Budleigh Past and Present

Although Sir Walter Raleigh was born a few miles away in the village of East Budleigh rather than in Budleigh Salterton our town is proud of its association with its local hero. The Town Council’s crest on the coat of arms which were granted to it in 1959 is a shield supported by a griffin showing the arms of Sir Walter. There are various ways of pronouncing his surname, apparently 70 different ways of spelling it, and almost as many stories about him to create the legendary figure that makes him a Devon hero. He probably called himself ‘Rawley’. The Sir Walter Raleigh pub sign in his birthplace of East Budleigh just a few miles north of Budleigh Salterton celebrates one of the best known of them, showing him laying his cloak over a puddle for Queen Elizabeth I to walk without getting her feet wet. The pub is well worth a visit especially if you’ve walked from Budleigh Salterton through the woods to East Budleigh and need some refreshment. Just outside East Budleigh is Bicton Park Bota...