if you have a car. the coast is very nice - sidmouth. Ladran Bay nearby is quite picturesque. There is a great theatre in Sidmouth that does Agatha Christie plays and the like. Ottery St Mary is the church where Coleridge's dad was the vicar. the church yard is full of coleridges, but I believe the great man is laid to rest in Westminster abbey or some such. Very moving to read Frost at Midnight though when he reminisces over his childhood in Ottery. His father died when he was young and he was sent off to be miserable and educated in London.

En route to Ladran Bay there is a nice trout stream you can stand on a sort of pooh bridge and watch the fishes. or take some sticks and play pooh sticks. It is good for cider - all that country and you can get some very good stuff from farmhouses, which advertise the real stuff - most shops in Taunton will have a drop of decent stuff.

If you like gardens there is a nice one pretty near called Bicton gardens and that is extraordinarily beautiful
this is just off the top of my head. There is a service station at Taunton Dean and you can play slot machines and eat kit kats and the like.

all the best steve
big al