In 1066 the manor of Hartland was one of the wealthiest in the county of Devon.  An abbey was founded 1 mile away in the village of Stoke with a church dedicated to St Nectan. Centuries later when Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries Hartland Abbey was the last to go.  It has been handed down through the generations ever since and is most unusual in that in all its hundreds of years it has never actually been sold once!  The Abbey is open to visitors in the season and is well worth a look around.

The Church of St Nectan at Stoke is clearly visible from many parts of the Cumber Homes estate and we have christened the site 'St Nectans View'.

In 1586 Sir Walter Raleigh helped to build a port at Hartland Quay to serve the busy town of 'Harton' as Hartland seems to have been known.   The pier was very similar to the now famous one at Clovelly but because it faced the prevailing wind it was always difficult to keep in good repair and a century ago it was washed away in a storm.  Locals say the tenant and landlord were arguing about who should undertake repairs to the pier when nature intervened.  The original buildings of the port survive and are now a museum and Hotel, popular for pub lunches with walkers and visitors.

The wealth of Hartland was always based on agriculture rather than industry.  A plan to extend the railway from Bideford was drawn up and it seems only narrowly failed to attract enough finance.  In the period 1850 -1950 Hartland suffered from the general agricultural depopulation which affected other areas too.   What was once the town of Hartland became the quiet village of today.

Clovelly