Back to the past...this time to somewhere people have been living for the past 2500 years...
Cockington, near Torquay, can date its human connection back 2500 years to the time of the Iron Age- we know this because of the remains of two Iron Age hill forts found on the top of the Cockington Valley. Hill forts are a a type of earthwork, made up of walls with external ditches around the outside and meant to give protection to the people inside as they defended the area against invaders-with the early Iron Age hill forts these would have been early Celtic people, like the Picts and the Scots.
Hembury Castle, Buckfast on Dartmoor
is another example of a hill fort. Photo per kind favour of Wikipedia.
Cockington doesn't appear in much written about the area until Saxon times when it appears that a village was built near the current inn by Alric the Saxon- this was then developed and passed own through different families until it reached Roger de Cockington- hence the name- in 1048.
Cockington now is most interesting for its historic buildings, wonderful arts and crafts in action and the beautiful, unspoilt parkland around the village and the pub.
Things to look out for- the pub- the Drum Inn- is a Grade II listed thatched building, which was originally designed by one of the most famous English architects of the 2oth century, Sir Edwin Lutyens. Buildings are 'listed' in the UK if they are considered to be of special architectural and historic interest and many homes are listed by local councils worried about losing our architectural heritage. Lutyens is well known for his modifying of traditional styles to fit the then modern era and designed many country houses, as well as monuments and even Liverpool cathedral in the UK.