Exeter Racecourse

The Haldon Hills, usually known simply as Haldon, is a ridge of high ground in Devon, England. It is situated between the River Exe and the River Teign and runs northwards from Teignmouth, on the coast, for about 24 km (15 mi) until it dwindles away north west of Exeter at the River Yeo, just south of Crediton. The highest points of just over 250 metres (820 ft) lie to the south west of Exeter. The southernmost part is known as Little Haldon; it is partially separated from the main bulk of the hills by a col formed by the valleys of the Dawlish Water to the east and the valley at Rixdale to the west.

Kennford is a village situated in the Teignbridge district of Devon, England. Kennford is four miles (6 km) to the south of Exeter in the civil parish of Kenn; it is situated in one of the country's main tourist areas. The village became prominent in the 1970s as the location of a new service station on the A38 Devon Expressway between Exeter and Plymouth, near the southern terminus of the then new M5 motorway. This service area is a popular stopping place for tourists on their way to South Devon and Cornwall. Close to the village is a caravan and camping park. The entertainer, Danny la Rue, was largely brought up in Kennford (from the age of 6).

Haldon Forest is a forest located in the Haldon Hills, Devon, England. The forest consists of several different woods. Geographically, Haldon Forest is located between the towns of Chudleigh and Exminster and is south of Exeter.

Whiteway House in the parish of Chudleigh in Devon is a Grade II* listed Georgian house set in parkland. It was built in the 1770s by John Parker, 1st Baron Boringdon (1735–1788) of Saltram House, Plympton, and has early 19th-century alterations. It is situated 2½ miles (4 km) north of Chudleigh, at the foot of the Haldon Hills. The house had formerly a 5-bay north-east wing, a service range and a separate 19th-century service block to the rear, all demolished since 1962.It should be distinguished from Whiteway in the parish of Kingsteignton, Devon, 4 3/4 miles (7.6 km) to the south, a manor listed in the Domesday Book as the 157th Devonshire possession of Baldwin de Moels (died 1090), Sheriff of Devon, feudal baron of Okehampton, and in 1795 a grand mansion illustrated by Swete, formerly a seat of the Yard family of Bradley, Kingsteignton, and today a farmhouse known as Whiteway Barton.

Kenn is a village and civil parish situated in Devon, England, approximately 5 miles to the south of Exeter. It lies in the district of Teignbridge, and at the 2001 census had a population of 968.It has a pub and a Parish Church, built of Heavitree stone.

Oxton in the parish of Kenton in South Devon is a historic estate long held by the Martyn family, a junior branch of the Norman family of FitzMartin, feudal barons of Barnstaple. Oxton House is a Grade II listed building. The park and gardens are Grade II listed in the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.

Haldon House (pronounced: "Hol-don") on the eastern side of the Haldon Hills in the parishes of Dunchideock and Kenn, near Exeter in Devon, England, was a large Georgian country house largely demolished in the 1920s. The surviving north wing of the house, comprising the entrance front of the stable block, consists of two cuboid lodges linked by a screen pierced by a Triumphal Arch, with later additions, and serves today as the "Lord Haldon Hotel". The house was originally flanked by two such paired pavilions, as is evident from 19th century engravings.

Haldon Belvedere or Lawrence Tower is a triangular tower in the Haldon Hills in the county of Devon, England. Haldon Belvedere is in the parish of Dunchideock within the former Haldon estate, about a mile south-west of Haldon House. Its location on the ridge of the Haldon Hills gives it extensive views and means it is a prominent landmark for many miles around. It was built in 1788 by Sir Robert Palk, 1st Baronet and was originally called Lawrence Tower in honour of his friend and patron General Stringer Lawrence (1697–1775). Lawrence spent much of his retirement at Haldon and was buried in Dunchideock church, in which Palk erected a monument to his memory, having received a bequest of £50,000 in his will. Stringer Lawrence's other monument is in Westminster Abbey, erected by the East India Company.The tower, 26 metres high, is triangular with Gothic windows and full-height circular angle turrets, and was probably influenced by the triangular tower at nearby Powderham Castle, itself probably modelled on Shrubs Hill Tower (now Fort Belvedere) in Windsor Great Park, built 1750–1755. Inside is a larger-than-life-size coade stone statue of Stringer Lawrence dressed as a Roman general; a copy of the marble statue of him by Peter Scheemakers (1691–1781) now in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, formerly the India Office. On the walls are three large framed tablets inscribed with details of his career.In 1925 when the former Palk-owned Haldon estate was being broken up, the belvedere was sold for £300 at auction to J. Archibald Lucas and J. B. Orchard, both of Exeter. It was later owned by Mrs Bessie Smith who sold it in 1933 for £650 to Mrs Annie Dale from Wolverhampton. Mrs Dale and her three sons lived at the belvedere and opened it to the public, running a teahouse and gift shop and charging 2d. to climb to the top of the tower. During World War II the Dale sons were conscientious objectors and were jailed for a time, later being allowed to work locally for the war effort. With its far-reaching views, the belvedere served as a strategic observation post and after the war, Mrs Dale was awarded £405 for damage caused to the building's interior, with damage caused to the stairs by hobnail boots being specifically mentioned.After the war and the death of their parents, two of the sons, Cyril and Edward, continued to live in the building, but having few means they were unable to maintain it well and it deteriorated. It was struck by lightning in 1960 and in 1990 the windows were blown out in a storm. Cyril Dale died in 1990 and just before his own death in 1994 his brother Edward transferred the building to the Stringer Lawrence Memorial Trust which arranged for restoration work by the Devon Historic Buildings Trust. After extensive work funded by grants from a number of sources including English Heritage, the belvedere was officially reopened by Lucinda Lambton on 20 April 1996. Further restoration of the exterior took place in 2016. It has been a grade II* listed building, under the name of "Lawrence Castle", since 1987.

