Okehampton Castle and the Benedictine Monks of Buckfast Abbey

Continued from Part 2

After our usual fry-up on Sunday morning, we set out for a brief trip to the shops in Exeter, via a walk around our side of the walls. Our hotel is right in the city centre next to the city walls, and the route we took gave us another good look at Exeter Cathedral on the way.

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We then travelled the short distance to Okehampton to visit the castle and town there. We got a little lost driving round, but finally found the castle tucked right in the back of the town. The castle was a motte-and-bailey, the top of which gave beautiful views all around.

Okehampton Castle was mainly used as a noble hunting lodge by the aristocratic family that owned much of the land in the area, it wasn’t really much of a strategic fortification, but it could be used as one if the need arose.

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We stopped off in Okehampton for some lunch at the Fountain Inn, who did very generous portions, before making a move to our next destination: Buckfast Abbey.

We drove through Dartmoor National Park to get there, admiring the views, finally arriving at Buckfast around 15:00. The abbey itself is a working abbey, full of Benedictine Monks. There was an active service on when we were there, and a fair few people sat in prayer dotted around.

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After a long walk around the abbey and gardens, we checked out the local shop; everything sold there was made by the Benedictine Monks at this and other abbeys, but the only thing made at Buckfast (other than religious artefacts) was tonic wine, so we passed on that.

For dinner, we went back to Exeter and ate at Jamie’s Italian. Food was fantastic as ever, but the service left something to be desired unfortunately. The manager recognised the poor service though and knocked off our starters and drinks from the bill, which was nice of her!

2 Comments

  1. Another good day sightseeing. I’m worried about the huge volume of food you two are eating though. Fry up for breakfast, generous portions for lunch and Italian in the evening!

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