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.