The River Heddon is a river in

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

, in the south of

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. 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 Simons ...

, 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 for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, National Trust. ...

. 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 () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

shop and information centre which has been in the ownership of the National Trust since 1963. The cobbled 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 footpaths in the UK, long-distance footpath and a National Trail. It stretches for , running from Minehead in Somerset, along the coasts of Devon and Cornwall, to Poole Harb ...

. 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 called ''quicklime'' (calcium oxide). The chemical equation for this reaction is: CaCO3 + heat → CaO + CO2 This reaction can tak ...

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 Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

fortlet are visible on the hilltop to the east of Heddon's Mouth. The Lynton & Barnstaple Railway once ran through part of the valley, halting at the small village of Parracombe.

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