Ilfracombe travel guide

Ilfracombe is a seaside resort on the north coast of Devon, England with a small harbour, surrounded by cliffs. The town stretches along the coast from 'The Coastguard Cottages' in Hele Bay toward the east and 6 km along The Torrs to Lee Bay toward the west. The resort is hilly and the highest point within the town boundary is at 'Hore Down Cross', 3 km inland and 270 m (860 ft) above sea level. A seasonal foot passenger ferry service runs from the harbour to Lundy Island and The Balmoral, The Waverley and pleasure boats ply to Porthcawl near Swansea.
The landmark of Hillsborough Hill dominates the harbour and is the site of an Iron Age Celtic fortress. The award-winning http://www.northdevontheatres.org.uk/ Landmark Theatre is either loved or hated for its unusual double-conical design; it is distinctive and, with the St Nicholas's Chapel on Lantern Hill, a major landmark in the town.
History
Ilfracombe has been settled since the Iron Age, when the Dumnonii Celts established a hill fort on the dominant hill, Hillsborough (formerly Hele's Barrow). The town's name is a derivative of the Anglo-Saxon Alfreinscoma - by which name it was noted in the Exon or Exeter Domesday Book of 1086. The translation of this name (from Walter William Skeat of the department of Anglo Saxon at Cambridge University) means the "Valley of the sons of Alfred". The manor house at Chambercombe in east Ilfracombe, was recorded in the 1086 Domesday Book as being built by a Norman knight Champernon (from Chambernon in France) who landed with William of Normandy. It is also said to be haunted. (...) more....

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