Withypool Bridge

Withypool (formerly Widepolle, Widipol, Withypoole) is a small village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Withypool and Hawkridge, in the Somerset district, in the ceremonial county of Somerset, England, near the centre of Exmoor National Park and close to the border with Devon. The word Withy means "willow". The parish of Withypool and Hawkridge, covers 3,097 hectares (7,653 acres), includes the village of Hawkridge and has a population around 201.Withypool is in the Barle Valley on the River Barle. The village lies on the route of the Two Moors Way and the Celtic Way Exmoor Option. To the southwest of the village lie Withypool Common and Withypool Hill.

The Anglican Church of St Andrew in Withypool, Somerset, England was built in late medieval period. It is a Grade II* listed building.

Withypool Stone Circle, also known as Withypool Hill Stone Circle, is a stone circle located on the Exmoor moorland, near the village of Withypool in the southwestern English county of Somerset. The ring is part of a tradition of stone circle construction that spread throughout much of Britain, Ireland, and Brittany during the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, over a period between 3300 and 900 BCE. The purpose of such monuments is unknown, although archaeologists speculate that the stones represented supernatural entities for the circle's builders. Many monuments were built in Exmoor during the Bronze Age, but only two stone circles survive in this area: the other is Porlock Stone Circle. The Withypool ring is located on the south-western slope of Withypool Hill, on an area of heathland. It is about 36.4 metres (119 feet 5 inches) in diameter. Around thirty small gritstones remain, although there may originally have been around 100; there are conspicuous gaps on the northern and western sides of the monument. The site was rediscovered in 1898 and surveyed by the archaeologist Harold St George Gray in 1905.

Exford is a rural village at the centre of Exmoor National Park, 7 miles (11 km) north-west of Dulverton, and 10 miles (16 km) south-west of Minehead, in Somerset, England. Less than a mile away is the hamlet of Lyncombe. Situated on the B3224, the main route across Exmoor, it is a small village on the River Exe with activities including hunting, shooting, fishing and horse riding.The centre of the village surrounds a traditional village green, and is home to a post office, general store, car repair shop, youth hostel and primary school as well as a children's play area. The village is on the route of the Samaritans Way South West and the Celtic Way Exmoor Option.

Road Castle is an Iron Age bank and ditch in the West Somerset district of Somerset, England. The hill fort is situated approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) west from the village of Winsford. The ditch is almost square in plan with rounded corners and covers an area of approximately 0.7 acres (0.28 ha).

The Anglican Church of St Mary Magdelene in Exford, Somerset, England was built in the 15th century. It is a Grade II* listed building.

Landacre Bridge carries Landacre Lane across the River Barle near Withypool on Exmoor in the English county of Somerset. It has been designated as a scheduled monument and a Grade II* listed building.The stone bridge has five arches each with a span of 9 feet (2.7 m). It has pointed arches with cutwaters. On either side of the road carriageway are parapets 0.6 metres (2 ft 0 in) high.It was built in the late medieval period with the first documentary evidence being from 1610. Restoration work was undertaken in 1875, and again following damage during flooding in 1952.The grassy banks are grazed by sheep and provide an environment for Montbretia, Ivy-leaved Bellflower and Bottle Sedge, with the wetter areas supporting Bog-bean, Marsh Speedwell, Bog Asphodel and Round-leaved Sundew. The river itself has populations of Watermilfoil and the hybrid between Monkeyflower and Blood-drop-emlets.The bridge has also given its name to a Morris Dance by Exmoor Border Morris, which they performed at the bridge in 2016.

The Tarr Steps is a clapper bridge across the River Barle in the Exmoor National Park, Somerset, England. They are located in a national nature reserve about 2.5 miles (4 km) south east of Withypool and 4 miles (6 km) north west of Dulverton. A typical clapper bridge construction, the bridge's listing assesses it as medieval in origin. The stone slabs weigh up to two tons each. The bridge is 180 feet (55 m) long and has 17 spans. It has been designated as a Grade I listed building and scheduled monument.

