An Australian blogging friend Lynne, over at http://2011onthebench.wordpress.com/ spotted that I am from Devon, in the south west of England and asked if I knew Kenton. Well, it’s one of those places that you drive through to reach the coast and is just six miles from home. Can you believe that apart from one visit to a pub I have never stopped to look around the village? So I promised Lynne I would go and take some photos, because it’s where her ancestors came from.
On the look out for the oldest parts of the village we saw lots of sweet cottages some probably two hundred years old. The church was very special. We had a look for any Sanders graves in the churchyard but couldn’t find any. One of the church ladies working on the flowers thought there could be a Mrs Sanders ‘Up near Castle Gate’ but we found a post lady and she didn’t know of her. There has been a place of worship on this spot for 1500 years and the current building is 650 years old. There are some views from inside including the rood screen, a lucky survivor of Cromwell’s armies. Also look out for St Michael with satan under his feet and angels on each side.
There are some photos taken around the village and on the Earl of Devon’s Powderham estate. The houses in the background of the deer photo are right across the Exe estuary, at Exmouth. My friend and I had a really good time wandering around this morning, it would have been even better with some more sun, but never mind. Thank you Lynne and the Sanders family for giving me reason for the trip!
Excellent. How kind of you, Gilly. A good start to a Sunday morning over here.
How beautiful! And is that a picture of a herd of deer grazing in a field??
Yes there has always been deer at Powderham, you can see them from the train too if you’re lucky.
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thank you gilly for another trip around a scenic village in Devon, I do love these tours! your images are just beautiful, and thanks to Lynne for inspiring you
we have spent time in Devon tracing our ancestors too, so i will tell you which villages to explore for me one day!
Oh tell me now please, I didn’t know you had Devon roots!
Thank you so much for posting this..absolutely charming…
Thanks for your nice comment I’m glad you liked it
It’s a good place to spend time. Sounds fun.
Yes very relaxed and peaceful!
What a charming place Gilly! I’m sure Lynne was thrilled to see it.
It’s lovely and I’m glad I explored it, strange how we often miss little jewels under our feet!
Simply gorgeous – I long to return to England.
And England longs for your return
What a beautiful little village. That church is stunning and 650 years old ? … I don’t think there is a building standing in America that is that old. I find it amazing that building can still be structurally sound after all of that time, much less still in use (and still exquisite in it’s details). The craftsmanship is breathtaking.
650 years is a mere whisper of time! I have a thousand year old cathedral just fifteen minutes walk from home – more to follow on that one day!
Such a charmer! How big is the town? Are they “tourist-friendly?” Another reason to visit England again!
Kenton is tiny but Exeter has some lovely hotels and Devon is the best place to visit outside London with lots to see and do and the friendliest people
We are a thriving tourist area!
What a lovely place, Gilly! Thanks for sharing. I’d love to see it in person!
Yes you would its simple and lovely!
Wow! Now that was one stunning tour Gilly! Thanks for sharing! Awesome shots! I love the woodwork in the church. Very interesting.
If you have never heard of a rood screen google it when you have time! glad you enjoyed it!
And I thought Kenton was just a character in the Archets…
Lovely pix, Gilly. It looks a very prosperous, well cared for spot.
Really? I don’t listen because I’m at work so I’ll take your word for it. It’s certainly quite expensive property wise and they make a real effort to make it look nice
I want to thank Lynne as well since we all got to see such a beautiful place. Wonderful! Thanks for sharing.
Yes I’m very grateful to her for the idea and want to pop back in summer!
Beautiful! I would love to walk some of those roads and path. But the old church is the one I love the most, indeed it is special.
BE ENCOURAGED! BE BLESSED!
It’s very pretty, the graves are very old, a magnolia is about to burst into bloom and the ladies do a good job with the flowers!
What lovely photos…what a good idea, with regards the family history…not planning a trip to Wales soon are you?????
Every time I’ve been to Wales it rains! It’s as near for you as me
I know, I’ve been avoiding it, I’m allergic to rain you see!!!! That’s my excuse and I’m sticking with it!!!
Me too and a couple of summers ago I trudged up the blinking Brecon Beacons where no doubt there is a spectacular view but it was cold, wet and totally miserable – again!
OMG that’s where I’m from!!! I can’t believe it!! How funny….you know I was born with webbed feet!!!
Lol! to be fair it is stunning but I really really hate rain. I’ve tried Snowdonia too – got thrown from a horse! Pembrokeshire managed sunshine one day of the week I was there and I’ve been to Cardiff which was quite good for shopping. I want to like Wales but . . .
Beautiful!
It is just lovely Robyn and thanks for coming round
These are fantastic photo’s Gilly. I think the cathedral is outrageous. The wood carvings and the murals are spectacular. I think the cemetary one is fab, too. I like taking pix of cemetaries, too. I think it’s because it is the opposite of cathedrals. The doorways were interesting. The ones with the ornate pointed arches were very different. I looked at the video alone after I read this and found it to be like a travel video for people who are interested in certain areas they want to travel to.
Nicely done ….
Isadora
P.S. Isn’t it amazing how lovely people who are bloggers can be??? … AND … Isn’t it amazing that a blogger could be so close to where you live and you would not have connected were it not for the blog??? ….. AND … Isn’t it amazing that in this BIG – BIG – blogging world someone happened upon your blog???? I do. ~~~~ : – )
Izzy dear this isn’t the cathedral just a little country church! Just wait til you see Exeter cathedral! I often walk in the local cemetery just down the road, it’s really peaceful and the trees are beautiful. Strange that I go there now because when I was younger I was terrified that it may have ghosts
Blogging is totally amazing! I’m addicted because I love sharing my world, my writing and photos and even more seeing other peoples and meeting wonderful people like you!
maybe you could be persuaded to focus on an area where you live and tell us all about it with photos? Now that I would love
toodles
G
nice and calm feel!
Thanks for the tour Gilly, it was fantastic! Beautiful photos, so different to what I see each day. I love those serendipitous moments of finding a place for the first time even though we’ve skipped past it many times. I love the thatched roofs and town square shots – so English! My fave would have to be the old tower in the field – is it a folly?
a folly it is yes, well spotted!
How quaint! I love the church, the red brick and all that wonderful green…
Hi Gilly, we live in Kenton and found your blog by accident (trying to look up the history of our house). We know this village is beautiful but it’s so good to see all the comments from people all over the world appreciating it. We know how lucky we are to live here, but it’s good to have an extra reminder…
(our house is one of the few old ones you didn’t get a photo of, but I think at the time we were having the front of the house rendered- so it wasn’t that pretty then!)
Best wishes xx
Becky I’m so glad you liked the post! I just checked the other photos I took to see if any were being worked on but no. It was a lovely reason to walk around somewhere I usually drive through but it was very cold that day. If ever we get any nice weather I plan to go back and walk around Powderham. Thanks for visiting, its really nice to have local comments. Gx
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I see why you love Devon so much, this village looks beautiful!
Check my Cathedral posts and other Exeter stuff!
I will!
Interesting how another blog friend named Lynne has connections to Kenton … thanks for the tour Gilly. I noted those famous Devon hedgerows in some of those shots