Challacombe, Exmoor, North Devon

There are lots of excellent walks in Challacombe and nearby in north Devon and Exmoor

There is fly fishing nearby, several coarse lakes and sea fishing within 15 miles

EXMOOR COTTAGE HOLIDAYS - holidays for families, couples, and large groups

Challacombe is an ideal base from which to explore Exmoor and the North Devon coast

Comfortable and well-equipped two and three bedroom character cottages with log fires

Large and enchanting gardens with an abundance of trees, plants and wildlife

CHALLACOMBE

Challacombe is a small rural parish within the Exmoor National Park. Although only a few miles from the north coast, it is the highest parish in North Devon and the source of the river Bray. The scattered farmsteads surround two small hamlets: Barton Town, the original Saxon village, which seems to have been largely abandoned in the C19th; and Challacombe (or Challacombe Town) which is more sheltered and nearer the road to Simonsbath. About half of the houses in Challacombe are in the sheltered valley near the river and there is a charming ford and an ancient packhorse bridge.

For a small rural community, Challacombe is very lucky to have excellent local amenities. A traditional country inn, "The Black Venus", serves very good home made food, fine wines and real ales. There is also a friendly shop with a Post Office and useful local Information Point. The shop stocks a variety of guide books, groceries and alcohol and you can even enjoy a cream tea in the garden !

Challacombe people are very community focused and every year there is a Challacombe Gala, local bonfire night, and the Challacombe Sheepdog Trials which started in 1980 and now attracts competitors from all over the South West.

$Map of Challacombe, shop, pub, walks$

EXMOOR COTTAGE HOLIDAYS at Town Tenement Farm is tucked away near the ford, about 300 yards from the shop and inn. Locally, "Town" retains its old meaning, 'the original farm of a now larger settlement', and in Challacombe (Town), rather confusingly, there is "Town Farm" AND "Town Tenement Farm". Both probably date from the late C17th.

There is a lovely walk through a beech forest to the old church, beside which are the remains of the original village. There are many excellent walks and open access areas on the hills all around. Explore spectacular Shoulsbury Castle, a huge ancient earthwork named after the devil and said to have been defended by King Alfred the Great, or Pinkery Pond, thought to have been dug to feed a canal that was never built. Travel even further back in time by visiting one of the many Bronze Age barrows or Neolithic stone monuments on the tops of the moor.