Two Exmoor hamlets in steep Doone Country valleys, tied to R. D. Blackmore's Lorna Doone.
Brendon and Oare are two tiny hamlets in the steep valleys of northern Exmoor, best known as the setting for R. D. Blackmore's novel Lorna Doone. The church at Oare is where Lorna and John Ridd were married in the story, and the surrounding landscape — deep combes, rushing streams, open moorland — is exactly as Blackmore described it.
The roads here are dramatic: one-in-three gradients are common, and the lanes twist through valleys so steep they feel like ravines. If you are not used to driving on the left, practise elsewhere first. The reward is some of the wildest scenery in southern England, largely empty of other visitors.
The Staghunters Inn at Brendon is a good base for walks along the East Lyn River and up onto the moor.
Guide
Getting There
There is no practical public transport to Brendon or Oare. A car is essential. From the A39 coast road between Porlock and Lynmouth, the Countisbury Hill road drops down into the valley; from the south, the approach from Brendon Common above the village is dramatic but requires careful driving on gradients of up to 1-in-3.
The nearest towns with accommodation and services are Lynton and Lynmouth, about four miles to the west, and Porlock, about eight miles to the east. If you are walking, the South West Coast Path passes along the high ground above Brendon, and the East Lyn valley path connects the area to Lynmouth on foot in about two hours.
Guide
Lorna Doone: A Romance of Exmoor
Published in 1869, Lorna Doone is the novel that created literary tourism on Exmoor. Set in the 17th century, it tells the story of a yeoman farmer named John Ridd and his love for the outlaw Doone clan's captive, Lorna. Blackmore used the real landscape of Oare and Brendon with enough accuracy that readers have been walking out his scenes ever since.
The novel is long and at times digressive, but its sense of place is genuine — Blackmore knew this country well, and it shows. The church at Oare, the Doone Valley, Malmsmead bridge, and the high moor are all described with a particularity that a first-time visitor will immediately recognise.
