Conygar House

2a The Ball, Dunster, Somerset TA24 6SD


 

The Exmoor National Park is situated in the counties of Devon and Somerset in South West England; Exeter is 40 km (30 miles) to the south and Taunton 20 km (13 miles) from the eastern boundary.  The park contains a variety of magnificent landscapes. Although it is one of the smaller National Parks (693 kmē, 267 sq. miles) the central plateau of open moorland is remote and spacious.  To the north the moorland terminates in towering cliffs above the Bristol Channel.  Rocky headlands, steep wooded ravines, plunging waterfalls and jumbled heaps of fallen rock make this an area of outstanding scenic beauty; it is defined as a Heritage Coast.

Inland, the grass moorland is surrounded by heather-clad rounded hills mostly over 300 m (900 ft).  Dunkery Beacon is the highest point on Exmoor 519 m (1704 ft).  This high land catches clouds from the Atlantic with rainfall up to 2000 mm (80 ins) a year and forms a catchment area for numerous rivers and streams which flow rapidly to the north and more gently to the south.  It is not surprising that the moor is named after its main river, the River Exe.  The moorland is dissected by combes (steep wooded valleys) formed by these fast-running streams.