Our group of 4 (2 couples) spent a lovely week at
the Coryton School House. This rambling, spacious
and comfortable house is truly charming and
unique, filled with art, pottery and books. One
feels that one is in someone’s private home and
the hostess has just stepped out. There are two
wings to the house, connected by a large, bright,
cozy (it has an Aga!), beautifully-appointed
kitchen -- so privacy was never an issue. All of the
bathrooms are great, but we especially enjoyed
the sunken bathroom in the original part of the
house, which has lovely views of the church and
picturesque graveyard. Everything was very clean
and functioned well, including Wifi. The outside is
just as nice -- there is a large outdoor eating area,
(complete with pergola and grill) that we used for
almost all of our meals. There are 3 garden areas
-- we moved our lounge chairs around depending
on the time of day and enjoyed cocktails every
night in the "secret garden" which has amazing
views of the countryside. The gardens are filled
with wild flowers, lavender and rosemary and the
place is so quiet and tranquil that we could have
been happy just puttering around the house every
day.
Nevertheless, we did venture out, to Travistock for
groceries and the Pannier Market, to Cornwall for a
nice long hike along the southwest coast path, to
Brentor for the climb up to evensong at St.
Micheal, to Dartmoor National park, of course, to
Wydcombe on the Moor, Postbridge and Chagford
and to Bat Tor and Wind Tor. We also enjoyed just
walking along the back lanes, where we only very
occasionally saw a car. Joanna very kindly
facilitated a visit to the nearby Kigbeare Studios
and Gallery where we were given a fascinating tour
of the workshop by the potter Svend Bayer and got
to see some beautiful pottery. Finally, we enjoyed
a very nice dinner at the Castle Inn in Lydford.
Americans considering this place might be a bit
nervous about the Aga but it we pretty quickly
figured out how to make simple dinners, and in
any case there is a regular stove and oven as well
and a grill and microwave. Joanna was unfailingly
helpful and very easy to reach and the caretaker
lives just down the lane. We would recommend
this home without reservation and we all hope to
return.