The famous quarries, from which the stone for Exeter Cathedral was taken, are about a mile from the village.  The subterranean quarries are not now worked.  They were used by the Romans and possibly before.  The passages extend for a long distance under the hill and are said to communicate with the shore.  They were no doubt of great value to the smugglers.  It is extremely dangerous to attempt the penetration of the mysterious passages and caves without a competent guide and a dependable light.  Holes of unknown depth filled with water are met with in the passages and a fatal accident is possible in any unwary exploration.

Bovey House is about a mile to the north.  It is chiefly remarkable for a well about 180 feet deep which has a square chamber, 30 feet down, undoubtedly built as a hiding place.  Another secret chamber in one of the chimneys is traditionally said to have hidden Charles II, but it has been proved that he did not pass this way.

[Illustration:  THE WAY TO THE SEA, BEER.]

Beer Head is the last outpost of the chalk and is a dazzling contrast to the prevailing reddish yellow of the Devonian coast.  On the other side of the airy common that crowns the head, and that is known as South Down, is the delightful village of Branscombe (usually pronounced “Brahnscoom”) built in the three valleys that unite at Branscombe mouth, the opening to the sea under the shadow of Bury Camp.  The fine cruciform church is mainly Norman but with Early English and still later additions.  It is supposed that the base of the tower is of Saxon workmanship.  A monument (1581) in the transept is to Joan Tregarthen, her two husbands and nineteen children.  One of the sons of her second marriage was the founder of Wadham College, Oxford.  In the churchyard is a rough pillar usually described as a coffin-lid.  It is probably a “Sarsen,” indicating that the church site was used for worship in prehistoric times or at least that it was a place of sepulture.  There are two headstones of very early date—­1579 (?) and 1580, and the tomb of Joseph Braddick (1673) bears the following curious epitaph: 

  “STRONG AND IN LABOUR
  SUDDENLY HE REELS
  DEATH CAME BEHIND HIM
  AND STRUCK UP HIS HEELS.

  SUCH SUDDEN STROKES
  SURVIVING MORTALS BID YE
  STAND ON YOUR WATCH
  AND BE ALLSO READY.”

There are several other curious records here that will repay perusal by their quaintness and unconscious pathos.  One is rather ferocious: 

  “STAY, PASSENGER, AWHILE AND READ
  YOUR DOOM I AM
  YOU MUST BEE DEAD.”

The dedication and the name of the village are in some doubt.  Authorities make claim for St. Brendan as the patron, hence Branscombe.  A chapel was built at Seaton in honour of this traveller saint.

[Illustration:  BRANSCOMBE CHURCH.]