The mysterious Culbone Stone

Last Saturday the owners of an area of wild woodland high on Exmoor opened up part of their land so that people could visit the Culbone Stone, a mysterious remnant of the moor’s ancient past. 

The Culbone Stone with its inscription

Once the Culbone Stone may have formed part of an ancient line of standing stones dating from about 3,000 years ago; some of these are still in place in the surrounding woods. 

A cross within a wheel or circle has been cut into the stone. Who carved it, and when? 
 
Although a ‘wheeled cross’ is a well-known Christian symbol, crosses within circles have been used as symbols since well before Jesus’ time. 
 
Also, one arm of the cross, which extends outside the wheel, seems to have been added after the rest of the carving (possibly as a parish boundary marker). So, who knows…?

Twisty trees in the woods surrounding the Culbone Stone

Gnarled and twisted trees, dense undergrowth and winding paths lend an atmosphere of mystery to the woods themselves. 

The land was once owned by Ada Lovelace (check her out on Wikipedia) and her husband.   

Some of the trees that they planted there as part of a grand vision for the estate did not do well in our moorland climate, but they linger on, like ghosts, adding to the slight spookiness of the place.

Exmoor walks... and cake

Porlock Marsh

There is so much great walking on Exmoor that one is spoilt for choice, and we have an ever-growing list of walks that we want to do. Over the last few months we’ve managed to tick a few off that list.

Bossington Beach and Porlock Marsh (approx 2 miles)
A short circular walk from Bossington down to the beach and along behind the shingle ridge, turning inland to

Walking towards Bossington Hill

return to Bossington. We finished by having lunch (including cake) at Kitnors in the village. The walk we did takes you through some fascinating saltmarsh scenery, but is not recommended at high tide or after heavy rain. For a longer route you could take in, for example, Bossington Hill, Selworthy Beacon, Porlock Weir…

The church at Culbone

Culbone Church (approx 5 miles)
Quite a bit of uphill and downhill on this walk, but definitely worth it for the views. Culbone Church is a little gem and I also found the churchyard very interesting. We walked

View from above Worthy Combe

up to Culbone through Yearnor Wood from Porlock Weir, then from the church via Withy Combe to the trail that passes Parsonage Farm and Ash Farm (wonderful coastal views). Then, via Worthy Combe back to Porlock Weir, and a visit to the Harbour Gallery & Café - one of several very nice places to eat - for coffee and cake.

On the way to Watersmeet

Watersmeet (approx 4 miles)
We actually did this one for the first time last Autumn, but revisited it a few weeks ago when some of the family came to stay. There are several variations on the walk, but as we were combining it with a trip to Lynton and Lynmouth to visit the craft shops – and of course ride the cliff railway – we walked the shortest version: straight along the river to Watersmeet and back, crossing the river from time to time. Naturally we had to try some of the cakes and scones at Watersmeet House before setting off back towards Lynmouth.

Do you detect a cake theme emerging here? No photos of any of the cakes, sorry - they all got eaten too fast for that.