Exmoor & the North Devon coast

Exmoor became a National Park in 1954. It runs from open moor down to about 37 miles of coast, which the National Park Authority describes as the highest in England and Wales: the hills rise to 433 metres at Culbone Hill, and Great Hangman is the highest sea cliff in England and Wales. The woods between The Foreland and Porlock are the longest stretch of coastal woodland in England and Wales. Inland there are large areas of open moorland and herds of wild red deer, and in 2011 Exmoor became Europe’s first International Dark Sky Reserve.

Most of our houses are here. The largest groups are in and around Porlock and Porlock Weir, Dulverton, Minehead, Dunster and Wheddon Cross. There are more at Lynton and Lynmouth, the twin villages joined by a water-powered cliff railway, and at Exford, the Brendon Hills, South Molton and Combe Martin. They range from a chapel for two in Brompton Regis to a farmhouse at West Anstey that sleeps 27.

The South West Coast Path starts at Minehead and follows the Exmoor coast west to Combe Martin, with a series of climbs and descents, some of them steep. Paths inland are often rugged and narrow. Dunkery Beacon is the highest point on Exmoor. Take a map, and check the weather before you set out.