Barle Valley

Shoulsbury Castle is an Iron Age hill fort close to Challacombe in Devon, England. It takes the form of a multi-ditch and rampart enclosure close to the top of a hill on the shoulder of Shoulsbarrow Common at an elevation of 472 metres (1,549 ft) above sea level.Shoulsbury Castle is unusually rectangular and on a western hill spur suggesting that it is either Roman or Iron Age. (The Archaeology of Exmoor, p78) It is the largest and best known hillfort on Exmoor that over the years has been referred to as Solsbury, Shorsbery, Salusbury, Shoulsbury, Showlsborough, Shoulsbarrow in various texts over the Centuries (The Archaeology of Exmoor, p84). The area was occupied from the Iron Age into the early Saxon period by the Dumnonii people. In the 18th Century it was suggested it was the work of the druids for the celebration of religious rites or ‘feats of activity or athletick exhibitions’ (Collinson, 1791) The fort is mainly double rampart but to the south natural topography allows only one. The unusual rectangular plan is similar to nearby Roman fortlets at Martinhoe and County Gate, leading to the suggestion that Shoulsbury may be Roman in origin. Very little evidence of Roman activity exists on Exmoor with only one Roman fort and the two fortlets identified (The Field Archaeology of Exmoor, p.56). The likely entrances are from the west and south east corner, the inner enclosure extends to four acres, the outer six. There is a circular mound evident in the north east corner. This has been described as a Bronze Age barrow and was excavated as such before 1906 with nothing found (Victoria County History, Devon Vol. I, p596). There are various lumps and bumps enclosed which may be house platforms, a nearby water supply is from the river Bray. Its location on Exmoor is likely to have been an extremely exposed, remote and inhospitable place in the Iron Age. Referred to by Daniel Defoe (1661-1731), “The Country is called Exmore, Cambden calls it a filthy, barren Ground, and indeed, so it is”. (The Reclamation of Exmoor Forest, p6) In 1818 it was just outside an area of 20,000 acres described as, ‘His Majesty’s Allotment’ that contained one small farm and a few ancient track-ways (The Reclamation of Exmoor Forest, p.11). Henry Wollcombe wrote in 1839, ‘Some Account of the Fortified Hills in the County of Devon, whether British, Roman, Anglo-Saxon or Danish with plans of many of them', he describes the hillfort; “The whole inclosure is a complete morass incapable of being walked on. Indeed the whole hill is a bog and marshy and requires great care even in this dry season to pick your path. The parts with double ramparts was never a ditch, it was rather an esplanade for men to draw up on” (The Reclamation of Exmoor Forest, p.7)

Challacombe is a small village on the edge of the Exmoor National Park, in Devon, England. The village has a small general shop/Post Office and a single pub, the Black Venus. The village is on the B3358 road and is 5 miles west of Simonsbath.

St Petrock's Church in Parracombe, Devon, England was built in the 13th century. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building, and is now a redundant church in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. It was declared redundant on 25 November 1969, and was vested in the Trust on 23 June 1971.The church is dedicated to St Petrock. Parts of the building, including the chancel and the lower part of the tower remain from the 13th century but much of the current fabric dates from a reconstruction in the early 16th century.In 1879 there were worries about the stability of the building however protests led by John Ruskin who donated £10 lead to the preservation of the church and the construction of a new one further west in the village.The interior includes 18th-century box pews, a Georgian pulpit and a screen with a wooden tympanum above it which dates from the 18th century.

Parracombe railway station was a halt on the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway, a narrow gauge line that ran through Exmoor from Barnstaple to Lynton and Lynmouth in North Devon, England. The Halt which served the village of Parracombe comprised a simple wooden shelter and was not opened until 1 May 1899 — almost a year after the line was opened on 16 May 1898 — and closed along with the rest of the railway on 29 September 1935. It is planned this station will be reopened next by the Lynton & Barnstaple Trust. It will replace the station at Killington Lane a bit further to the north that was opened in 2006.

The River Heddon is a river in Devon, in the south of England. Running along the western edges of Exmoor, the river reaches the North Devon coast at Heddon's Mouth. The nearest road access to the beach is at Hunter's Inn, approximately 1.6-kilometre (1 mi) south of sea-fall. The named river flows for 8.8 kilometres (5.5 mi) and drains an area of 17.07 square kilometres (6.59 sq mi).The Heddon Valley is renowned for its natural environment, with bridges and stepping stones along the river, meadows, and walks which start from the National Trust shop and information centre which has been in the ownership of the National Trust since 1963. The cobbled beach at Heddon's Mouth is approximately 300 metres (980 ft) wide and is only accessible through footpaths on the National Trust land or via the South West Coast Path. There are remains of a lime kiln on its western edge. The valley immediately landwards of the beach has steep slopes to its east and west, with the hills climbing over 200 metres (660 ft) in altitude within 500 metres (1,600 ft) of the river. The remains of a Roman fortlet are visible on the hilltop to the east of Heddon's Mouth.The Lynton & Barnstaple Railway once ran through part of the valley, halting at the small village of Parracombe.

Bentwitchen is a hamlet in Devon, England.

Killington Lane is a temporary terminus about one mile (1.6 km) southwest of Woody Bay on the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway (L&B), the narrow gauge line that originally ran for 19 miles (31 km) through Exmoor from Barnstaple to Lynton and Lynmouth in North Devon.

Parracombe is a rural settlement 4 miles (6 km) south-west of Lynton, in Devon, England. It is situated in the Heddon Valley, on Exmoor. The population at the 2011 census was 293.A number Bronze Age barrows exist nearby, along with several other small earth-works throughout the parish. Beacon Castle and Voley Castle both Iron Age Hill forts are situated nearby. Rowley Barton ("rough clearing") was a manor mentioned in the Domesday Book along with East and West Middleton. Holwell Castle, at Parracombe was a Norman motte and bailey castle built to guard the junction of the east–west and north–south trade routes, enabling movement of people and goods and the growth of the population. Alternative explanations for its construction suggest it may have been constructed to obtain taxes at the River Heddon bridging place, or to protect and supervise silver mining in the area around Combe Martin. It was 40 metres (130 ft) in diameter and 6.2 metres (20 ft) high above the bottom of a rock cut ditch which is 2.7 metres (8 ft 10 in) deep. It was built in the late 11th or early 12th century.Parracombe's St Petrock's Church is now in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.Until 1935 the village was served by a halt on the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway which ran close to the centre of the settlement.

High Bray is a village, church of England parish and former civil parish, now in the parish of Brayford, in the North Devon district, in the county of Devon, England. In 1961 the civil parish had a population of 150. On 1 April 1986 the parish was abolished and merged with Charles to form Brayford.Wildlife filmmaker Johnny Kingdom was born and grew up in the village.

North Radworthy is a hamlet and historic estate in the civil parish and former manor of North Molton, in the North Devon district of the county of Devon, England. It is about three miles north of the village of North Molton, and about fifteen miles to the east of the town of Barnstaple. The hamlet sits on an unclassified road, and is surrounded to the north, south and west by woodland. North Radworthy Farm is the centre of the historic estate.

Charles is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Brayford, in the North Devon district of Devon, England. Its nearest town is South Molton, which lies approximately 4.7 miles (7.6 km) south-east from the hamlet, just off the A399 road. In 1961 the parish had a population of 203. On 1 April 1986 the parish was abolished and merged with Brayford.

Beacon Castle is an Iron Age hill fort close to Parracombe in Devon, England. It is situated on a hilltop some 290 metres (950 ft) above sea level, overlooking the Heddon Valley.