14 Facts About Exmoor

Exmoor is loosely defined as an area of hilly open moorland in west Somerset and north Devon in South West England.

The highest point on Exmoor is Dunkery Beacon; at 519 metres it is the highest point in Somerset.

Exmoor has been designated as a national character area by Natural England, the public body responsible for England's natural environment.

Exmoor was designated a National Park in 1954, under the 1949 National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act.

Exmoor is an upland area formed almost exclusively from sedimentary rocks dating from the Devonian and early Carboniferous periods.

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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.

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.

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.

Parish of Exmoor Forest was part of the Hundred of Williton and Freemanners.

Exmoor set about converting the royal forest into agricultural land.

Exmoor is the only national location for the lichens Biatoridium delitescens, Rinodina fimbriata and Rinodina flavosoralifera, the latter having been found only on one individual tree.

In 1818 Sir Thomas Acland, the last warden of Exmoor, took thirty ponies and established the Acland Herd, now known as the Anchor Herd, whose direct descendants still roam the moor.

Beast of Exmoor is a cryptozoological cat that is reported to roam Exmoor.

Attractions of Exmoor include 208 Scheduled monuments, 16 conservation areas, and other open access land as designated by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000.