The River Heddon is a river in

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

, in the south of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Running along the western edges of

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. ...

, the river reaches the North Devon coast at

Heddon's Mouth Heddon's Mouth is a rocky cove on the coast of North Devon, England, about a mile down the River Heddon from the Hunter's Inn. It is preserved for the nation by the National Trust. In previous times it was a popular venue for smugglers, but is no ...

. The nearest road access to the beach is at ''Hunter's Inn'', approximately south of sea-fall. The named river flows for and drains an area of . 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 The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

shop and information centre which has been in the ownership of the National Trust since 1963. The

cobble Cobble may refer to: * Cobble (geology), a designation of particle size for sediment or clastic rock * Cobblestone, partially rounded rocks used for road paving * Hammerstone, a prehistoric stone tool * Tyringham Cobble, a nature reserve in Tyr ...

d beach at

is approximately wide and is only accessible through footpaths on the National Trust land or via the

South West Coast Path The South West Coast Path is England's longest waymarked long-distance footpath and a National Trail. It stretches for , running from Minehead in Somerset, along the coasts of Devon and Cornwall, to Poole Harbour in Dorset. Because it rises a ...

. There are remains of a

lime kiln A lime kiln is a kiln used for the calcination of limestone (calcium carbonate) to produce the form of lime (material), lime called quicklime (calcium oxide). The chemical equation for this chemical reaction, reaction is :Calcium carbonate, Ca ...

on its western edge. The valley immediately landwards of the beach has steep slopes to its east and west, with the hills climbing over in altitude within of the river. The remains of a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

fortlet are visible on the hilltop to the east of Heddon's Mouth. The

Lynton & Barnstaple Railway The Lynton and Barnstaple Railway (L&B) opened as an independent railway in May 1898. It was a single track, narrow gauge railway and was slightly over long running through the rugged and picturesque area bordering Exmoor in North Devon, ...

once ran through part of the valley, halting at the small village of

Parracombe Parracombe is a rural settlement 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 ear ...

References

External links

*
Walks (easy)(hard)
in the Heddon Valley
Heddon Valley information at the National Trust
Exmoor Heddon, River National Trust properties in Devon Tourist attractions in Devon {{England-river-stub

See also

References

External links