St John the Baptist Church (geograph 4467098)

Countisbury is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depi ...

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 Simonsbat ...

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 ...

, England. It is roughly two miles east of Lynmouth along the A39. It has a church and pub. 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 ...

owns the other buildings. Since 2012, Countisbury has formed part of the civil parish of

Brendon and Countisbury Brendon and Countisbury is an English civil parish in the district of North Devon and the county of Devon. The civil parish was created on 26 October 2012, by the merger of the previous civil parishes of Brendon and Countisbury Countisbury is ...

, having previously been a civil parish in its own right. Scholars now believe the

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

promontory fort A promontory fort is a defensive structure located above a steep cliff, often only connected to the mainland by a small neck of land, thus using the topography to reduce the ramparts needed. Although their dating is problematic, most seem to da ...

of Wind Hill on Countisbury Hill was the site of the Battle of Cynuit in 878.

References

Hamlets in Devon {{Devon-geo-stub