Exmoor

Wikipedia contributors · CC BY-SA · EN · 04/10/2026

Exmoor is loosely defined as an area of hilly open moorland in west Somerset and north Devon in South West England. It is named after the River Exe, the source of which is situated in the centre of the area, two miles north-west of Simonsbath. Exmoor is more precisely defined as the area of the former ancient royal hunting forest, also called Exmoor, which was officially surveyed 1815–1818 as 18810 acre in extent. The moor has given its name to a National Park, which includes the Brendon Hills, the East Lyn Valley, the Vale of Porlock and 55 km of the Bristol Channel coast. The total area of the Exmoor National Park is 692.8 km2, of which 71% is in Somerset and 29% in Devon.

The upland area is underlain by sedimentary rocks dating from the Devonian and early Carboniferous periods with Triassic and Jurassic age rocks on lower slopes. Where these reach the coast, cliffs are formed which are cut with ravines and waterfalls. It was recognised as a heritage coast in 1991. The highest point on Exmoor is Dunkery Beacon; at 519 m it is also the highest point in Somerset. The terrain supports lowland heath communities, ancient woodland and blanket mire which provide habitats for scarce flora and fauna. There have also been reports of the Beast of Exmoor, a cryptozoological cat roaming Exmoor. Several areas have been designated as Nature Conservation Review and Geological Conservation Review sites.

There is evidence of human occupation from the Mesolithic. This developed for agriculture and extraction of mineral ores into the Bronze and Iron Ages. The remains of standing stones, cairns and bridges can still be identified. The royal forest was granted a charter in the 13th century, however foresters who managed the area were identified in the Domesday Book. In the Middle Ages sheep farming was common with a system of agistment licensing the grazing of livestock as the Inclosure Acts divided up the land. The area is now used for a range of recreational purposes.

National character area

Exmoor has been designated as a national character area (No. 145) by Natural England, the public body responsible for England's natural environment. Neighbouring natural regions include The Culm to the southwest, the Devon Redlands to the south and the Vale of Taunton and Quantock Fringes to the east.

Exmoor National Park

Exmoor was designated a National Park in 1954, under the 1949 National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act. The Exmoor National Park is primarily an upland area with a dispersed population living mainly in small villages and hamlets. The largest settlements are Porlock, Dulverton, Lynton, and Lynmouth, which together contain almost 40 per cent of the park's population. Lynton and Lynmouth are combined into one parish and are connected by the Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway.

Exmoor was once a royal forest and hunting ground, covering 18810 acre, which was sold off in 1818. Several areas within the Exmoor National Park have been declared Sites of Special Scientific Interest due to their flora and fauna. This title earns the site some legal protection from development, damage and neglect. In 1993 an environmentally sensitive area was established within Exmoor. It is known as a perfect place for stargazing. In 2011, it was designated Europe's first International Dark Sky Reserve by the International Dark-Sky Association.

Geology

Exmoor is an upland area formed almost exclusively from sedimentary rocks dating from the Devonian and early Carboniferous periods. The name of the geological period and system, 'Devonian', comes from Devon, as rocks of that age were first studied and described here. With the exception of a suite of Triassic and Jurassic age rocks forming the lower ground between Porlock and Timberscombe and from Minehead to Yarde (within Exmoor National Park but peripheral to the moor itself), all of the solid rocks of Exmoor are assigned to the Exmoor Group, which comprises a mix of gritstones, sandstones, slates, shales, limestone, siltstones and mudstones. Quartz and iron mineralisation can be detected in outcrops and subsoil. The Glenthorne area demonstrates the Trentishoe Member (formerly 'Formation') of the Hangman Sandstone Formation (formerly 'Group'). The Hangman Sandstone represents the Middle Devonian sequence of North Devon and Somerset. These unusual freshwater deposits in the Hangman Grits were mainly formed in desert conditions. As this area of Britain was not subject to glaciation, the plateau remains as a remarkably old landform. The bedrock and more recent superficial deposits are covered in part by moorland which is supported by wet, acid soil.

