Woodbury (Devon)

Woodbury is a village in East Devon, in the West Country of England. Considered a commuter village in modern times, the area has a long history: an Iron Age fort, Woodbury Castle, is in the nearby Woodbury Common, and a Roman fort and later Romano-British settlement existed at Woodbury Farm, on the outskirts of the village today.

Understand
Woodbury appears in the Domesday Book with a listed population of 58 households in 1086, considered a large population for the time, and consisting of 30 villagers, 22 smallholders, and 6 slaves.

Nowadays, Woodbury is predominantly residential as it serves as a commuter town for nearby Exeter and, to a lesser degree, Exmouth. It has a population of 1,600. The village centre has two pubs, a Chinese takeaway, a Londis convenience shop doubling as the Post Office, two antiques shops, and a garage. It is nearby the scenic Woodbury Common, a vast area of woodland popular with dogwalkers and outdoors enthusiasts which draws many visitors.

Woodbury is a good base for exploring the area — centrally located, it's a 20-minute drive to Exeter, 15 minutes to Exmouth and Budleigh Salterton, and 10 minutes to Topsham. If you're looking for quaint, traditional English villages, it's a 10- to 15-minute drive to East Budleigh, Otterton, and Newton Poppleford. One very popular destination is The Digger's Rest, a 500-year-old thatched inn serving local ales and meals, located in nearby Woodbury Salterton, a few minutes from Woodbury.

By road
Via the M5 motorway, take exit 30 for the A376, following the A376 until Clyst St. George, then taking the exit onto Woodbury Road (B3179) and following for 3 minutes until you reach Woodbury on your right.

By bus
The 56 is an hourly service from Exeter to Woodbury, operated by Stagecoach.

By train
Woodbury has no railway station; the closest station is at ; roughly half of trains from Exeter to Exmouth stop at Exton on request, but because it's a request stop you must explicitly ask the conductor to stop at Exton, or clearly signal if you're at Exton and wish to board. While you could walk from Exton into Woodbury, it's not advisable. You would need to alight at Exton, and walk along Rydon Lane until it joins Woodbury Road; however, Woodbury Road has no pavement for the brief walk into Woodbury, and while this could be avoided by leaving Rydon Lane onto an unnamed (but busy!) road at Woodbury Business Park, this unnamed road only has grass verges.

Get around
The village centre is tiny, so you'll be fine to walk.

See
There is not a great deal to see within the village itself.



Do
Enjoy a meal and a local ale at one of the pubs, perhaps sit on the outside seating area of The Maltsters Arms and watch the world go by.

Buy
Greendale Farm Shop, situated 5 minutes outside of Woodbury on the Greendale Business Park, is a highlight of the area, and one of the most popular farm shops in Devon.

Eat
There are two pubs in the village, The Maltsters Arms and The White Hart Inn. Both serve good food, and both are popular with locals, visitors, and passersby alike. Of the two, the Maltsters Arms tends to be the busiest and is better reviewed. Another pub, the Diggers Rest, is located in nearby Woodbury Salterton.



Sleep
The only hotel in the area is Woodbury Park Hotel. There are holiday homes available from £15/night at Castle Brake Holiday Park, and Webbers Park offers caravans, motorhomes, and tents for the adventurous.

Connect
Woodbury has full 3G and 4G coverage, but it can be spotty at times, and coverage indoors is often limited. There is free WiFi available at both pubs, The Maltsters Arms and The White Hart Inn.

Go next

 * Exeter – Devon's second-largest city, with plenty of restaurants, pubs, and things to do.
 * Exmouth – a traditional seaside resort.