Visiting Devon & Cornwall

Heritage & Tourism

Devon and Cornwall has always been a place where travellers reinvigorated themselves. Organised tours as part of travel among the landed gentry, were seen as an extension of a weekend retreat to the English country house. The appeal of Salisbury and Stonehenge, as the focal point for an itinerary, was recorded as early as 1774. The rudiments of organised European tours were sown by the British aristocracy being lured to French Spa resorts in the 1740’s. The Industrial Revolution spawned the first formal day trips for mass tourists as an offshoot of the Temperance Movement in 1841. Aside from mining, this region remained relatively free from the erosion of its landscape through the development of heavy industries. The association between the Devon landscape and the Romantic Movement is paramount. The final revisions to the poem Endymion were made while Keats visited Teignmouth in 1818.

The lines of John Betjeman frequently resonate with the quintessential British seaside holiday of his childhood. Betjeman’s passion for Cornish holidays did not assuage as he grew older. In 1934, he remembered relaxing at Daymer Bay when he edited Shell’s tourist guide to Cornwall. The tourist guide had articles on what was to become a lifelong passion – architecture and the need for the preservation of churches as part of Britain’s cultural heritage.

St. Enodoc Church, situated to the south of Trebetherick, served as inspiration for the poem, Afternoon Service at St. Enodoc Church. The Cornish village of Trebetherick provided the backdrop for a number of his writings. The most notable being his poem Trebetherick which was used as an integral part of the former Poet Laureate’s memorial service in 1984. A number of Betjeman’s poems have an association with Sidmouth. In the summer of 1962, John undertook a spot on television describing the Georgian buildings in the holiday resort, as well as the appeal of walking on the town’s esplanade.

Daphne du Maurier is also recognised as being crucial to the area’s literary heritage. A number of guided walking trails have been designed for tourists looking to integrate the local history of Cornwall, and greater literary understanding into their holiday. Lynn Goold, a tourist guide based at the Fowey Tourist Information Centre commented, “Tourists come over especially for the Du Maurier Festival, and then they often go on to the Hay Festival. I think if people are coming from abroad, and they’ve got the time and money to do it, they will actually do a couple of festivals when they come over”. A continual draw for Devon and Cornwall is strong itineraries which value the setting of the region, but are also have detail to meet the needs of specialist tour groups. Malcolm Bell, Head of Visit Cornwall, keenly recognises the value of heritage to British visitors as well as inbound markets. “We’ve got a rich vein of heritage and history, and a key part of that is the arts and literature. The literary connections from Hawker, to Du Maurier, even Hardy down in the area, let alone the more contemporary ones like the Poldark series, there are quite a lot”.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge had a passion for walking in the UK and Europe. He was able to pioneer this form of tourism when he undertook his Scottish walking tour with Wordsworth. The two men began preparations for this in July 1803. On the 15th of August, he departed for Scotland, his itinerary including Fort William, Inverness, Perth, and Edinburgh. The Coleridge Way, covering thirty six miles and including Exmoor and the Quantock Hills, provides a niche for the walking tourist by reiterating the biographical locations behind Coleridge’s life. The National Trust owns Coleridge Cottage in the Somerset village of Nether Stowey. Coleridge and Wordsworth first met in around October 1795 in Bristol. The relationship between Coleridge and Wordsworth underlined a number of published works.

Lyrical Ballads, which included The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, was published on the 4th of October 1798. The work is often seen as the publication that pioneered English Romanticism. The final edition of the book was published in 1805. Another great passion the two men had was for travelling in Europe. As a young man, Wordsworth sailed for Calais on the 13th of July 1790. His routine trips to the Lake District were contrasted with a holiday in revolutionary France. A central part of the trip was the French Alps and Mount Blanc, including what was later to become the ski resort of Chamonix. While on foot, it was undertaken with an itinerary that was in effect an escorted tour, which included walking to Lake Geneva with servants acting as porters. Wordsworth’s earlier travel experiences would have undoubtedly helped his relationship with Coleridge to flourish. While Lyrical Ballads was published in the autumn in London, the two intellectual sparring partners escaped the reception of the public by taking a holiday in Germany.

The ship sailed from East Anglia on the 16th of September 1798; Wordsworth was seasick during the North Sea crossing. Wordsworth stayed in Goslar, in the vicinity of the Harz Mountains. The tour was hampered by poor weather, as northern Germany was lashed by snow. The historical quarter of Goslar has since been formally recognised with UNESCO World Heritage status. While touring the area, Wordsworth worked on one of his most influential works – Prelude. This semiautobiographical work was not published until after Wordsworth’s death on the 23rd of April 1850. His body was laid to rest in Grasmere in the Lake District. The son of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the essayist Hartley Coleridge, is also buried in St. Oswald’s Church, Grasmere. Devastated by the loss, Wordsworth would outlive his friend’s eldest son by a year.