Geography

Coastline

Exmoor has 55 km of coastline. The highest sea cliff on mainland Britain (if a cliff is defined as having a slope greater than 60 degrees) is Great Hangman near Combe Martin at 318 m high, with a cliff face of 250 m. Its sister cliff is the 200 m Little Hangman, which marks the edge of Exmoor. The coastal hills reach a maximum height of 414 m at Culbone Hill.

Exmoor's woodlands sometimes reach the shoreline, especially between Porlock and Foreland Point, where they form the single longest stretch of coastal woodland in England and Wales. The Exmoor Coastal Heaths have been recognised as a Site of Special Scientific Interest due to the diversity of plant species present.

The scenery of rocky headlands, ravines, waterfalls and towering cliffs gained the Exmoor coast recognition as a heritage coast in 1991. With its huge waterfalls and caves, this dramatic coastline has become an adventure playground for both climbers and explorers. The cliffs provide one of the longest and most isolated seacliff traverses in the UK. The South West Coast Path, at 1014 km the longest National Trail in England and Wales, starts at Minehead and runs along all of Exmoor's coast. There are small harbours at Lynmouth, Porlock Weir and Combe Martin. Once crucial to coastal trade, the harbours are now primarily used for pleasure; individually owned sailing boats and non-commercial fishing boats are often found in the harbours. The Valley of Rocks beyond Lynton is a deep dry valley that runs parallel to the nearby sea and is capped on the seaward side by large rocks, and Sexton's Burrows forms a natural breakwater to the harbour of Watermouth Bay on the coast.

Rivers

The high ground forms the catchment area for numerous rivers and streams. There are about 483 km of named rivers on Exmoor. The River Exe, after which Exmoor is named, rises at Exe Head near the village of Simonsbath, close to the Bristol Channel coast, but flows more or less directly due south, so that most of its length lies in Devon. It reaches the sea at a substantial ria (estuary) on the south (English Channel) coast of Devon. It has several tributaries which arise on Exmoor. The River Barle runs from northern Exmoor to join the River Exe at Exebridge, Devon. The river and the Barle Valley are both designated as biological Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Another tributary, the River Haddeo, flows from the Wimbleball Lake.

Most other rivers arising on Exmoor flow north to the Bristol Channel. These include the River Heddon, which runs along the western edges of Exmoor, reaching the North Devon coast at Heddon's Mouth, and the East and West Lyn rivers, which meet at Watersmeet immediately east of Lynmouth. Hoar Oak Water is a moorland tributary of the East Lyn River which also has its confluence there. The River Horner, which is also known as Horner Water, rises near Luccombe and flows into Porlock Bay near Hurlstone Point. The River Mole arises on the south-western flanks of Exmoor and is the major tributary of the River Taw, which itself flows northward from Dartmoor. Badgworthy Water is one of the small rivers running north to the coast and is associated with the Lorna Doone legends.

Climate

Along with the rest of South West England, Exmoor has a temperate climate which is generally wetter and milder than the rest of England. The mean annual temperature at Simonsbath is 8.3 °C with a seasonal and diurnal variation, but due to the modifying effect of the sea the range is less than in most other parts of the UK. January is the coldest month, with mean minimum temperatures between 1 and. July and August are the warmest months in the region, with mean daily maxima around 21 °C. In general, December is the month with the least sunshine and June the month with the most sun. The south-west of England has a favoured location with regard to the Azores high pressure when it extends its influence north-eastwards towards the UK, particularly in summer.

Cloud often forms inland, especially near hills, and reduce the amount of sunshine that reaches the park. The average annual sunshine is about 1,600 hours. Rainfall tends to be associated with Atlantic depressions or with convection. In summer, convection, caused by the sun heating the land surface more than the sea, sometimes forms rain clouds and at that time of year a large proportion of the rainfall comes from showers and thunderstorms. Annual precipitation varies from 800 mm in the east of the park to over 2000 mm at The Chains. However, in the 24 hours of 16 August 1952, more than 225 mm of rain fell at The Chains. This rainfall, which followed an exceptionally wet summer, led to disastrous flooding in Lynmouth with 34 dead and extensive damage to the small town.

