Blackdown Hills
The Blackdown Hills are a little-known group of hills lying on the border of Devon and Somerset. Broadly, the area extends from Wellington in the north to Honiton in the south and from Cullompton in the west to Chard in the east.
The Blackdown Hills are best known for the dramatic, steep, wooded scarp face they present to the north. To the south the land dips away gently as a plateau, deeply dissected by valleys. On top of the plateau there are wide open windswept spaces; in the valleys nestle villages and hamlets surrounded by ancient and intricate patterns of small enclosed fields and a maze of winding high-hedged lanes.
Above all, however, what makes the Blackdown Hills special is the unspoilt rural character of the “ordinary” landscape. Farming, largely dairying, has retained many traditional practices. The area remains sparsely populated and there are no towns within the Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
