Exmoor & Country

Traversing the border between Devon and Somerset on the North coast the National Park of Exmoor sits high above the sea. It is this proximity to the Atlantic that gives Exmoor its unique quality and weather which descends with alarming speed in the form of mists and rain-storms. Far smaller than Dartmoor, Exmoor is more cultivated with large expanses of farmland breaking up the heath, making it less bleak than Devon’s other National Park.

Much of the moorland is privately owned, but provision is made for visitors with a series of footpaths and bridleways. Visitors are more likely to stay in one of the towns and villages around the edge of the park. On the coast, known as ‘Doone Country’, after Blakemore’s novel Lorna Doone, the twin towns of Lynton and Lynmouth enjoy a unique position in a cliff niche surrounded by wood and moorland. Porlock also enjoys an unusual position in a deep hollow amongst the hills.

Dunster on the eastern edge is a quaint medieval Somerset village crowned by a flamboyant castle. Its neighbour, Minehead, is where the South West Coast Path starts before it travels west along the highest coastline in the country. To the south of the moors, Winsford is generally believed to be the prettiest village on Exmoor with no fewer than seven bridges over its numerous streams and rivers. It is dominated by the thatched Royal Oak Inn.