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guest house hotel b&b exmoor, Lynton lynmouth b&b, north devon, bed breakfast, hotel guesthouse holidays, serviced accommodation, west country
Braunton, one of the largest villages in the West of England and reputedly the largest in England, lies in the North West of Devon, overlooking Barnstaple Bay. It is two miles from the sea and through the centre runs the Caen Stream a tributary of the Taw. It took its name from the Goidel saint, Brannock, who came from South Wales as a missionary and converted the native Britons to the christian faith in 550 A D.
Brannock was a priest in the household of Brychan, king of Brencknock. He married one of the king's daughters, but the family troubles were a great incentive for leaving his royal home. At that time the Welsh Britons often raided their Dumnoni neighbours on the opposite side of the Bristol channel. In all probability Brannock came to North Devon on the occasion of such a raid and is said to have landed on Saunton Sands at the mouth of the river Taw. The Estuary of the Taw and Torridge was wooded in those days. As also was a portion of Braunton Borrows. Here lived a tribe of Britons and Brannock settled among them, soon establishing a strong christian community. A christian church, the first North Devon was built at a spot near where the Caen stream began to spread its waters on the Alluvial alnds around the river Taw.
The township, that grew up around this church, he named Brannockstood, which later became Brauntona and at the end of the nineteenth century, Braunton. Many of the older villagers would tell you that they lived in Branton just as those of a neighbouring village today say they lived in Ham.
Brayford A rural parish in North Devon, England including Brayford village, High Bray and Charles, and a part of Exmoor National Park
In days long gone the River Bray was forded at a small settlement and thus the village name was formed as Bray-Ford, and is still pronounced that way to this day. The ford became a part of a well-established pack horse route and drover’s trail from Porlock to Barnstaple. By the mid 17th century, Brayford was on the most important highway across Exmoor, from Dunster via Exford, Simonsbath and Kensford Cross (Kinsford Gate) to Barnstaple. In the late 1920s a bridge was built, and now thousands of visitors pass over this on their way to enjoy the sights of Exmoor. The Parish was created as a result of the 1974 boundary changes. The then two parishes of Charles and High Bray were joined to become the new Parish of Brayford. In 1850, the combined population of the two parishes was 676. By 2000 it had fallen to 419. The Parish has four active churches, including two Church of England at High Bray and Charles. At High Bray, All Saints Church (in the Diocese of Exeter) was established by the Normans and completed by the Victorians. The Church of St John the Baptist at Charles, restored in 1891, was built to replace the old chapel, dedicated to St Petrock in 1424, and later converted to become the rectory. In the village of Brayford there is a Methodist Church, the present building dating from 1927, and a Baptist Chapel, built in 1820, the oldest in North Devon.