While Wordsworth lived modestly, Coleridge mingled rather lavishly with society figures in the town of Ratzeburg. A detailed knowledge of Shakespeare also helped the tourist ingratiate himself with the people of Schleswig-Holstein. The more frugal traveller, Wordsworth was able to find cheap accommodation in Goslar. Despite the help of some of the local residents with the language, Wordsworth and his wife were not welcomed warmly by German society. Once the weather allowed, Wordsworth took the opportunity to leave Goslar and hike in the mountains. De Quincey wrote that despite Germany being a centre of philosophical ideas, the country had yet to produce a notable poet. Then, as now, tourism was seen as a tool to broaden the mind. Coleridge had a number of motivations to holiday in Germany – a passion for climbing the mountains of Lower Saxony, and a ferocious drive for self education, particularly by studying the teachings of Kant.

The two tourists continued to struggle with the language. On the 27th of February 1799, Wordsworth wrote to Coleridge complaining bitterly about the complexities of German, resigning himself to the fact that his German would never reach the standard of his French. Then, based at the town of Nordhausen, Wordsworth suggested a rendezvous at Gottingen, before the end of their German holiday.

The two men again looked to rekindle their love for Germany by journeying down the Rhine in their declining years. In the summer of 1828, the cantankerous companions toured Germany and parts of the Netherlands for just over a month. A connoisseur of the finer things in life, Coleridge dismissed the quality of the local liquor while occasionally mingling with the German Romantic Schlegel on the outskirts of Bonn. A first edition of his Poetical Works was published around this time. These travels, in the spirit of the Grand Tour, were recorded in a series of Coleridge’s travel writings. One such experience was an attempt to climb volatile Mount Etna, albeit supported with the help of a team of Italian mountain guides.

The Coleridge Way route reinforces the perception of Coleridge as a man of the outdoors as well as a man of letters. There is a groundswell of support to build a series of structured trails that celebrate connections between Coleridge’s works and his birthplace, Ottery St. Mary, Devon. Chris Wakefield, chairman of the Coleridge Memorial Project, is keen to further knowledge of Coleridge’s life by devising walks which highlight East Devon’s cultural heritage, as well as looking to develop support materials for the tourist experience in St. Mary’s Church.

“There are lots of opportunities to sell a walking trail about Coleridge because he was such an enthusiastic and energetic walker. He virtually invented fell walking in the Lake District as a leisure activity. I think he’d probably be the best poet to use to promote walking in the UK”. The value Coleridge also placed on education contributed to his desire to travel, and to write his own travel guides. Coleridge gained his passion for education from his background. While growing up in Devon, he would often walk around the farms surrounding Ottery St. Mary as his clergyman father taught him basic astronomy. Despite Napoleonic upheaval, he toured the Mediterranean, exploring Malta and Italy extensively in 1804.

"Devon’s Queen of Crime":

Agatha Christie is renowned for popularising the crime fiction genre. Born to an American businessman living in England, Agatha Christie came into the world in a fairly substantial dwelling called Ashfield House in Barton Road, Torquay on the 15th of September 1890. A New Yorker, her father maintained strong cultural sensibilities that frequently drew other moneyed tourists across the Atlantic. A connoisseur of fine art, he maintained an extravagant lifestyle. Fredrick Miller was a dedicated socialite who could often be seen roaming the streets of Torquay looking for original paintings. Agatha Christie maintained a long affection for the U.S. In her sunset years, while holidaying in New York, she paid her respects to her American relations who were buried in Brooklyn. The genteel resort of Torquay in the late 1890’s embodied the halcyon days of the British seaside resort. Orderly and refined, the behaviour of the visitors of this era was subdued by puritanical values instilled by its staid officials. The Victorian age was also defined by its innovation and the drive for technological advancement.

The railway, a symbol of imperial expansion, also gave the means for Britons to see their own hinterland en masse for the first time. This transport also served as the setting for one of her most revered characters – Poirot. The book A.B.C. Murders was published on the 6th of January 1936. The parish of Churston Ferrers, which served partly as the setting for the novel, is located between the resorts of Paignton and Brixham.

Agatha’s Holidays:

The Imperial Hotel was built in the mid 1860’s. Situated in Park Hill Road Torquay, Agatha Christie luxuriated in its opulent surroundings while honeymooning there in 1914. The origins of travelling for medicinal purposes can be traced to the British beach huts of the Regency period. Aside from its splendour which would have appealed to Agatha, the recuperative qualities of the hotel are known to have lured the aged Napoleon the third to Devon. Agatha Christie toured the Middle East for the first time in the late 1920’s – the principle attraction being the archaeological sites of Ur. As part of a dig in 1928, she became acquainted with Charles Leonard Woolley, who then worked in a subordinate role at the Ashmolean Museum. The Iraqi setting, and her association with Woolley, lead to the writing of Murder in Mesopotamia. The novel was first published on the 6th of July 1936. The drudgery of traversing the desert may have differed from the dune safaris of today, but travelling with her soon to be second husband, Max Mallowan, the two tourists were able to find solace by swimming in the occasional desert lake. While visiting an Arabian flea market, Agatha would use some of the tourist souvenirs she saw as ideas for some of her future book cover illustrations.

