WEEKEND IN ILFRACOMBE
The elegant Victorian façades that dominate Ilfracombe’s architecture speak of an era in which this bustling North Devon harbour town evolved into one of the county’s premier seaside resorts. From the early 1800s the area attracted growing numbers of out-of-towners, keen to take in the sea air and experience the dramatic coastal scenery. The creation of Tunnels Beaches in the 1820s and the opening of the grand Ilfracombe Hotel in 1867 helped seal the town’s fashionable reputation. Yet for all this upscale past, it has darker tales too, with a rugged coastline notorious for shipwrecks, and secluded coves and caves plagued by smugglers – a network of tunnels beneath the town remains testament to the booming trade of illegal goods in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Today Ilfracombe thrives on the diverse facets
