Moving to Devon

[RFinley]

Hi everyone we're moving to Devon from the Midlands and have been house hunting for a while. We're now narrowed down to a particular part of Devon (mid/north Devon) and want a rural village feel but with a good primary close by. We're viewing houses in Winkleigh, South Molton and Stibbs Cross. I'm a remote worker so I don't need to think about employment prospects in the general area and my husband is a very experienced heating and gas engineer so should be fine provided he makes new contacts (we're also not reliant on him earning anything and can survive on my salary until he gets set up). Does anyone know these villages well and have any inside info?? In particular our favourite seems to be Winkleigh at the moment, has a nice school and pubs but is quite small compared to some bigger villages in the area.

Mid/ North Devon is very rural with not particularly good public transport depending on how old your children are.
You will get more house for your money in those areas though as South Molton in particular I believe has the cheapest house prices in Devon. Barnstaple will be your closest city which is pretty run down although now the hospital has merged with Exeter it is slightly improving.
Having lived in many places in Devon personally I would look at villages in East Devon / surrounding small towns and villages close to Exeter.
I think coming down from the Midlands you’ll find North/Mid very backward.
Good luck whatever you decide 😄

@Nearlyadoctor says "Having lived in many places in Devon personally I would look at villages in East Devon / surrounding small towns and villages close to Exeter."

I've recently moved from Oxfordshire and only lived in two places in Devon - Sidmouth and Topsham - but I absolutely agree that East Devon's wonderful and strangely underrated. But I'm childfree so can't comment on that aspect. Good luck.

Shhhh, don’t tell people about East Devon !

make sure the internet services are up to the level you will need. Here in deepest, darkest Oxfordshire (not), coverage can be patchy.

I can guarantee you North Devon is not “backward” what an ignorant comment, and as for you believing South Molton has the cheapest houses in the whole of Devon, you believe wrong, no it doesn’t, far from it. FYI Barnstaple is not a “city” it is a market town, get your facts straight before you start bestowing your lack of knowledge to the OP.

Getting back to your question OP, Stibbs Cross is a rural village, nothing there apart from a pub, no shop etc. wouldn’t be a place I would choose to live, I don’t find it particularly attractive. South Molton is a growing small market town, it has a lovely market and some nice independent shops and eateries, plus a Sainsbury’s for a big shop, it is expanding quite a lot with new developments on the edge of town and has primary and secondary schools.can’t comment on Winkleigh as I don’t know it.

S Molton is an odd bleak town imo. I want to say good things about it really struggle.
Having a nice primary school is nice, but many parents around S Molton are reliant on bussing or driving their secondary age children to where they can find a suitable school outside of the area, they might need to go even further to get a 16+ education.
Dental services are extremely thin on the ground, and GPs are stretched. Doing a big shop at a large supermarket is a trip down the link road.
It's also very rainy on this side of Emoor!

They already know. We moved away 19 years ago as it was getting busier and busier and everyone was everywhere, all the time. Can't park, can't just pop into a shop, can't do anything without a queue.🙄

Topsham is lovely but expensive. Near Okehampton is good for walks and 3 large supermarkets

I know South Molton well and it's not somewhere I'd choose to live. Agree that Topsham is lovely, though it does cost.

Yes Topsham is indeed lovely but the house prices are eye watering!

My parents moved to mid Devon for a few years and it was a bit bleak although near Dartmoor, which is lovely. They’ve moved to east Devon and it’s wonderful - near the sea, Exeter, Honiton, Sidmouth etc and a weekend with them feels like a holiday in the summer.

Not up to date I'm afraid but spent a lot of time in the South Molton area when younger, we were a family with small children then and holidayed there for several weeks in the summer. It used to be gorgeous then, very rural and very beautiful....I always wanted to move there. But of course we were on holiday rather than working, and never saw it in the winter.

Have you spent much time there? I’d recommend a visit and depending on where you’ll be living also a visit during the peak tourist season. What’s drawn you to those areas specifically, other than it’s cheaper than other places?

I live in West Devon, just on the edge of Cornwall, and can’t say any of those areas I’d be jumping to visit, let alone move to.

If it’s truly just affordability, I would consider broadening your search after doing a bit of reconnaissance. We pretty much looked at Devon as a whole (though we had areas we didn’t want to live in). Found houses, then looked at schools and community and transport links. Rural life can be great for kids. My secondary age one definitely doesn’t feel like she has nothing to do. All her friends enjoy camping and hiking and climbing and going to the beach too. But access to bus and rail links for post-16 options is sensible if yours aren’t grown.

We've looked around the villages and spent time there but we obviously are not from Devon so don't have the same lived experience. We're wanting to be rural / we don't want to be near a city or big market town. We're looking at this area of Devon because it's a 3 hour commute to my job (that I go to 4 times a year!! And is already a 2 hour commute from where we currently live).

Hi no flex on area I am afraid as east Devon is just that bit too far for the odd time I do need to commute into work. This is why we are looking in a particular part! Our children are still young so we've got 5/6 years before we need to start thinking about secondary but my husband works for himself so between the two of us school drop off drive isn't really an issue, I'm happy to sacrifice my time in the car to live somewhere rural rather than live somewhere built up where they can bus/walk to secondary.

We have looked around here, my husband liked gunnislake but again could be too far for me personally. Do you have any views on the area, it does look good with the access to the Tamar valley (we like to do a lot of walking)

Thank you this is very helpful, I am sure there probably are some people with differing views (which may be considered back ways) but you find those everywhere including in the Midlands!!! It is not some forward thinking leftist utopia by any means...

Exminster? I have relatives there. It's pretty small but near Exeter so you have facilities/transport on hand

Crediton is nice, good schools and lots to see

I should say we are also looking at North Tawton

Yes we really like crediton and surrounding areas

Omg some of my relatives are buried there 😆

I haven't been back there for years but it's friendly, very small, lovely church and as far as I remember cross and fountain in the 'centre' if you can call it that? Take your time and weigh up options

Oh it's a clock. I said I haven't been there for ages! I mean over a decade

Sounds lovely even if the connection is a little morbid haha! We've seen a lovely cottage there that has enough space, parking, on for a reasonable amount!

@Devonisheaven - get over your self . As other posters have mentioned South Molton is a little bleak so not just me. My brothers lives just on the outskirts in a very large farm/ estate and trust me the house prices etc around their are no where near comparable with areas surrounding Exeter, East Devon , South Devon etc.