The Courtenays, Earls of Devon, once held all the land in this neighbourhood, and their seat was at Colcombe Castle, hard by, for three hundred years, but Henry VIII. quarrelled with Henry Courtenay, Marquess of Exeter, and deprived him of his estates in 1538. It is a curious fact that the parish charities of Colyton are still mostly derived from these forfeited estates. The ruins of Colcombe Castle lie about half-a-mile from the town, and are now used as a farm-house. Near here grows _Lobelia úrens_, the "flower of the Axe," a rare British flower, in appearance very like the garden lobelia. Kilmington is said to bear, in the first syllable of its name, the trace of the great battle fought in the Axe Valley in Saxon times. Another interesting excursion from Lyme might be taken to Lambert's Castle and Ford Abbey. Ford can be reached by rail to Card Junction. The Abbey is about a mile east of the station. The first long climb out of Lyme by the Axminster road to Hunter's Lodge Inn is not encouraging. From this inn the road runs straight ahead along the road to Marshwood, passing Monkton Wyld Cross, and gradually ascending to Lambert's Castle, which is eight hundred and forty-two feet above the sea-level. The Castle is an important British and Roman camp. A fair and horse-races are still held here twice a year, and a magnificent view over the Char valley is obtained from this point. Pilsdon Pen can be reached by the Beaminster Road, which can be picked up two miles north-east from Lambert's Castle. At Birdsmoor Gate, two miles beyond, is the Rose and Crown Inn and a crossing of the ways. The road to Ford Abbey and Chard swings round to the left, but if the pilgrim wishes to view the home of Wordsworth and his sister, he must change his route and proceed along the Crewkerne road for half-a-mile until Racedown Farm is reached. Dorothy Wordsworth described it as "the place dearest to my recollections upon the whole surface of the island; the first home I had"; and she wrote with great feeling about the charm and beauty of the neighbourhood.