The Clock Tower

The Clock Tower is a family-owned cafe and cakery that's been running for close to thirty years, set inside a 16th-century tower that was once a lime kiln, at the top of Jacob's Ladder within Sidmouth's Connaught Gardens. The setting does a lot of the work here - some of the best sea views in England from the tables, looking out over the gardens and the coast beyond.

Everything is home-made on the premises, from breakfast and lunch through to a varied selection of cakes and scones, using local and ethically sourced ingredients wherever possible. It's the kind of place built for a slow stop rather than a quick bite - a coffee and cake after a walk through the gardens, or lunch with a view before heading back down the ladder into town. Open from 10am to 5pm, it's long since become a fixture of a Connaught Gardens visit rather than an optional extra, run by the same family for most of its near three-decade history.