Lee Bay

There is another Lee Bay further to the east along the coast, between Woody Bay and Lynmouth, overlooked by Lee Abbey.

Lee Bay is a small village on the North Devon coast near Woolacombe.

The village of Lee lies at the foot of what is known locally as the Fuchsia Valley, and consists of around 100 properties, mostly old in style. The village centre is about a quarter of a mile from the sea, and is linked to the area around the bay by a road and by a level footpath. Lee is served by a combined pub, post office and shop, The Grampus; also by St Matthew's Church, by a gift/craft shop operating from the old schoolroom adjoining the church, and by the Lee Bay Hotel which has extensive and well maintained grounds. Unfortunately, as of summer 2009, the hotel is closed, and is being used by the police as a dog training centre.

Around the bay area are the hotel (visible as the main building in the picture) and some 10 privately owned properties. Up to the late 1980s, several of these were in use as tea rooms, restaurants and gift shops.

The beach has a very gentle slope. As the tide goes out an expanse of sand emerges from among the rocks, as does a way through the cliffs westwards round to a large shingle beach called Sandy Cove or Bath Beach. This beach is also accessible from the coastal path via a National Trust -maintained path and staircase down the cliff face.

As the tide recedes further it becomes possible (though far from easy) to scramble eastwards from Lee Bay over and round rocks and through pools to reach Broadoar, a mainly sandy beach. This is not advisable without local knowledge (and a good tide table) as there is no obvious route and it is all too easy to become trapped by incoming tides.

Lee is situated on the rugged and inhospitable stretch of coast between Ilfracombe and Woolacombe, which includes Bull Point (with its lighthouse) and Morte Point, both notorious for shipwrecks in earlier times, and both on the South West Coast Path.

See also

• Tarka Trail – which follows the line of the South West Coast Path through the village

Lee Bay lies within the North Devon Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

• North Devon Coast Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty

External links

• Lee Bay village website – includes village history and current events
• North Devon AONB website