Discover Wick: Farmhouses, River and Blackdown Hills

Wick combines a remarkable rural architectural history with a riverside landscape and paths in the Blackdown Hills. The hamlet is particularly interesting if you would like to discover historic farmhouses not merely as individual buildings, but as established parts of a local history. At the same time, the surrounding area offers opportunities to shape your trip around quiet countryside, walking routes and a regional cycle route.

Historic farmhouses and unusual architectural details

Among the notable buildings is Hugginswick Farmhouse, which has Grade II listed status. It is a farmhouse dating from the early to mid-19th century, whose origins probably extend back to the 16th or 17th century. Today, the building is divided into two cottages. The neighbouring barn and adjoining Cider House date from the late 16th to early 17th century and were rebuilt in the early to mid-19th century.

Cuckoo Cottage also has Grade II listed status. The former farmhouse dates from the early 16th century and has undergone later alterations. A smoke-blackened roof truss indicates an early modern open-hall house from the early 16th century, heated by an open hearth fire. These details give the local history a vivid dimension, without confining Wick to a single period.

Lower Wick Farmhouse forms a group with its agricultural outbuildings and other listed houses in the hamlet of Wick. Its range of buildings encloses two sides of a paved courtyard; the farmhouse forms the third side. The building dates from the late 15th to early 16th century, was significantly altered in the late 16th and 17th centuries, and extended in the 19th century. Originally, it was open to the roof along its entire length and was heated by an open hearth fire.

From thatched roofs to regional history

Another historic example is Palmerhayes Farmhouse. It dates approximately from the late 15th or early 16th century, was remodelled in the 17th century and extended in the 18th century. Its thatched roof with gabled and hipped ends is one of its defining architectural features. The range of buildings southeast of Lower Wick Farmhouse also includes a barn from the late 16th to early 17th century, as well as stables and a cow house from the late 19th century.

Wick also has a connection to political history: John Burrow from Wick was one of the men from Luppitt who supported the Duke of Monmouth in his rebellion. For visitors who enjoy exploring local history through buildings and personal stories, this creates a varied perspective on the past.

River Love, walking routes and cycle route

The River Love flows past the hamlet of Wick and joins the River Otter at Langford Bridge. Nearby, a walking route leads from the road to Wick onwards to a National Trust car park and to the summit of Dumpdon Hill. Anyone wishing to combine exercise and landscape can treat this route as an excursion in its own right. The cycle route associated with the signpost to Wick runs through the landscape of the Blackdown Hills with their Iron Age hill forts. It is also suitable for travelling by train via Honiton railway station.

Which accommodation suits your travel plans?

When searching for holiday accommodation in Wick, it is worth deciding in advance what you would like to focus on. If you are primarily interested in historic buildings, the local history should form the starting point for your planning. If you would rather combine landscape and exercise, the River Love, the route towards Dumpdon Hill or the cycle route through the Blackdown Hills come to the fore. This allows you to choose your accommodation not merely by place name, but according to the type of holiday you want to create.

If you would like to look at other places besides Wick, you can also extend your search to Lympstone, Beer, Kings Nympton, Bere Alston, Drewsteignton, Buckland Monachorum, Lapford and Hatherleigh.

For the main travel overview: Devon.