Bickleigh Castle

We stayed a few days ago and it was wonderful. I had many questions before coming here so I will answer them in this review. We stayed in the castle room and paid £195, it was expensive but it was worth the money to have this unique experience. You have a separate entrance with a large entrance hall then up the stairs to your bedroom. The bathroom is opposite and there is a flight if steps up to the Great Hall which you can of course sit in. The bedroom has a small television and a kettle for tea and coffee. There is a large guest lounge in another building with a bigger television. We were the only ones staying here so we had the lounge to ourselves which was great. There are seats and tables in the courtyard and we sat in the sun and drank our own alcohol. There are local pubs I believe but the path would be dark to walk so we had lunch out and I ate a pot noodle for tea (dinner). We had a continental breakfast the next morning which was very filling with cereal, toast, hot croissants and fruit and yogurt. You could pay for a hot breakfast but this was ample for us. John took us on a guided tour of the castle and church which was fantastic, so historic and he was so interesting. We had such a lovely stay and I would absolutely recommend staying here.

Fascinating historic castle in a beautiful setting. The tour was incredibly interesting and informative. You really understood how proud the current owners are of their home. and combined with a cream tea incorporating locally sourced delicious scones we had a wonderful afternoon. Would totally recommend.

A beautiful venue for a lovely tour of the castle and grounds followed with a lovely cream tea. The hosts were very knowledgeable about the historic castle, and nothing was too much trouble. The owner Sarah was so welcoming and made you feel like you were a special guest. I would highly recommend going . The atmosphere was very relaxing and you felt like it was a step back in time. Walking around the grounds was at your own pace staying for as long as you wanted. The tour was about 90 mins and John the curator was extremely knowledgeable and helpful. Nothing was too much trouble. I would highly recommend a visit. Open for the tour and for cream tea on Thursdays at 12:45 and 2:30 pm. April til October. (I believe) Good value for the price too.

We visited because I'd been given a voucher for a tour and cream tea. We thought at one point we were at Fawlty Towers .. confusing signage about whether or not the property was open, no-one milling around to make enquiries, when we eventually found out where to report to we were greeted with a very brusque attitude and to be informed we were lucky they had decided to open today because they were soooo busy, told to sit in the 'lovely seats' and generally spoken down to - we never discovered what they were busy doing. We felt we were an inconvenience to them. Cream tea was OK, much the same as you'd get from in any supermarket cafe - no choice of scones, seedless jam - mine didn't have any fruity lumps. I was disappointed we were asked if we wanted one or two scones. Didn't realise the state of the milk jug until after we had used some - inside could do with a good scrub so the inside is as white as the outside. We wandered around the castle and gardens - took us 30 mins max - very small. The Chapel was locked so we couldn't look in there. Fortunately we are able to find humour in our experience but we certainly won't be going back or recommend friends visit. We will, however, go back to Fisherman's Cot pub and Bickleigh Mill, both of which are around a mile from this venue, where staff are immensely more hospitable and crockery is clean!

From the moment we arrived we were greeted with a friendly hello from a person walking through the yard. On arriving at reception we met Wendy, a more friendly, relaxed and obliging individual you could not meet. As this is a book by appointment venue you actually felt as if you were a VIP. Wendy gave us a run down of the layout of the castle and the surroundings also the timing of the guided tour of the castle. As we booked a cream tea as part of the visit we told to let her know when we were ready for it. So informal, So relaxed. Whilst waiting for the tour we were approached by Sarah, the boss, she sat and was genuinely interested in finding out about us and also thanked us for visiting. Next was the guided tour with John. Sarah and Wendy already were giving us the heads up that John has so much information to share and he can go off on tangents. This was done in a tongue in cheek manner and you could tell they held him in high regard. The tour was very informative and yes Johns knowledge was immense. He also added the right amount of anecdotes. Fantastic. After the tour we continued chatting to John, Wendy and Sarah, again the sense of being valued was a breath of fresh air. I lived in this area for the first 20 yrs of my life and never visited. 58yrs old now and it was a superb experience. I highly recommend a trip. This was a buy a gift selection purchase given to us by family and we couldn’t have asked for a best afternoon. I will just add the walks around the gardens were so peaceful and relaxing. Thank you to the gardener who had a chat and shared the best way to go. Very friendly chap. The location is idyllic as it is right next to the river Exe. Thank you to everyone concerned. We will definitely recommend this best kept Mid Devon secret to friends and family.

Location,setting, staff and accommodation were so fantastic. Well worth a visit, we will definitely go again. Very welcoming staff and lovely group of other guests so lovely to chat with all .So relaxing, excellent nights sleep in such comfortable clean beds and room. Very historic and beautifully restored cottages.