15 March 2010
This is a question that many visitors have asked!
The name The Salty Monk is rooted in local history, and the fact that although the hotel is in Sidford, it is actually the last house in the parish of Salcombe Regis. Salcombe literally means Salty Vale in old English and is linked with King Athelstan, a Norman, who landed at Seaton. He made camp at Sidbury Castle and in 925 he gave Salcombe along with Sidbury, Branscombe and 23 other royal Manors to Exeter Cathedral. The Monks at the Benedictine monastery of St. Pete in Exeter had to eat fish twice weekly but in order to transport the fish it needed to be salted, so a salt works was set up on the beach.
The original building of The Salty Monk dates back to the sixteenth century. The central rooms are the oldest including the Abbots Den, the lounge and Magnolia bedroom, all of which still have the original oak beams. Previous owners found iron rings in the old cob wall which runs along packhorse close, this could well have been where mules or horses were tied. When we were renovating Magnolia and the Abbots Den the original Devonshire cob walls were exposed with some simple carving in the wood beams in the Abbots' Den.
As for the more recent history of the building and grounds it is clear that the garden was at one time far more extensive stretching down to the Byes. In the 1841 Tithe records there was a garden and orchard, which goes some way to explaining why it was called The Applegarth previously. In the 1930's the property was even used as a small retirement home and it was thatched then. The House was turned into a Hotel in the late 1950's by a Mr & Mrs Ellis and has had a succession of owners since, we bought The Salty Monk in 1999 and have, I suppose, added to its history in our own way.
We have been lucky to have met several people who have worked here or owned the property during the time that we have lived here, we gain snippets of information that all add to its history, the original records for The Salty Monk were lost in a Fire at Salcombe Parish Church, but some of that rescued stone actually forms part of our rockery in the garden. More history about the area can be found in the lounge in local history books and also at the small museum in Sidmouth.
