Buck's Mills to Peppercombe, Devon

The 2 miles from Buck's Mills eastwards to Peppercombe is a typical section of the shoreline in North Devon Coast AONB, a mix of pebble beaches and wave-cut terraces, backed by cliffs and steep slopes, wooded above, and sprinkled with an array of eroded rock formations. Most of the bedrock is grey/brown sandstone from the Bude Formation, the layers inclined at about 30 degrees, while to the east are contrasting bright red exposures, sandstone and breccia from the Exeter Formation.

Away from high tide, an enjoyable 4 mile loop can be made, out along the beach and back via the coast path, most of which is through ancient oak woodland (Worthygate Wood and Sloo Wood), in places quite far from the sea but with plenty of places where the water is in view.

Peppercombe is a wooded valley containing a small stream, Peppercombe Water, and is accessed by a track from the A39, though this is not open to public vehicular access, unlike Buck's Mills, where a paved road leads all the way to the coast. This village is so-named as it was once site of a corn mill, owned by the adjacent Buck's estate; it is listed in the Domesday Book, as Bochewis. The road is lined by several dozen houses, most built in the early 19th century, and it follows a stream which, like Peppercombe Water, ends in a small waterfall at the edge of the beach.

Buck's Mills

Parking in Buck's Mills village is for residents only; visitors use a paid site a third of a mile back, in the wooded valley. There is a smaller, free parking place with space for just a few vehicles a little way further upstream, at the start of a path up the south side of the valley. The main road ends amidst a cluster of whitewashed houses about 50 feet above the sea, while a track continues a short distance, sloping down to the edge of the beach, which is covered by shingle and boulders, with terraces and rock pools exposed at low tide. Views to the west extend 4 miles to Blackchurch Rock beyond Clovelly.

Foxhole and Gauter Point

To the east of Buck's Mills, the beach, which is 500 feet wide at the lowest tide, remains similar in character all the way to Peppercombe, beyond which it becomes a bit sandier. After the Buck's Mills waterfall, the cliffs rise up sharply, and initially are in view for half a mile, past a small inlet (Foxhole) to a minor headland, Gauter Point, while high above are the ancient trees of Worthygate Wood, later merging with the similar Sloo Wood. Below here, maybe 1.5 miles from Buck's Mills, are a sequence of larger rock formations, isolated blocks of the inclined sandstone strata.

Peppercombe

The steep slopes angle down quite abruptly at the mouth of Peppercombe, its stream flowing over a low red cliff, the first outcrop of the Exeter Formation sandstone. Beyond, the grey/brown layer returns briefly, followed by a more extensive stretch of the red cliffs, which are much lower than the terrain below the two woods, with several routes up gullies to the coast path above; it is worth walking a little further east to view this photogenic section, before returning, and exiting the beach near Peppercombe.

The Coast Path

The coast path near Peppercombe can be accessed via a short connecting route that leaves the beach a little way west of the waterfall; this crosses a field, passing the site of a Victorian mansion ('The Castle') that had to be abandoned, in or around 1909, due to erosion, and joins the main path in a patch of woodland, by the end of the private track down the valley. To the west, the coast path climbs a flight of steps through more trees then skirts the edge of a field, site of Peppercombe Castle, an Iron Age hillfort, before entering the much more extensive trees of Sloo Wood, the ground in which, in spring, is covered by numerous bluebells and other ancient woodland wildflowers. After the initial climb, the path stays relatively level for a mile, later moving into Worthygate Wood and then crossing another field, location of a Roman camp. This section of the path ends with a steep descent along a sloping ridge, down 400 feet, and meets the road at Buck's Mills.