Braunton & Saunton
The village of Braunton is situated on the A361 between Barnstaple and Ilfracombe, and on the cross roads of the main coastal road to the fine sandy beaches of Saunton and Croyde. The nearby UNESCO Biosphere Reserve of Braunton Burrows is over 3,000 hectares of North Devon landscape and has been formally recognised by as Britain's first new-style Biosphere. The Biosphere has Braunton Burrows at the core but stretches out to include Braunton Marshes and Great Field, Northam Burrows, the Taw/Torridge estuary and as far as Croyde Dunes and Kipling Tors.
Braunton makes claim to be the largest village in England and the old part of contains narrow ancient streets where cob-walled cottages are still visible. The local shops provide a good selection of provision, gift & craft shops and there is also a free car park. A large number of surf shops in the village sell and hire equipment for use at the nearby beaches and Braunton is also a centre for the manufacturing of Wet Suits and Surf Boards. There are a good selection of pubs and restaurants including an extremely popular Fish and Chip Restaurant and Take Away, which has won an award for Best Fish & Chip Shop in the South West. An Art & Craft Centre and a new Heritage Centre complete the picture.
Breathtaking Saunton Sands stretches as far as the eye can see. It is backed by Braunton Burrows which is now the centre of over 3000 hectares that have been formally recognised by UNESCO as Britain's first new-style Biosphere Reserve.
It is considered to be of international importance because of the diversity and abundance of rare plants and its continuous human use from ancient times.
Although there are 400 other Biosphere Reserves world-wide including the area around Mount Vesuvius in Italy and the Danube Delta in Eastern Europe, it is the first in the UK and likely to be the only one in the South-West.
Renowned for its sheer beauty, the beach also plays host to many activities such as sand yachting, surfing and kite flying, and has been used as a location for many film, video and television productions.
Nearby is the famous Saunton Golf Club with its magnificent 18 hole championship standard links courses. Golf has been played at Saunton for more than 100 years and the East course, redesigned in 1919 by the famous W. Herbert Fowler, has remained essentially unchanged since that date. The newer West course was originally built in the mid-thirties but was lost as a battle training ground during the Second World War.
Exit the M5 at junction 27 and follow the A361 towards Barnstaple. Remain on the A361 passing through Tiverton, South Molton and Barnstaple until you reach Braunton.
