Churston Court 4.02

Churston Court is the manor house of the former manor of Churston Ferrers (anciently Cercetone (Domesday Book, 1086), Churecheton (Book of Fees, 13th c.), Churchstow, Churchton, Churchston, etc.), near Brixham in Devon and is a Grade II* listed building. Today it serves as a hotel known as the Churston Court Inn. It is located immediately to the west of the parish church of Churston Ferrers, also next to the former home farm, and about 1/2 mile south of the coastline at Elberry Cove, which intervening ground now forms part of Churston Golf Course. It retains its original staircases, stone windows, oak panelling and flagstone floors. The hotel has 19 en-suite rooms with four poster beds, and is said to be haunted by the ghost of a monk who appears in the old kitchen. There is a smugglers tunnel linking the inn to Elberry cove, which lies about half a mile away. There is also rumoured to be a link tunnel running over 10 miles to Berry Pomeroy from the inn. These tunnels were driven more than 400 years ago, so the quality and stability of the passages are no longer known. It is not known if the mine workings under Warborough Road, Churston contain any linking passages to the old smugglers tunnel due to the Warborough adits being untraceable or backfilled under overgrown thickett. In a recent planning application regarding works at number 2 Warborough Road, it is documented that one of the deep shafts is capped underneath the property's garden.