Visiting Clovelly
Clovelly is a beautiful, picturesque fishing village, steeped in maritime atmosphere and history. It was once owned by the Queen of England!
Book TicketsBook a stay in Clovelly
The Red Lion Hotel is an 18th Century 4-star Inn that stands on the quay alongside Clovelly’s ancient harbour in North Devon. Each of its 17 beautifully decorated rooms boast a sea view.
To wake up to the sights and sounds of Clovelly’s ancient fishing harbour and the sounds of the sea at the Red Lion Hotel is a unique and unforgettable experience.
The Red Lion
Clovelly Court Gardens
Clovelly Court Gardens are a must see whilst visiting the famous village. Plants thrive in this sheltered sunny corner of North Devon, which has the added benefit of the warmth the Gulf Stream brings.
You’ll find neat, carefully tended gardens and beautifully restored Victorian greenhouses within its old walls. The incredible variety of fruits & vegetables grown here supply the Red Lion Hotel. You can even take some home with you!
Clovelly Court Gardens
Clovelly activities & shops
Check out our shops, galleries and museums. Try your hand at our arts & crafts workshops, charter a boat for a fishing trip or take a stroll along the beautiful cliffs, beaches and through the village. The choice is yours in Clovelly!
Things To Do
History of Clovelly
Originally the estate was owned by William the Conqueror, King of England, gifted to his wife and then had many royal associations until 1242 when first acquired by the Giffard family. Until the middle of the 19th century Clovelly was unknown to the outside world. It was partly as a result of Charles Kingsley’s ‘Westward Ho!’, set in and around the village, that visitors began to come.
History of Clovelly
Clovelly Herring Festival has been included in several pages of the November issue of Country Living Magazine www.countryliving.com/uk/ with words by Lauran Elsden and photographs by Andrew Montgomery. In the vertiginous village of Clovelly in Devon, locals gather by the harbour for the 14th annual Herring Festival. Cue sea shanties, stilt walkers and stargazy pie…
Sadly, the Herring Festival and other events had to be cancelled this year, due to Covid-19 restrictions.
Clovelly Herring Festival always falls in November as it is the time of year when our historic village celebrates the arrival of the great ‘Silver Darlings’, known as herring. We are lucky enough to have shoals of herring arrive in prime condition as they make their journey down through the Irish Sea and into Bideford bay to spawn before moving down towards Hartland.
We celebrate and promote this tasty, nutritious fish whilst supporting our sustainable fishing, using only drift nets and long lines.
The village once depended upon the harvest of herring for a short season off this coast. Records go back over 400 years and in 1749 there were about a hundred herring boats in the port. Those days of massive catches are long gone.
Throughout the 1950’s and 60’s, only a few motorboats, Picarooners and rowing boats made their livings from the sea. Shoals of herring were in decline and fishing for them was banned for seven years from 1976 until 1983 to allow the stocks to grow again.
The largest catch since the ban was in 1995 when Stephen Perham, in his 10ft rowing boat, landed 5 mease (3060) of fish. A mease of herring consists of 612 fish. And he is still fishing for Silver Darlings on his Picarooner even today.
https://www.hearstmagazines.co.uk/country-living-magazine-subscription
Herring festival video, 2016: https://youtu.be/wYjIxb1kEo8
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