Withypool

Withypool is a village “near the centre of Exmoor National Park” and close to the border with Devon, in the Barle Valley on the River Barle. The parish of Withypool and Hawkridge has a population of around 201. Cottages here are filed under both Withypool and Hawkridge.

Withypool Bridge, also called New Bridge, carries a small road over the Barle. It is built of red sandstone, dates from the 19th century and is Grade II* listed. Two miles upstream, the late medieval Landacre Bridge also crosses the river. On top of Withypool Hill the Withypool Stone Circle can still be seen, and the Brightworthy barrows lie on the nearby common.

Tarr Steps, a clapper bridge over the Barle within a national nature reserve, is about 2.5 miles (4 km) south-east of Withypool and about 4 miles (6 km) north-west of Dulverton. It is a Grade I listed building and scheduled monument, with a listing that assesses it as medieval in origin. For the market town to stay near, see Dulverton.

The area has been inhabited since the Bronze Age. The village appears in the Domesday Book, where it was tended by three foresters named Dodo, Almer and Godric. R. D. Blackmore wrote part of Lorna Doone while staying at the Royal Oak Inn with his wife.