Shillingford St. George is a village on the outskirts of Exeter, East Devon, England. It is about 3 miles south of the City of Exeter.

Dunchideock ( DUN-chi-dək, dun-CHID-ee-ək) is a small civil parish on the north eastern slopes of the Haldon Hills in Teignbridge, Devon, England. It covers an area of 392 hectares (970 acres) and lies about 6 km (3.7 mi) south-west of Exeter and 11 km (6.8 mi) north-east of Bovey Tracey. The parish, with a population of 262 in 2001, lacks a compact village, but consists of scattered dwellings. It is surrounded clockwise from the north by the parishes of Holcombe Burnell, Ide, Shillingford St. George, Kenn, and Doddiscombsleigh.The name Dunchideock is of Celtic origin. Recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Donsedoc, the two parts of the name derive from dun (fort) and coediog (wooded), which, according to W. G. Hoskins, refer to the nearby Iron Age hill fort of Cotley Castle.The parish church is dedicated to St Michael and is Grade I listed. It originated in 1308 at the latest, but the present church building, built of red sandstone, was started in the late 14th century. It has been partially rebuilt and restored many times. There is a good font dated to around 1400, some notable carved bench-ends, roof-bosses and rood-screen; and several memorials, most notably to Aaron Baker, who rebuilt the chancel aisle in 1669, and Stringer Lawrence. The theological writer Bourchier Wrey Savile was rector of Dunchideock with Shillingford St. George from 1872 to his death in 1888.Within the parish was the former Haldon House which was the home of Sir Robert Palk, 1st Baronet. Mostly demolished in the 1920s, the remaining wing is now the Best Western "Lord Haldon Hotel". Also in the parish is Haldon Belvedere, a triangular tower on top of Haldon that was built by Palk in 1788 in memory of his friend General Stringer Lawrence.Archie Winckworth, the former owner of Dunchideock House, posted a memoir about the village and its history, including an account of its buried treasure. The cellars of Dunchideock House are fancifully supposed to contain a treacle mine.

Ashcombe is a village and civil parish in the Teignbridge district of Devon, England, about eight miles south of the city of Exeter. The parish is surrounded clockwise from the north by the parishes of Kenton, Mamhead, Dawlish, Bishopsteignton and Chudleigh. In 2001 its population was 77, down from 125 in 1901.The village lies at a height of about 100 m (330 ft) on the south-eastern side of the Haldon Hills, in the valley of the stream known as Dawlish Water. It is on a minor road about 1.2 km (3/4 mi) east of the junction on the A380 road known as Ashcombe Cross, which is at the centre of several areas of woodland and heathland, including Grammarcombe Wood, Haldon Forest and Ideford Common. Past Ashcombe, the minor road continues to the coastal town of Dawlish.The village is recorded in Domesday Book (1086), when it was held by Ralph of Pomeroy. Before the Norman Conquest it was held by Aelfric, who was identified in the Exon Domesday with the Old English byname of 'pig'. The church, which has an uncommon dedication to Saint Nectan, was dedicated in 1259 by Bishop Bronescombe and it has a continuous record of rectors from 1280. It was restored in 1824–26 by Anthony Salvin who was at the time also working on the nearby Mamhead House. Some older features remain in the church: the bench-ends and Perpendicular arches carry heraldry related to the Kirkham family, lords of the manor at the time, and there is some medieval and 17th-century stained glass. The Rectory was built in 1810 by the Rector J.M Wade, probably also designed by Salvin. Also within the parish is Ashcombe Tower (1935), built for Ralph Rayner, MP by Brian O'Rorke; the only major country house that he designed.Ashcombe has a few diverse businesses from traditional farming to holiday cottages and outdoor activity centre which employ many local people. The Ashcombe Village Club is a not-for-profit community centre for the village which donates profits to charity.

Ideford Common is a Site of Special Scientific Interest consisting of an area of lowland heath in Devon, England. The site is a habitat for nightjars and Dartford warblers, and is the site of several Bronze Age cairns and a barrow.Ideford and Haldon Forest are nearby.