Lynton and Lynmouth
Lynton and Lynmouth on the Exmoor coast are twin communities separated by a cliff 150 metres high and connected by the Lynmouth Cliff Railway, an 1890 water-powered funicular that is the steepest water-powered railway in the world. The upper town of Lynton sits on the clifftop while Lynmouth occupies the harbour below, and the extraordinary coastal and valley scenery of this section of Exmoor creates one of the most distinctive visitor destinations in the national park.
Lynmouth was devastated in August 1952 when an exceptional rainstorm over the Exmoor plateau sent a catastrophic flash flood down the East and West Lyn rivers that destroyed nearly 100 buildings and killed 34 people in one of the most deadly natural disasters in twentieth-century Britain. The rebuilt Lynmouth is itself a monument to the community's recovery, and the flood memorial and river control works are now part of the village heritage.
The Valley of the Rocks immediately west of Lynton, the Watersmeet wooded valley above Lynmouth and the South West Coast Path provide excellent walking destinations accessible directly from both towns.