Natural England - Exmoor National Park

Exmoor National Park

The land of Lorna Doone.  Less wild and open than its near neighbour Dartmoor, but a place of great beauty whatever the season.

Watersmeet, Exmoor © Paul Glendell

Watersmeet © Paul Glendell

Exmoor contains a wide variety of magnificent landscapes in its 693 sq km.  The moorland plateau terminates with the tallest cliffs in England, overlooking the Bristol Channel on the National Park’s northern boundary.  Inland, the grass moorland of the former Royal Forest is surrounded by heather-covered moors, intersected by round-sided combes.

The mosaic of habitats support a great diversity of wildlife including wild deer, rich lichen communities, rare fritillaries, all sixteen species of British bat and three indigenous species of Whitebeam.  Bird species encountered in moorland areas include Merlin, Dartford Warbler, Stonechat and Grasshopper Warbler.  The National Park also contains the densest collections of veteran trees for which Exmoor and the Exe Valley have been awarded “Ancient Woodland Priority Area” status by the Forestry Commission.  Today, around 28% of the National Park has additional protection through British and European law to protect and secure the future of its distinctive wildlife.  A lack of man made noise, light pollution and major development across the National Park adds to the sense of remoteness and tranquillity.

In the east of the National Park lies the fertile Vale of Porlock and the valleys of the Exe and Avill, dividing Exmoor from the Brendon Hills.  Lynton and Lynmouth, with the predominant traditional stone and slate buildings contrasting with more ornate Victorian buildings, form the largest settlement.  Villages in the Vale of Porlock are characterised by colour-washed cob, stone and thatched cottages.

The historic and archaeological heritage of Exmoor is both rich and varied, with sites and monuments dating back some ten thousand years.  Bronze Age burial mounds and stone circles, Iron Age hillforts, Roman fortlets, medieval castles, distinctive stone bridges, farmsteads and unique rural industrial sites are preserved within the agricultural and moorland landscape.

A deeply rural community with strong local traditions and ways of life, the area is linked with several locally distinctive breeds of livestock including Red Devon catte, Devon Closewool, Exmoor Horn sheep and of course, the Exmoor Pony and its image of herds freely roaming the moor.  Landscape features providing clues to its pastoral past include the characteristic beech hedgebanks.  The area remains largely free of intrusive development like major roads, power lines, military activities, quarrying, mining and light pollution.

The area affords many opportunities for open air recreation including a wide range of routes for a range of user groups as well as extensive areas of open country.  Over half of the public rights of way network is also open to horse riders and mountain bikers.  Some of the more well known long distance routes running through the National Park include the South West Coast Path National Trail, Two Moors Way, Tarka Trail, Exe Valley Walk and Coleridge Way.  Fishing for salmon and trout in the fast-flowing rivers is also popular with some water courses providing opportunities for canoeing.

Contact

Exmoor National Park Authority, Exmoor House, Dulverton, Somerset TA22 9HL 
Tel: (01398) 323665
Email: info@exmoor-nationalpark.gov.uk

Futher information