Lynton

The drive from Ilfracombe to Lynton takes you down to the fringes of Exmoor at Blackmoor Gate and then back up to the coast past Parracombe. There are inviting lanes leading off to the left to such places as Heddons Mouth and Woody Bay - well worth exploring and affording some really spectacular cliff top walks with views across the Bristol Channel to the Welsh coast.

If sustenance is required as you journey, then The Fox & Goose Inn at Parracombe, is a great place to begin or end your day. “Weary and Thin They Wander Inn - Happy and Stout They Wander Out” Situated within Exmoor National Park, The Fox is an imposing Victorian building, which belies a cosy interior that is packed with memorabilia and interest of a bygone age.

The pub has a fantastic reputation for great home cooked food, well kept ales and an atmosphere which is relaxed, happy and welcoming. Centrally located, it is ideal for walking, sightseeing, country sports and the ever expanding Lynton to Barnstaple Railway. Exmoor has a long tradition of providing some of the best horse riding in the country. Pay a visit to Outovercott Riding Stables at Barbrook, just outside Lynton, and you will find out why. There is no better way to see the coast or the moor than from the back of one of their experienced and well behaved horses or ponies. The staff are fully qualified and will look after you whether you are a novice or an experienced rider.

Lynton and Barnstaple Railway

Some of the earliest visitors to Lynton and Lynmouth were the poets Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth. Once word had spread amongst the genteel classes that the long haul over Exmoor was worth the effort, more and more visitors were arriving in the twin communities.

Arriving at Lynton, you find a bright airy Victorian village with a selection of shops, tea-room and cafes. Its Parish Church of St Mary, which stands overlooking the sea, has a tower that is mainly thirteenth century although the church itself has been enlarged and altered - most notably in 1741, when the nave was rebuilt, and later in Victorian times.

Many of the town buildings were constructed in the latter part of the nineteenth century and the early twentieth century. The Town Hall was given to the town by Sir George Newnes, a major benefactor of the town, who also gave the town the Congregational Church on Lee Road.

St Vincent’s Cottage in Market Street, the oldest cottage in Lynton, houses a charming, rural museum reflecting Exmoor life. You will find a general collection along with specific exhibitions of the Lynton-Barnstaple narrow gauge railway, the Lynmouth flood and Lynmouth overland lifeboat launch. Also features an Exmoor kitchen, Victorian doll’s house and animal and tool collections.

The Lynton & Barnstaple Railway, originally opened in 1898, has for years been regarded as one of the most scenic and charming narrow gauge railways in Britain. It has captured the imagination of people far and wide, and its closure in the 1930s was a great loss to both Devon and Exmoor.

In 2004 a short stretch of the friendly line was re-opened from the highest point, in the National Park at Woody Bay Station. The railway is undoubtly proving to be a very popular visitor destination.

Visitors can currently expect to find a mile long steam train ride, as well as a fantastic tearoom and garden. A journey on the Lynton & Barnstaple is an essential part of any visit to North Devon and provides a fantastic trip out in any weather for all the family!

About one mile to the east of Lynton is the spectacular Valley of the Rocks. This spectacular ‘dry valley’ is unlike another combe on the north coast. The valley which was probably created during the Ice Age has spectacular weathered rock formations with names such as ‘ The Devil’s Cheesering’, Castle Rocks’ and ‘Ragged Jack’.

The picturesque rocks in the valley have there own population of wild goats, who can be seen scrambling amongst the rocky outcrops.