Babbacombe Model Village is a

miniature village A miniature park is a display of miniature buildings and model (physical), models, usually as a recreational and tourist attraction open to the public. A miniature park may contain a model of a single city or town, often called a miniature cit ...

and railway located in

Babbacombe Babbacombe is a district of Torquay, Devon, England. It is notable for Babbacombe Model Village, the Babbacombe Theatre and its clifftop green, Babbacombe Downs, from which Oddicombe Beach is accessed via Babbacombe Cliff Railway. Frequent bu ...

in Torquay, Devon. The model village was opened in 1963 by Tom & Ruth Dobbins, who had previously opened another model village at Southport in 1957.

Miniature landscape

The site is set on approximately 4 acres (1.6 ha). There are over 400 models along with 1,000 ft (300 m) of model train track in the village. The model village is primarily one town, an entirely fictional one, but many buildings within them are based on UK prototypes and landmarks (including

Stonehenge Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, west of Amesbury. It consists of an outer ring of vertical sarsen standing stones, each around high, wide, and weighing around 25 tons, topped by connectin ...

and the Shard). Names of shops and other features include humorous puns, such as Marks and Sparks, Woolies, Amanda Lofe - Home Baked Bread & Cakes, Ivor Faggot Butcher ('I've a faggot' - a reference to the traditional English meat dish), A. Kingbody Sports Centre ('Aching Body') and Terry Bull Gardening Service, Decorators ('Terrible'). The village also includes a model railway,

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

and windmill.

Popular models

Some of the popular models at the village include the burning house, Stonehenge, the Shard, the ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a Television in the United Kingdom, British soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the Ea ...

'' indoor scene and the dragon castle.

Media

The model village appeared in an episode of ''

Holiday of My Lifetime ''Holiday of My Lifetime'' is a documentary series hosted by Len Goodman. It began on 20 October 2014, and concluded on 4 March 2016. Format Goodman and a celebrity guest travel to a favourite childhood holiday location of that guest within th ...

'' in 2014 with

Len Goodman Leonard Gordon Goodman (born 25 April 1944) is an English professional ballroom dancer, dance judge, and coach. He has appeared as head judge on the television dance programmes ''Strictly Come Dancing'', a programme where various celebrities c ...

and

Matt Allwright Matthew Allwright (born 14 April 1970) is an English television presenter, journalist, and musician. He has presented shows such as '' Watchdog'', ''Rogue Traders'', '' Food Inspectors, The Code'', '' Fake Britain'' and ''The One Show'' for BBC ...

. It also appeared on ''

The One Show ''The One Show'' is a British television magazine and chat show programme. Broadcast live on BBC One weeknights at 7:00 pm, it features topical stories and studio guests. It is currently co-hosted by Alex Jones, Jermaine Jenas, and Rona ...

'' in the same year. In 2019, the model village was used as a filming location for '' Don’t Forget the Driver''.

Illuminations

In summer months, the Babbacombe Model Village is open until 10.30pm, weeknights with the village illuminations switched on. The Shard in the centre of the village is also lit up.

References

{{reflist, 2

External links

Babbacombe Model Village website
at Devon Online 1963 establishments in England Gardens in Devon Miniature parks Tourist attractions in Devon Torquay