Snowfall is very variable from year to year and ranges from 23 days on the high moors to about 6 on coastal areas. November to March have the highest mean wind speeds, with June to August having the lightest winds. The wind comes mostly from the south-west.

There are two Met Office Weather stations recording climate data within Exmoor: Liscombe and Nettlecombe.

History

There is evidence of occupation of the area by people from Mesolithic times onward. In the Neolithic period, people started to manage animals and grow crops on farms cleared from the woodland, rather than act purely as hunters and as gatherers. It is also likely that extraction and smelting of mineral ores to make metal tools, weapons, containers and ornaments started in the late Neolithic, and continued into the Bronze and Iron Ages. An earthen ring at Parracombe is believed to be a Neolithic henge dating from 5000–4000 BC, and Cow Castle, which is where White Water meets the River Barle, is an Iron Age fort at the top of a conical hill.

Tarr Steps are a prehistoric (1000 BC) clapper bridge across the River Barle, about 4 km south-east of Withypool and 6 km north-west of Dulverton. The stone slabs weigh up to 5 tonnes apiece, and the bridge has been designated by English Heritage as a grade I listed building, to recognise its special architectural, historical or cultural significance. There is little evidence of Roman occupation apart from two fortlets on the coast. Lanacombe is the site of several standing stones and cairns which have been scheduled as ancient monuments. The stone settings are between 30 cm and 65 cm high. A series of Bronze Age stone cairns are closely associated with the standing stones.

Holwell Castle, at Parracombe, was a Norman motte-and-bailey castle built to guard the junction of the east–west and north–south trade routes, enabling movement of people and goods and the growth of the population. Alternative explanations for its construction suggest it may have been constructed to obtain taxes at the River Heddon bridging place, or to protect and supervise silver mining in the area around Combe Martin. It was 40 m in diameter and 6.2 m high above the bottom of a rock cut ditch which is 2.7 m deep. It was built, in the late 11th or early 12th century. The earthworks of the castle are still clearly visible from a nearby footpath, but there is no public access to them.

Establishment of royal forest

According to the late 13th-century Hundred Rolls, King Henry II of England (d. 1189) gave William of Wrotham the office of steward of Exmoor. The terms steward, warden and forester appear to be synonymous for the king's chief officer of the royal forest.

Wardens

The first recorded wardens were Dodo, Almer and Godric who were named in the Domesday Book (1086) as "foresters of Widepolla", Withypool having been the ancient capital of the forest. The family of Denys were associated with Ilchester and "Petherton". William of Wrotham, who died in 1217, was steward of the forests of Exmoor and North Petherton, Somerset. Walter and Robert were named as foresters of Exmoor when they witnessed an early 13th-century grant to Forde Abbey. In 1276 the jurors of Brushford manor made a complaint about John de Camera in the Court of Exchequer in which he was described as forester of Exmoor.

William Lucar of "Wythecomb", the brother of Elizabeth Lucar, was forester temp. under Henry VI, between 1422 and 1461. William de Botreaux, 3rd Baron Botreaux was appointed in 1435 warden of the forests of Exmoor and Neroche for life by Richard Duke of York. The Botreaux family had long held the manor of Molland at the southern edge of Exmoor, but were probably resident mainly at North Cadbury in Somerset. On 10 May 1461 William Bourchier, 9th Baron FitzWarin, feudal baron of Bampton was appointed by King Edward IV as Master Forester of the Forests of Exmoor and Neroche for life. Sir John Poyntz of Iron Acton, Gloucestershire, was warden or chief forester of Exmoor in 1568 when he brought an action in the Court of Exchequer against Henry Rolle (of Heanton Satchville, Petrockstowe), the powerful lord of the manors of Exton, Hawkridge and Withypool.

Source and attribution

Adapted from “Exmoor” by English Wikipedia contributors. Main paragraphs and sections are retained; tables, reference markers and technical markup are omitted. This is an encyclopedic adaptation, not a personal review. Original revision and contributor history ↗. Text is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗. Check current visitor access, tickets and transport with the relevant operator.