Devon’s Royal Connections

The attractive market town of Honiton, with its Georgian High Street, grew famous for the intricate lace produced there, particularly since being used in the frills of Queen Victoria’s wedding dress. Inside the small and very informative Honiton Museum you’ll find a celebration of Honiton Lace from the 16th through to the 20th century. Ask the friendly staff about the history of lace making in the area. You might even be treated to a lace making demonstration! Interestingly, it was the wearing of white lace by Queen Victoria which kicked off the fashion for brides being robed in white.

“For the first time in history, Honiton lace will be worn during a Coronation. If you are watching the ceremony … look out for Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker of the House of Commons. He will be wearing the historic Honiton lace jabot and cuffs which are now on loan from Honiton Museum to the Speakers House for the next five years”. (Honiton Museum Facebook Page)

Queen Victoria started visiting the beautiful Georgian seaside town of Sidmouth when she was an infant, staying at what is now the Royal Glen Hotel. There are two versions of a famous story about the royal baby during her stay. One says that someone attempted to assassinate her by firing an arrow through the window of her room; the second says it was a young boy attempting to shoot at sparrows, whose poor archery skills led to an arrow grazing Victoria’s sleeve. Either way, she was lucky it was not more serious.

Years later, her third son, the Duke of Connaught became a regular visitor and Sidmouth’s famous Connaught Gardens are named in his honour.

Image of Connaught Gardens by Mark AC Photos, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Dartmouth’s Britannia Royal Naval College is the last remaining Naval Officer training college in the UK. Queen Elizabeth II had a special connection with the College. She first visited aged 13, with her parents, during which trip she was first officially introduced to an eighteen-year old cadet: her future husband. In addition to Prince Phillip, the Queen’s father and two of her sons also trained at Dartmouth. You can book a fascinating guided tour of the college via their website.

Dartmouth itself is a stunning and historic town on the west bank of the River Dart, so after visiting the College, you might enjoy a scenic river cruise or enjoy some local fishy fayre in one of the seafood restaurants.

Image: Dartmouth Royal Naval College by Ben Salter on Flickr – CC BY 2.0

The small village of Landkey in North Devon is said to have hosted King Charles II during a visit to Barnstaple in 1645. He feasted on “mazzard pie”, a mazzard being a small, sweet cherry which, although largely replaced by the larger mass-produced cherries we buy today, still grows at a specially-planted orchard in Landkey.

The village is near the North Devon coast, an area that boasts huge stretches of golden sand and the rolling Atlantic waves that make it popular with surfers.

Image: Landkey Mazzard Orchard © Copyright Charles Fowler and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

Our nearest city, Exeter, has a rich connection to royalty, having hosted visits by members of the royal family from Alfred the Great in C19th right up to more modern times, with both Peter Phillips and Zara Tindall (the Princess Royal’s son and daughter) completing studies at the University of Exeter.

Queen Elizabeth II herself visited Exeter no less than 11 times and you can watch a wonderful piece of footage about her parents, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (later the Queen Mother) and Princess Margaret visiting Exeter Cathedral on the British Pathé News website.

You can find out about these and other royal visits on a specially created, new Red Coat tours, taking place on Monday 8th May, Saturday 17th June and Tuesday 14th November. The Red Coat tours are a fascinating and free way to find out all about the historic city at any time of year. The city has plenty more history to discover and you can read about our day out in Exeter in our previous blog.

Bridwell in Uffculme is owned by Lord Ivar Mountbatten and its beautiful white facade can be spotted from the surrounding hills. Lord Ivar is a second cousin of King Charles III and first opened up the beautiful parkland at Bridwell to the local community during the Covid pandemic. You can spot the roaming deer and waterfowl on your walk around the grounds any day between 10am and 4pm.

The Orangery Cafe offers a seasonal menu and often hosts craft fayres and other pop-up events.