Can you visit Clovelly Deveon for free?

pinkcandyflossprincess

I never knew there was a different way in either, i went about 8 years ago with my mom, its cute to visit but the charge is a bit expensive really for visiting a village.
wonder where the money goes to?

Sagz_2

Been there, not that impressed.

Old houses on a steep hill....... guess some people must like that sort of thing though to pay such a high charge.

malnik

There are lots of cute villages on a hill leading down to a nice harbour in Devon and Cornwall. And I've not come across any i needed to pay to get into! Clearly the visitors are paying the landowners maintenance bills! Nice work!!!! I wonder if i could charge people to come up my front path?

Ian-H_4

pinkcandyflossprincess wrote: »

the charge is a bit expensive really for visiting a village.

It's not because it's a village, it's because it's a private estate. Do you know any private country estate that does not charge you to look around?

pinkcandyflossprincess wrote: »

wonder where the money goes to?

All the money from the charge goes straight back into the maintenance of the village, which is extremely expensive. Unlike most tourist attractions, the fee is not profit making, it doesn't even break even. The rent from the villagers covers the rest. The only profit made by the estate is from the shops and pubs. Nothing to do with the entrance fee.

Ian-H_4

Sagz wrote: »

Been there, not that impressed.

Old houses on a steep hill....... guess some people must like that sort of thing though to pay such a high charge.

Yes, some do. It's not everyone's cup of tea. But no-one is forced to go there. It's not like you're forced to pay, you could leave and go somewhere else if you don't want to pay. Or just come after the visitor centre closes and you will get in for free.

Ian-H_4

malnik wrote: »

There are lots of cute villages on a hill leading down to a nice harbour in Devon and Cornwall. And I've not come across any i needed to pay to get into!

That's because they are not privately owned estates. Would you turn up at Chatsworth, Longleat, Buckingham Palace, Hartland Abbey etc. and be surprised at having to pay to get in and look around? Absolutely no difference here whatsoever. (Except Clovelly is massively cheaper).

If you wanted to put a fee to go up your front path, there's nothing stopping you, go ahead. But that's not comparable with Clovelly, unless your front path offers:

-unlimited access to an entire estate of thousands of acres, for as long as you like.
-unlimited access to two museums.
-unlimited access to an award-winning cinema show, watch it as many times as you like.
-free, unlimited parking with no restrictions whatsoever, not a PPC sign in sight.

The way I'm having to explain what is a very simple and normal concept, I feel like I work for this place or something (which I don't and never have). Once visitors realise it's a privately owned estate like absolutely any other, it comes as a no-brainer that there is a charge, a very modest one, cheaper than any other tourist attraction in Devon.

Money_maker

Ian-H wrote: »

It's not because it's a village, it's because it's a private estate. Do you know any private country estate that does not charge you to look around?

Rough translation means that it always used to be described as a quaint village in the tourist guides but folks got greedy. Realised if they called it a 'private estate' then they could charge megabucks to walk down a cobbled hill to a harbour.

It is a quaint village but is in an area surrounded by many, many quaint villages and equally pretty harbours. Save your money and take your business elsewhere.

BTW, Ian-H, do you realise that as a company you need permission to post on MSE?

dazzer68

drive to clovelly, where the sign is for clovelly carpark, stay on the road left, drive alittle further theres a large layby.park there simple.
i would rather have the village free, and pay to go into the areas i want to go into, ie the museums etc.
if ive just spent £6 to walk in to clovelly, im less willing to then buy ice creams, food, souveniors.If it was free to in i would end up purchasing more as i would feel ive actually 'bought' something. so maybe make it free but tax the businesses in there to pay for upkeep!
its a pretty place, but Bucks mill, is just a pretty and its free (little further up the road)

Ian-H_4

Money_maker wrote: »

BTW, Ian-H, do you realise that as a company you need permission to post on MSE?

I'm not a company. I have nothing to do with Clovelly Estate Company. I have never worked for them in any capacity and do not know the owners personally. I am just a local resident (I don't live in Clovelly itself but nearby) who understands what the fee is all about and that Clovelly would cease to exist as it is without the contribution from visitors.

dazzer68 wrote: »

drive to clovelly, where the sign is for clovelly carpark, stay on the road left, drive alittle further theres a large layby.park there simple.

The layby you are referring to now has "loading only" signs - proper signs i.e. white and blue, council, legally enforceable - not private, as that part is a public road. Yes you can do that, it is up to you if you want to risk a ticket.

However, the minute you walk onto the cobbles you are entering the estate, which you should have paid for (if it's in the daytime). No-one driving down this way can claim they didn't know there was a charge: the sign before clearly says "all vehicles to Clovelly" and points you up to the main car park, and a sign right next to it says "no public parking beyond this point".

dazzer68 wrote: »

i would rather have the village free, and pay to go into the areas i want to go into, ie the museums etc.
if ive just spent £6 to walk in to clovelly, im less willing to then buy ice creams, food, souveniors.If it was free to in i would end up purchasing more as i would feel ive actually 'bought' something

I actually agree with you and this is a very good point that has been raised before locally. A modest parking charge, or just free parking with separate optional charges to enter museums, film show etc., might mean people spend more money in the village than just the £11.90 for two adults then not spending anything else. Also the visitor centre is massive and the overheads must be enormous. But I'm not the owner and have nothing to do with the village, so there's not a lot we can do about this.

Ian-H_4

The original question here was how to get into the estate for free. The visitor centre is not there to make huge profits off you, it is there to keep Clovelly as it is. The upkeep of 100 very old cottages perched on the edge of a cliff with no road access is unimaginably expensive. There are easy ways of seeing Clovelly for free without doing anything questionable or getting into an argument with a worker.

Between November and March, the visitor centre is open between 10am and 4pm. After 3pm, the entrance fee stops and there is just a flat £4 parking charge per car, nothing else. After 4pm, a side gate is opened and the parking charge stops. So you can park in the car park for free then walk straight down into the village for free. You can do this all evening, night and morning until 10am the next day.

In the summer months the centre opens at 9am and closes at 6:30pm. The entrance fee stops at 5:30pm, then there is the £4 parking charge until about 7pm, after which everything is free until 9am the next day.

Also if you are eating in the Red Lion pub/restaurant in the evening, you can drive straight down the public road to the harbour and park in the private car park. At all other times, the car park is strictly private due to very little space for hotel guests and residents who live along the quay.