Riverside village life in the Avon Valley
Set high above the River Avon in the heart of the South Hams, Loddiswell is a village made for slow mornings and muddy boots. Ancient woodland tumbles down to the water on its doorstep, a much-loved garden centre keeps the village fed and watered, and the surrounding lanes lead everywhere from a chilli farm to a fourteenth-century coaching inn.
Perched above the Avon Valley with the river looping below it, Loddiswell is the sort of village that rewards anyone willing to leave the car behind. Here are some of its very best bits, from woodland walks that follow the ghost of an old railway line to a garden centre that locals treat as a second living room, and a butcher's counter that has stayed in one family for three generations.
The village is well served too, with its own shop, village hall, play park, tennis courts, a gym at The Yard at Avon Mill, allotments and a busy calendar of clubs, from the WI to Wild about Loddiswell and a youth music club.
Things to do in Loddiswell
Ask anyone in the village for a walk, and they’ll send you towards the Middle Avon Valley loop, roughly four miles of riverside path out towards Topsham Bridge and back. It follows the river’s amber water through ancient woodland, ducking in and out along stretches of a long-closed railway line, and it’s the sort of walk that rewards patience: on a quiet day you might catch a kingfisher or even an otter. There’s a steep pull near the end, so this is a boots-on job, but the car park by the village hall has public toilets, which counts for a lot on a four-mile walk.
Much of that route threads through Avon Valley Woods, cared for by the Woodland Trust and stitched together from Woodleigh Wood, Titcombe Wood and their neighbours on the steep valley sides. Time it for spring and you’ll walk through a proper haze of bluebells; at any other time of year, keep half an eye out for dormice and otters, both of which call this patch of ancient woodland home.
Back in the village, St Michael and All Angels is a lovely detour. The church itself is fourteenth-century, but the font inside is older still, surviving from the original eleventh-century building on the same site.
For visitors with a taste for heat, the South Devon Chilli Farm at Wigford Cross is a proper curiosity. Wandering the orchard and meadow paths is free, and from Easter through to around November the display tunnels open up more than a hundred varieties of chilli, from the mild to the genuinely alarming. There’s a farm trail and play area for children, and the shop sells the farm’s own sauces, chocolates and preserves, most of which will probably end up as gifts for someone else.
Places to eat in Loddiswell
Avon Mill Garden Centre, down the hill on Woodleigh Road, is where most of the village ends up sooner or later. Set right on the river, it’s a garden centre, café, deli, gift shop and art gallery all in one sprawling riverside site, and it works just as well for a serious plant-buying mission as for an unplanned Devon cream tea. Dogs are welcome, and on a warm day the tables on the terrace are the best seats in the village.
For the sort of local produce that makes a proper Sunday roast, Aune Valley Meat at Rake Farm is the one to know. Run by the Winzer family for three generations, the farm shop’s meat counter is stocked almost entirely from their own land and their neighbours’, with full traceability back to the field. The deli shelves hold cheeses, locally grown veg and pasties baked next door at Valley View Café, which uses the butchery’s own meat in its pies and sausage rolls and has become the village’s favourite spot for a fry-up, but also happens to make the best cakes (try the sticky ginger!).
Heron Valley, just up the road, is also worth seeking out for its own-pressed juices and ciders, and it is now run by the Curator, who boasts some very well-established coffee shops in Totnes, Modbury and beyond.
Places to drink in Loddiswell
Loddiswell’s own pub, in the centre of the village, is currently closed, with the community campaigning to buy and reopen it themselves. For now, the nearest proper pub is a short drive out along to California Cross. The California Inn there is a rambling fourteenth-century freehouse with a real fire, three hand-pulled ales and a menu that runs from bar snacks to a full restaurant. The crossroads is said to take its name from the crowds who once gathered here to catch the stagecoach to Plymouth, bound for ships heading west to America, which makes it a fitting place for a pint before heading home in the opposite direction.
Back in the village, the Pavilion, run by the Loddiswell Community Pub Group and the Loddiswell Community Trust, keeps the community together with a regular run of events, from bingo and quiz nights to pizza nights with Artisan Pizzeria, a pop-up café, book clubs and charity evenings.
Houses to buy in Loddiswell
If a village with a river at the bottom of the garden and ancient woodland on the doorstep sounds like home, take a look at what Loddiswell has to offer.
Explore our latest homes for sale in Loddiswell here.