The homeward journey was a leisurely one. The lure of beaches in the southern Turkish port of Mersin provided respite for Agatha, with Max’s primary focus being the prospect of exploring Delphi and the Temple of Apollo. Situated near Skliros, the village was the next stage in the itinerary once the tour group reached Greece by train. The site itself achieved UNESCO World Heritage Status in 1986. The Greek part of the holiday was hampered by Agatha sustaining an injury while relaxing in Athens. Despite having a degree in Classics, and being a contemporary of Evelyn Waugh, Max decided to forgo his tour of the Athenian treasures and chaperone the wounded tourist back to England. The pair journeyed across the Italian Alps in the plush comfort of the Orient Express before eventually reaching London.

Agatha Christie maintained a deep affection for touring her home county of Devon. The simple pleasure of walking on Dartmoor National Park was a regular fixture throughout her life. As part of her early relationship with Max, she encouraged him to visit Ashfield Villa in Torquay for weekend breaks, and invited Max onto Dartmoor for regular day trips. Agatha also developed a fascination with Kents Cavern. The caves are now a tourist attraction situated in Torquay. The analysis of their structure, through extensive excavations, provided background on the dietary habits of Hunter Gatherers. Pioneered by William Pengelly, the excavations served as inspiration for some of her writings. While the name of the setting was changed, references are made to it in her novel, The man in the brown suit, published on August the 22nd 1924. She purchased her Devon retreat Greenway in 1938. The property was acquired by the National Trust principally for heritage tourism in 2009.

Tropical Mirrors:

Katherine Mansfield came into the world on the 14th of October 1888. Born in Wellington New Zealand, she was a restless tourist all her life up until her death in a commune in Fontainebleau, France, in 1923. Before travelling to London, Katherine took one final trip of her home country by hiking through the hills of the central North Island, being lead by a guide through the Urewera National Park. The party refused to use the comfort of the local hotels, and the tour group did the daily chores themselves. Katherine left the confines of 11 Tinakori Road in Wellington, now a tourist attraction, for the Bloomsbury set of Belgravia in 1908. After settling in London for a short while, in April 1909, she visited Brussels and took an excursion to Bruges. Despite her fledgling writing career, influenced partly by her travel sketches, her life was plagued by ill health. Katherine spent her life continually touring Europe, necessitated by the need to cure her Tuberculosis. After a brief stint back in London, she travelled to Germany.

Katherine in Germany:

The Bavarian spa town of Bad Worishofen, in the district of Unterallgau, was a health resort for tourists in the strict German tradition – dedicated to an aseptic philosophy of frugality, hygiene, and sustenance on simple fare. The serenity of pine forests, and occasional glimpses of the Bavarian Alps while she was visiting the resort, lead to her writing a number of stories inspired by her travels in southern Germany. In a German Pension was published in 1911.

Katherine in Cornwall:

Katherine adored the north Cornish coast. Relaxing at the Headland Hotel in Looe, she was able to nurse her deteriorating lungs, re-read the diaries of Dorothy Wordsworth, but was able to write little as she looked out of her hotel bedroom window. Virginia Woolf, realising that she was feeling isolated, heightened the appeal of the cliff views by sending her regular correspondence, as well as small gifts of flowers and cigarettes. The Cornish village of Zennor was also a holiday spot for her and D.H. Lawrence.

The Tinners’ Arms in Zennor must have seemed welcoming for Katherine and the Lawrences’ when they arrived at St. Ives station on the 7th of April 1916. The Tinners’ Arms was temporary accommodation for the tourists while they waited for over a week for a holiday cottage to be organised. A hamlet known as Higher Tregerthen was settled upon. Ostensibly there to write, her husband and D.H. Lawrence often left Katherine as they explored their surroundings, frequently leaving with provisions for hiking. The friendship between Lawrence and Katherine’s husband continued to develop as the two men went shopping in nearby St.Ives to buy furniture for their retreat, as well as the occasional boat trip taken as a group.

Katherine’s Italian Exile:

Rather than travel back to London, she felt that her poor health necessitated a trip to southern Europe – principally the warmer climate of northern Italy. As ever, the travellers had limited funds. A stay in a hotel would also not be practical. Due to Italian health regulations present at the time, and Katherine’s infectious state, it was felt that few hoteliers would admit her.

A villa on the Italian Riviera was thought to be more feasible. The village of Ospedaletti, close to the resort of San Remo, was chosen. A settlement around seventy four miles from Genoa, the group took their time before locating premises to stay. While looking for somewhere suitable, Katherine and the others went to find a hotel in San Remo. As suspected, the staff refused to let Katherine stay there, and she was expected pay for some of the rooms to be cleaned to prevent contamination. Following a recommendation and appreciating the warmer weather, the tourists moved into the simple Casetta Deerholm. The only settling factor in Katherine’s life was her writing. Despite her frail state, she planned to publish her descriptions of her time touring Italy, a somewhat forlorn attempt at travel writing – From the Casetta.

← End: Tourism in Time | Next: Tourism in Plymouth →