After staying the night at The Heritage Hotel in Torquay I drove 15 minutes to Cockington Court. Parking was easy and cost a couple of pound for a few hours. There’s a couple of different car parks in the village and at the craft centre. The craft centre is free to enter and open from 10m each day.
Craft Centre
Cockington Court is a unique craft centre and has various art studios and shops to visit. You can visit artists who showcase their talents and welcome you in to admire their work. I enjoyed talking to Janet Ventre and hearing about the patience she needs to create her mosaic pictures and mirrors. I purchased a lovely mosaic coaster tile – I just couldn’t resist!
You can also visit Cockington Chocolate Company and see homemade chocolates being made! I looked around at the vast collection of chocolate on display – so many different flavours and cute chocolate shapes! Of course, I didn’t leave the shop entry handed!
Take some time to visit Our Glass and not only see their beautiful display of glass work but watch a demonstration of how the glass is made. I found this really interesting and again couldn’t resist treating myself to a few bits!
There’s some lovely gardens to explore and a nice walk that takes you to three pretty and tranquil lakes. I sat for ages watching some ducks and moorhens being followed around by their babies – so cute!
Lunch Time
After all my shopping and the walk around the gardens, I needed to stop for some lunch! I visited the Tea Rooms and had a brie and bacon panini and a can of apple tango – yum yum! There’s plenty of space to sit inside and outside and a big menu to choose from.
There’s currently a trail of fun sculptures to explore around the craft centre and a fun looking children play area for the younger ones.
It was hard to believe that this place as only a mile from Torquay’s seafront – it was so green and lush you couldn’t have thought the sea was so close!
Final Thoughts
Coockington Court is a great place to visit if you like seeing local art and crafts made by passionate and talented people. I really enjoyed wandering around and treating myself to a few bits. The tea room was nice, and the gardens are a lovely place to go for a walk. I think there was even more to explore should I have had more time, so I hope to return one day soon.
Do you like arts and crafts? What’s your favourite type of art?
Great post this! I’ve got fantastic memories of being a child and going to Torquay and doing ‘crafty’ things such as this. It’s good to see it’s all as popular as ever!
Ah glad to hear it Jon! Sounds like fun and lots of nice memories!
This place looks amazing and the gardens are beautiful. I love the idea of being able to see all of these crafty things made. The chocolates would hold my full attention. They look beautiful.
Yes the chocolate shop was one of my faves! So nice to see passionate artists doing their craft.
What a gorgeous place to explore this is the sort of place I love meandering about in exploring what delights lurk around every corner!
Me too, couldn’t agree more!
Oh what a brilliant day! Love the chocolate shop. Sounds like you had a lovely time
I sure did! It was a great place to while away a few hours!
What a fabulous and fantastic crafty adventure. Also love those cute tea rooms for a lovely lunch x
The tea rooms were cute and the food good too!
Oh wow it looks fantastic here here is so much to do. Loved the sheep in the second picture. I think I would spend a lot of time watching the chocolate being made and drooling!
Definitely looks to do and money to be spent in the craft shops! The chocolate shops seems like it would be popular with many people!
What a beautiful place to visit for a day out, not to mention the addition of crafts. I absolutely love craft fairs or taking them time to do crafts at home; it’s so satisfying when you see the finished product 🙂
I totally agree, I used to do all my scrapbooks using arts and crafts – these days it’s all online!
It’s so cool that you can go to one place and support so many different local craftsmen. I love that you can take a break to explore that gorgeous garden too!
It was lovely to see artists at work and like you say know you are supporting their income directly!
Wow, this place is too cute and the gardens are stunning. I’m not a huge craft person but the chocolates are all I would need to be happy here 🙂
Haha yes, the chocolates were amazingly tasty! I did spend quite a bit of money there!
What a lovely spot to visit! It looks like just the place that my daughter and I would love to spend an afternoon.
Aww you and your daughter should visit 🙂
This is so amazing and I love everything about this place, the craft center, the garden, the chocolate company and the food are all great I will definitely go there someday!
I hope you get to visit!
This place is amazing! I would love to see these crafty things in person! All of them looks so beautiful! I would to visit the chocolatate factory and have some chocolate!
The chocolate was great, as were all the crafty bits!
What an extraordinary place to visit! I’d love to take my kids here one day; it looks amazing!
Great for all the family I think, something for everyone!
What a charming spot to visit! I just love places that showcase and support local artists and artisans. This seems like an area that would really spark your creativity, plus you could scoop up some wonderful handcrafted gifts.
I totally agree, it felt nice to support the local artists and see them doing what they love.
This looks like such a great place to visit! I’ve watched the glass spinners before and it’s really interesting. The pictures are neautiful, I’d love to visit here one day. Thanks for sharing!
I love watching glass blowing, so clever how they do it and don’t burn themselves or break the glass!
It looks so pretty and vintage! I’d love to see the nature, take a walk, and taste the chocolate. Yum!
It was a great day out! A good mixture of nature, crafts and of course the chocolate!
What a really lovely place to visit. I love that you are supporting the local artists in the area.
Thanks, yeah I think it’s a really nice and important thing to do. Everyone I saw was really talented so it was hard to not spend money!
I wish I lived near Torquay, this place looks right up my street! I would have ended up spending a fortune I think, all those crafts look amazing xx
It was hard not to get carried away and buy too much!! It was all so nice!
wow, what a pleasant and fun place to visit 🙂 oh I love the chocolate shop 🙂 and also the handcrafted gifts
It sure was! Loved all the variety on offer!
That sounds like a great place to visit. The gardens look lovely and I love seeing crafts and homemade items. I can never resist buying something!
I couldn’t resist either!
This is my kind of place. I love the rustic feel of everything and the animals are beautiful. The homemade trinkets are very nice!
So many nice bits and pieces!
I like the rustic ambiance of the place. The homemade trinkets look like they’re one-of-a-kind products.
Everything was home made and unique so it was super special!
This looks lovely, torquey is such a nice place, this is a great day out! Plus the pictures are fab.
It was a cool place to visit and you’d never know it was close to the beach! Thank you for your compliments on the pictures!
My wife is always looking for ideas for crafts and this looks like just the place to visit.
Thanks for Sharing
John M
I certainly recommend here for your wife then John! Lots of crafts to be had!
This looks like a really gorgeous place. I need to get out and go see it!
It sure was, be sure to check it out!
What an awesome place to visit especially with family.
Yes, I think it would be good for family trips as there was lots to do and a big play area for kids too!
You had me at Chocolate! I love the photos of the chocolate. That looks like a great place to spend an afternoon just walking around and viewing crafts and art… and chocolate:)
It sure was! The chocolate was super tasty too, I did buy quite a bit!
This place looks so amazing!! I actually never heard of it. I would love to visit here! The glass and chocolate factor got me sold on the idea!
Me too! They were my faves! So interesting to see how the items are made! And taste the chocolate too!
Looks like a fascinating place. I would also like to visit the chocolate place. Beautiful photos.
The chocolate place appears to have caught a lot of readers attention for sure!
Oh wow what a gorgeous place to visit! So much creativity and the perfect place for a family fun day out, such beautiful gardens and surroundings and love that there are local makers there
Laura x
Totally agree Laura, was a lovely place to wander around and spend a few hours.
It’s a shame this is so far away from me and nowhere near where I live. It makes me so so sad because we doesn’t have anything like this over here in the West Midlands and it’s something I would really really enjoy seeing!
Aw that’s a shame Nazrin, sounds like it’s somewhere you would enjoy visiting!