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Winchester, in Hampshire, is a graceful town with anamazing history (in Anglo-Saxon days, it was more important than
London) and a wonderful cathedral. Jane Austen, who penned the
“Eng Lit” hits Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility, is buried in
Winchester Cathedral; you can also visit her modest home in nearby
Chawton. Bare, brooding Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, west of Hampshire,
is the setting for Stonehenge, the stone circle that’s one of the world’s
most famous ancient monuments. A few miles from this Neolithic wonder
is Salisbury. The soaring spires of its Gothic cathedral dominate this
busy country town.
Thrusting out into the Atlantic, Devon and Cornwall occupy the southwesternmost corner of England. The cathedral town of Exeter is a good
starting place for a tour of these two counties surrounded by the sea.
Dartmoor National Park lies a few miles west of Exeter. If you want to
explore this open, treeless moorland with its gray stone fences and
tunnel-like lanes winding beneath tall hedgerows, the area around
Chagford is a good place to stay. Devon’s southern coastline boasts
sandy beaches and comfortable, old-fashioned resort towns, such as
Torquay, clustered in a mild-weather zone called the English Riviera. Many
people want to visit Plymouth because in 1620, the Pilgrims set sail from
Plymouth for the New World, but after you see the Mayflower Steps (the
departure point for the Pilgrims), not much else can spark your interest.
Thousands of years ago, Cornwall was a Celtic land known for its tin mines,
and ancient mysteries still cling to its rocky coastline. The brooding
ruins of Tintagel, a sixth-century seaside castle, have long been associated with the mysterious legends of King Arthur. You can find the remains
of a Stone Age village, as well as cromlechs, or standing stones, in the
vicinity of St. Ives, a beautiful Cornish seaside town that became famous
as an artists’ colony. South of St. Ives, overlooking the island castle of
St. Michael’s Mount on Mount’s Bay, is the bustling market town of
Penzance. A five-hour train ride from London, Penzance is the last station before windy Land’s End, where you can walk along the headlands
that face the Atlantic. You can best explore the Land’s End Peninsula,
with its tiny, stone-built fishing villages, such as Mousehole (pronounced
Muz-zle) and the lovely town of Fowey (pronounced Foy) farther along
the coastline to the east, by car. Another intriguing spot to visit is the
village of Clovelly, whose one main street from clifftop to harbor is so
steep that only donkeys can lug provisions up and down. House and
garden lovers will find a rich and fascinating bevy of stately homes and
magnificent gardens to visit in Cornwall and Devon: Trengwainton,
Lanhydrock, the Eden Project, Cotehele, and Castle Drogo, the last
castle (completed in 1930) to be built in England.