Tourist Information Centre- + Events /Pictures that make us famous in our Parish
Open all year
Opening Hours : April 1st - November 6th Mon-Fri 9.30am - 5pm Saturday 10am -1pm
July - October inclusive
November 6th - March 31st Mon - Fri 9.30am - 2pm Open Thursday afternoon
until 4.30pm. Saturday 10am - 1pm
We hope you will pop into this busy centre on your visit to Ottery St Mary where you will find the Manager Mrs Phyllis Baxter only too happy to help and inform you of local activities and events and places to stay in the beautiful parish of Ottery St Mary. Please see her website.
There is a link below with all the information on.
http://www.otterytourism.org.uk
Pick up a copy of the Heritage Leaflet that will give you the opportunity to explore the history of the town. It is now also available in German and French for the benefit of our visitors.
Pictured below are Spanish visitors along with some of the students who attend Spanish classes at The Old Convent with their Tutor Josefina Gori. Mayor, Councillor Glyn Dobson seen giving them all a warm welcome to the town
In May 2010 visitors from Canada visited Ottery St Mary they are pictured here with the Mayor of Ottery St Mary - Councillor Glyn Dobson
Visitors from Ireland and Brazil organised by the Rotary Club at the Council Offices, The Old Convent greeted by the Mayor
Ottery St Mary Twinning Association seen here with visitors at the Otter Nurseries with the Mayor Councillor Glyn Dobson and his Wife
Ottery St Mary Town attracts visitors from all over the world. They come to see the magnificent Parish Church, modelled on Exeter Cathedral and to walk in the footsteps of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, born in Ottery in 1772 and where he spent his early childhood. Variously described as a poet, philosopher, journalist, literary critic, fell walker, travel writer, naturalist, translator and writer the fame of Coleridge has spread throughout the world.
Tar Barrel Night on November 5th offers a spectacle that has featured on television in a vast number of countries. Men, women and children of Ottery run with flaming barrels through the streets of the town. A Bonfire, some twelve metres high, burns beside the River Otter and a Fun Fair on the opposite bank offers enjoyment for both local people and the thousands of visitors who come to see the spectacle.
In midsummer Pixie Day is celebrated when the town comes alive with children dressed as Pixies who capture the bell ringers from the Church in a re-enactment of a tradition lost in antiquity. This colourful celebration is a joy for all to see. Please see "Famous in Ottery" page on this website for full details and a link to the Pixi website
Services available at the information centre: Booking Accommodation, Agents for National Express, Sovereign Coaches, Concerts at the Parish Church, Promote Ottery St Mary town, with What’s on, What to see, Where to eat, farmer’s markets, community markets. Just call in we are here to welcome our local residents as well as visitors from all over the world.
Look at the changing of the Seasons in the window display that Phyllis arranges.
EMAIL: info@otterytourism.org.uk
TELEPHONE: 01404 813964
WE ARE WORLD FAMOUS IN OTTERY IN OTTERY ST MARY FOR SPECIAL PLACES AND EVENTS
OTTERY ST MARY PARISH CHURCH http://www.otterystmary.org.uk
The beauty of the Parish Church, looking down on the Town from its setting on the hill.
Perhaps the finest Church in Devon. Modelled closely on Exeter 
Cathedral by Bishop Grandisson when he greatly enlarged and beautified the existing Church for his College of Canons in 1338
One of the many notable features is the 14th Century clock (c1340)
SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE (1772-1834) http://www.otterytourism.org.uk
Samuel Taylor Coleridge was born on the 21st October 1772 in Ottery St Mary.
He was the youngest of 14 children. His Father, the Reverend John Coleridge was already 53 years old. Ann Bowden, the daughter of a farmer, his 2nd wife was 45 years old at the time.
Later Coleridge described his childhood as full fantasy:-
"At 6 years old, I remember to have read Robinson Crusoe and then I found Arabian Nights, ( I had read it in the evening while my mother was mending stockings). I distinctly remember the anxious and fearful eagerness with which I used to watch the window in which the books lay and whenever the sun lay
upon them, I would seize it, carry it out by the wall, and bask and read."
In 1796, Coleridge started a close friendship with William Wordsworth,one of
the most creative relationships in English literature. From it resulted "Lyrical
Ballads which opened with Coleridge's "Rime Of The Ancient Mariner" a 625
line ballad which is among his essential works.
According to Coleridge he heard the words to his famous Kubla Khan in a
dream. His play Remote was successfully produced at the Drury Lane Theatre
in London in 1813.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge died in Highgate, London in 1834
Chanters House was the ancestral home of the Coleridge family
The Library
EVENTS :
PIXIE DAY
THIS IS HELD ON THE SATURDAY NEAREST MIDSUMMER'S DAY. PIXI DAY IS ORGANISED BY THE OTTERY ST MARY JOINT SCOUT & GUIDE COMMITTEE.FOR A FULL HISTORY OF OTTERY'S PIXI "TROUBLE" PLEASE CLICK ON THIS LINK http://www.pixieday.org
THERE IS A FETE ON THIS DAY, SIDE SHOWS AND FIREWORKS IN THE EVENING
OTTERY ST MARY CARNIVAL
THESE ARE JUST TWO EVENTS NOT TO BE MISSED AND FULL DETAILS OF THESE EVENTS ARE ON THE TOURIST INFORMATION WEBSITE LINK ALSO.
http://www.otterytourism.org.uk
TAR BARRELS
http://www.otterytarbarrels.co.uk
For more information and pictures on this world famous event which takes place in Ottery each year in November please follow the link above. This traditional event is televised all over the world. Don't miss it! Thank you.