The River Horner, also known as Horner Water, rises near Luccombe on

Exmoor 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 ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

, and flows past

Porlock Porlock is a coastal village in Somerset, England, west of Minehead. At the 2011 census, the village had a population of 1,440. In 2017, Porlock had the highest percentage of elderly population in Britain, with over 40% being of pensionable ag ...

into Porlock Bay near Hurlstone Point on the Bristol Channel. The river flows into the sea though a shingle ridge at Bossington beach, where it forms part of the Porlock Ridge and Saltmarsh Site of Special Scientific Interest. When the river level is very high, flood water builds up behind the ridge, causing it to breach.

History

Evidence that the river was previously diverted to power iron workings has been found. The remains of an iron

hammer mill A hammer mill, hammer forge or hammer works was a workshop in the pre- industrial era that was typically used to manufacture semi-finished, wrought iron products or, sometimes, finished agricultural or mining tools, or military weapons. The feat ...

and 55m long, breached, embankment dam were excavated alongside the river in 1996.

References

Rivers of Somerset Exmoor {{England-river-stub