priory, now occupies the site of this cell.

 Map: OS Explorer 115 – Exmouth & Sidmouth

Terrain: Some road work, but the rest is on track or field. There is a moderate of ¾ mile climb up to the glider field.

Stiles: 16 in all but many are beside gates.

Dogs: On leads near livestock and when requested

Refreshments: Pub and Tea Rooms in Broadhembury.

Total walk ascent: 800 feet

Navigation: Easy with the help of good way-marking.