Produced by Chris Curnow, Charlie Howard, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) Transcriber’s Note: Italic text is indicated by _underscores_; boldface text is indicated by =equals signs=; superscripts are indicated by ^{ch}. THE NORTH DEVON COAST WORKS BY CHARLES G. HARPER =The Portsmouth Road=, and its Tributaries: To-day and in Days of Old. =The Dover Road=: Annals of an Ancient Turnpike. =The Bath Road=: History, Fashion, and Frivolity on an Old Highway. =The Exeter Road=: The Story of the West of England Highway. =The Great North Road=: The Old Mail Road to Scotland. Two Vols. =The Norwich Road=: An East Anglian Highway. =The Holyhead Road=: The Mail-Coach Road to Dublin. Two Vols. =The Cambridge, Ely, and King’s Lynn Road=: The Great Fenland Highway. =The Newmarket, Bury, Thetford, and Cromer Road=: Sport and History on an East Anglian Turnpike. =The Oxford, Gloucester, and Milford Haven Road=: The Ready Way to South Wales. Two Vols. =The Brighton Road=: Speed, Sport, and History on the Classic Highway. =The Hastings Road= and the “Happy Springs of Tunbridge.” =Cycle Rides Round London.= =A Practical Handbook of Drawing for Modern Methods of Reproduction.= =Stage-Coach and Mail in Days of Yore.= Two Vols. =The Ingoldsby Country=: Literary Landmarks of “The Ingoldsby Legends.” =The Hardy Country=: Literary Landmarks of the Wessex Novels. =The Dorset Coast.= =The South Devon Coast.= =The Old Inns of Old England.= Two Vols. =Love in the Harbour=: a Longshore Comedy. =Rural Nooks Round London= (Middlesex and Surrey). =The Manchester and Glasgow Road=; This way to Gretna Green. Two Vols. =Haunted Houses=; Tales of the Supernatural. =The Somerset Coast.= [_In the Press._ [Illustration: _E. D. Percival_ [_Ilfracombe._ LYNMOUTH, FROM THE BEACH.] THE NORTH DEVON COAST BY CHARLES G. HARPER _“Let us, in God’s name, adventure one voyage more, always with this caution, that you be pleased to tolerate my vulgar phrase, and to pardon me if, in keeping the plain highway, I use a plain low phrase; and in rough, rugged and barren places, rude, rustic, and homely terms._”--THOMAS WESTCOTE, 1620. [Illustration] LONDON: CHAPMAN & HALL, LTD. 1908 PRINTED AND BOUND BY HAZELL, WATSON AND VINEY, LD., LONDON AND AYLESBURY. CONTENTS CHAPTER I PAGE INTRODUCTORY 1 CHAPTER II LYNMOUTH 9 CHAPTER III LYNTON--THE WICHEHALSE FAMILY, IN FICTION AND IN FACT 21 CHAPTER IV