Valley of the Rocks
The Valley of the Rocks near Lynton on the North Devon coast is one of the most extraordinary dry valley landscapes in England, a dramatic rocky gorge running parallel to the coastline and separated from the sea by only a narrow ridge of contorted sandstone and slate, its floor strewn with massive frost-shattered boulders and its ridgeline marked by a series of rock towers with names like Castle Rock, Ragged Jack and the Devil's Cheesewring that reflect both the dramatic character of the landscape and the imagination of those who named them. The valley is unusual in geological terms: it runs parallel to the coast rather than perpendicular to it, and it is dry, lacking any stream in its floor despite the obvious work of water erosion in its formation. The current understanding is that the valley was cut by a river during the Pleistocene period when sea level was substantially lower than today, and that the subsequent rise in sea level after the last Ice Age cut off the river's coastal outlet and diverted it away from the valley, leaving the gorge abandoned and dry. The angular, frost-fractured character of the rocks scattered through the valley reflects the periglacial conditions of the Ice Age when repeated freeze-thaw cycles shattered the bedrock into the chaotic boulder fields still visible today. A herd of feral wild goats has inhabited the Valley of the Rocks and the surrounding coastal cliffs for as long as records exist, and their ancestors were probably here considerably longer. The goats, shaggy and long-horned, add an appropriately elemental quality to the landscape and can often be seen picking their way across the rock faces with the casual contempt for exposure that only a goat can project. They are entirely wild and should not be approached, but can often be observed at close range from the paths through the valley. The South West Coast Path passes through the valley and continues along the clifftops in both directions, providing connecting walks to Lynmouth below and Woody Bay to the west. Coleridge and Southey planned an epic poem, The Wanderings of Cain, during a visit to the valley in 1797.