Exmoor National Park

Exmoor National Park protects an area of hilly open moorland in west Somerset and north Devon in South West England, taking its name from the River Exe, whose source lies near the center of the area. The park covers the former ancient royal hunting forest also called Exmoor, which was surveyed between 1815 and 1818 at 18,810 acres, along with additional territory including the Brendon Hills, the East Lyn Valley, the Vale of Porlock and 55 kilometers of the Bristol Channel coast. The national park was established in 1954 under the 1949 National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act and covers 692.8 square kilometers in total, 71 percent of it in Somerset and 29 percent in Devon; it is managed by the Exmoor National Park Authority.