Exmoor

Exmoor is a place of great beauty and tranquillity, with scenery of rocky headlands, ravines, caves and waterfalls, which stops suddenly at the highest sea cliffs in England, overlooking the Bristol Channel. Its hilly, heather-clad moorland and tree-clad valleys cover 430 square miles. The South West Coast Path runs along Exmoor’s coast. Other long-distance routes include the Two Moors Way and the Exe Valley Walk. There is also some first rate mountain biking and horse riding and the fast-flowing rivers offer fishing and canoeing. Among the smaller rivers is Badgworthy Water, associated with R.D. Blackmore’s romantic novel Lorna Doone. Exmoor’s woodlands contain ancient trees that have won special status. This mosaic of habitats is home to deer, rare plant life and butterflies, merlin and Exmoor ponies. Lynton and Lynmouth and their traditional stone and slate buildings make up the largest settlement, while in the Vale of Porlock there are villages of colour-washed cob, stone and thatch. The park’s history is illustrated by Bronze Age burial mounds and stone circles, Iron Age hillforts, Roman forts, the harbour at Porlock Weir and the medieval Dunster Castle.