The Anglican Church of St Giles in Hawkridge, Somerset, England was built in the 14th century. It is a Grade II* listed building.

Exmoor is loosely defined as 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 centre of the area, two miles north-west of Simonsbath. Exmoor is more precisely defined as the area of the former ancient royal hunting forest, also called Exmoor, which was officially surveyed 1815–1818 as 18,810 acres (7,610 ha) in extent. The moor has given its name to a National Park, which includes the Brendon Hills, the East Lyn Valley, the Vale of Porlock and 55 km (34 mi) of the Bristol Channel coast. The total area of the Exmoor National Park is 692.8 km2 (267.5 sq mi), of which 71% is in Somerset and 29% in Devon. The upland area is underlain by sedimentary rocks dating from the Devonian and early Carboniferous periods with Triassic and Jurassic age rocks on lower slopes. Where these reach the coast, cliffs are formed which are cut with ravines and waterfalls. It was recognised as a heritage coast in 1991. The highest point on Exmoor is Dunkery Beacon; at 519 metres (1,703 ft) it is also the highest point in Somerset. The terrain supports lowland heath communities, ancient woodland and blanket mire which provide habitats for scarce flora and fauna. There have also been reports of the Beast of Exmoor, a cryptozoological cat roaming Exmoor. Several areas have been designated as Nature Conservation Review and Geological Conservation Review sites. There is evidence of human occupation from the Mesolithic. This developed for agriculture and extraction of mineral ores into the Bronze and Iron Ages. The remains of standing stones, cairns and bridges can still be identified. The royal forest was granted a charter in the 13th century, however foresters who managed the area were identified in the Domesday Book. In the Middle Ages sheep farming was common with a system of agistment licensing the grazing of livestock as the Inclosure Acts divided up the land. The area is now used for a range of recreational purposes.

South Exmoor (grid reference SS880340) is a 3132.7 hectare (7742.3 acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Devon and Somerset, England, notified in 1992. The site consists of several fragments of land on the south side of Exmoor. In Devon the site includes Barcombe Down and North Molton Ridge, southeast of South Radworthy, Molland Common, north of Molland, and West Ansty and East Ansty Commons. In Somerset the site includes Brightworthy Barrows and part of Withypool Common, Winsford Hill and Haddon Hill, all within the Exmoor National Park. The site contains extensive areas of heathland including lowland communities which are only found in South West England and South Wales. The River Barle and its tributaries flow through parts of the site and submerged plants such as alternate watermilfoil (Myriophyllum alterniflorum) are abundant. There are small areas of semi-natural woodland within the site, including some which are ancient. The most abundant tree species is sessile oak (Quercus petraea), the shrub layer is very sparse and the ground flora includes bracken, bilberry and a variety of mosses. The heaths have strong breeding populations of whinchat (Saxicola rubetra) and European stonechat (Saxicola rubicola). northern wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe) are common near stone boundary walls and other stony places. Grasshopper warbler (Locustella naevia) breed in scrub and tall heath. Trees on the moorland edges provide nesting sites for common redpoll (Acanthis flammea), common buzzard (Buteo buteo) and common raven (Corvus corax).

Almsworthy Common is a small area of unenclosed land in Exmoor, south-western England. It contains a number of archaeological sites. It is about 2 miles north of Exford roughly 0.5 km2 in area, and the Macmillan Way West passes through it, as does the parish boundary between Exford and Porlock. It reaches a height of 453 metres.Stone settings are arrangements of upright stones either scattered randomly or in a roughly geometric pattern. They are the most common form of stone monument found on Exmoor, with 57 conclusively recorded examples in this area. A large number are known to have existed but have been destroyed.560 m south west of Chetsford Bridge is a stone alignment. The archaeologist Aubrey Burl stated that an "eye of faith" was needed to identify "either a ring or a set of rows." The Ordnance Survey list it as a "Stone Circle" on their map. In his 1970 study of the archaeology of Exmoor, Leslie Grinsell thought that it was "probably" a stone circle.The common is also the site of one of the best preserved hut circles on Exmoor.