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Exmoor. Photo By Kevin Young.

10 Interesting Facts About Exmoor

Exmoor is 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 center of the area, two miles north-west of Simonsbath.

Exmoor is an area of the former ancient royal hunting forest and it covers an area of 18,810 acres 7,610 ha in extent.

In 1954, Exmoor became designated national park, under the 1949 National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act.

The Exmoor National Park is primarily an upland area with 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.

The total area of the Exmoor National Park is 692.8 km2 of which 71% is in Somerset and 29% in Devon.

This includes the Brendon Hills, the East Lyn Valley, the Vale of Porlock and 55 km of the Bristol Channel coast.

Lets look at some top ten interesting fact about this magnificent  park of nature;

1 Dunkery Beacon is the Highest Point on Exmoor

Dunkery Beacon the Highest Point in Exmoor Covered in Heather. By EdSomerset.

It is the highest point on Exmoor and in Somerset, England.

 It is also the highest point in southern England outside of Dartmoor.

The sandstone hill rises to five hundred and nineteen  meters, approximately 1,703 ft., and provides views over the surrounding moorland. It extends to the Bristol Channel and hills up to 86 miles 138 km away.

Human have been visiting the site since the bronze age, and has several burial mounds in form of cairns and bowl barrows.

2 It has the Highest and Lowest Tides in Europe

The Exmoor coast has the second highest tidal range in the world after the Bay of Fundy in Canada. The difference between high and low tide ranges up to 50ft.

Tides along the Exmoor Coast in the Bristol Channel are some of the fiercest in the world.

On the Exmoor coast, the sea will rise and fall vertically over the shore twice a day.

 It is the position of the sun and the moon that cause the tide to move.

3 It has the Most Isolated Coastline in England and Wales

The coastline within the national park stretches for thirty seven  miles and is one of the most uninterred and best protected coastlines in England and Wales.

The highest sheer cliff is two hundred and forty four meters about ,about eight hundred feet, on Great Hangman, which is the highest sea cliff in England and Wales.

The steepness of its cliffs has allowed little access to the shoreline, making it extremely remote.

4 Britain’s Longest walking Path Starts on Exmoor

The South West Coast Path is the longest  way-marked walking route in England and Wales – and  is arguably the best – starts in Minehead in Exmoor.

 Its slate cliffs rise to a hundred meters high in some instances.

5 Britain’s Oldest Native Pony breed Originated in Exmoor

Exmoor Ponies in their Native Habitat. Photo by By Wsupermain.

The Exmoor pony is one of the mountain and moorland pony breeds native to the British Isles. Some still roam as semi-feral livestock on Exmoor, a large area of moorland in Devon and Somerset in southwest England.

These ponies have been around for a long time and have stayed isolated because of their location . The breed has remained very pure, with the look and characteristics of their ancient wild pony ancestors.

5 It’s a Habitat of Fauna and Flora

The upland oak-woods are also an important habitat for woodland birds and particularly the specialist migratory species such as pied flycatchers or redstarts which arrive in the UK during the summer months.

Range of lichens, mosses and bryophytes which thrive in the moist clean air, such as the four species of lungwort lichens.

Exmoor has a rare butterfly.

7 It has the Longest Stretch of Coastal Woodland in England and Wales

Exmoor has 55 kilometers, 34 miles, of coastline.

The sheltered length of coastline between Foreland and Porlock has allowed woodland to develop along this part of the coast.

The Exmoor Coastal Heaths have been recognized as a Site of Special Scientific Interest due to the diversity of plant species present.

In many places, the woodland goes right down to the shore.

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 sea cliff traverses in the UK.

The ancient oak trees here have a gnarled, twisted appearance due to the steep, unstable cliffs they have had to grow on.

The South West Coast Path, at 1,014 kilometers, 630 mile, is the longest National Trail in England and Wales.

It starts at Minehead and runs along all of Exmoor’s coast.

8 It has Numerous Rivers and Streams

The East Lyn River. Photo By Jamsta.

The high ground forms the catchment area for numerous rivers and streams.

 River Exe is named after Exmoor rises at Exe Head near the village of Simonsbath, close to the Bristol Channel coast.

It flows more or less directly due south, so that most of its length lies in Devon.

It reaches the sea at a substantial estuary on the south coast of Devon.

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.

9 It has the Highest Sea Cliffs on the British Mainland

The Exmoor Coastline near the Valley of Rocks. Photo by Exmoorwalker.

Exmoor has the highest coastline on the British mainland.

The highest cliff on mainland Britain is on Great Hangman near Combe Martin

Little Hangman is 200m, 656 ft. and it marks the edge of Exmoor.

The coastal hill is 318m, 1043 ft., high, with a cliff face of 250m, 800ft.

 The coastal hills reach a maximum height of 414 m, 1,358 ft. at Culbone Hill

10 It Home to the Famous Tarr Steps

Clapper bridge

Tarr Steps Clappe Bridge at Exmoor. Photo By Stefan Kühn.

The Tarr Steps is a clapper bridge across the River Barle in the Exmoor National Park.

A clapper bridge is an ancient form of bridge found on the moors of the English. They often credited with prehistoric origin, though most were erected in medieval times.