Hope Cove is a small seaside village within the civil parish of South Huish in South Hams District, Devon, England. It is located some 5 miles west of Salcombe and 5 miles south-west of Kingsbridge. It has two beaches, and is sheltered by the headland of Bolt Tail.
Historically, the village falls into two parts — Outer Hope and Inner Hope. Inner Hope fell within the parish of Malborough until the 1970s, when it was united with its neighbour on the other side of a small headland. Both parts of the village originally developed as centres for the local fishing industry. Hope also developed a reputation for smuggling and for plundering wrecked ships.
In 1588, the ships of the Spanish Armada passed the village as they moved up the English Channel. After the Armada was defeated and headed back through storms, the San Pedro el Mayor, a transport ship fitted out as a hospital, was blown onto the rocks between Inner and Outer Hope. The 140 survivors were initially sentenced to death, but were eventually ransomed and sent back to Spain.
The village was the setting for a number of studies by the Victorian painter Sir Luke Fildes; inspiring the cottage in his famous work in oil ‘The Doctor’.
Batson
