The church features an unusual gabled bell tower. The parish church at Wootton Courtney, dedicated to All Saints, was built between the 13th and 15th centuries and has since been designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building. Courtenay was added to the village name in the 13th century when the Courtenay family became owners of the manor there. In the Domesday Book, Wootton Courtenay was simply recorded as Otone, meaning settlement by the wood. This village is a fantastic spot for walking with numerous trails and marked paths running in all directions, including the Macmillian Way which passed right though the village
Protected from the elements by these two impressive hills, Wootton Courtenay enjoys a warm micro-climate making it a very desirable location on Exmoor. Wootton Courtenay is a delightful village sitting in a pretty vale at the foot of Dunkery and Grabbist hills. Just a few hundred yards down the road you will find West Lucccombe, with Porlock only a mile further on. Horner sits on the eastern bank of Horner Water, there is a restored (but non-working) water mill and a packhorse bridge - it is also a great place to have a traditional cream tea! The Coleridge Way passes through Horner and Horner Wood is a nature reserve of national importance - a good place to see the wild red deer. The parish of Luccombe includes the hamlets of Stoke Pero, Horner and West Luccombe. This area features everything that a keen walker might be looking for, visitors could comfortably spend an enjoyable weeks holiday here without ever resorting to using a car or public transport! Luccombe has an impressive church which is a focal point of the village and many thatched cottages making it very picturesque. Luccombe is the perfect destination 'off the beaten path', sat at the foot of Exmoor's highest hill, the 1,750 feet Dunkery Beacon, and approximately one mile south of the road between Porlock and Minehead. Today, the West Somerset Steam train stops at Watchet on route between Minehead and Bishops Lydeard. With its harbour and rail connections Watchet was an important trading town. Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner was written whilst travelling through Watchet and the surrounding area. In the Iron ages, Dawes Fort was built above Watchet to protect the port and area. Watchet has so much history, you will have plenty to explore. Situated on the coast, Watchet certainly packs a lot in - there's an active Marina, an Old Port, many quaint houses and narrow street, museums, shops, restaurants, pubs and takeaways! It's an ideal place to stay for a few days or even longer, with many walks in beautiful countryside, along the interesting coastline or just enjoy the Esplanade and the Marina and soak up the charm of the town. Watchet has bags of charm and is great little town for exploring Exmoor, the Brendons or the Quantocks, which are all a short distance away. For the bird watcher this is a very interesting site as a great variety of waders and wildfowl can be seen here in the winter as well as the occasional unusual bird passing through.
There are many interesting sites on and around the ridge including an old lime kiln, Pillboxes built during the second world war, a memorial stone to commemorate the American airman killed when a B24D liberator bomber crashed here on 29th October 1942 during the second world war. The Exmoor coastline is formed mainly of cliffs but at Porlock the land flattens out and a unique mile long shingle ridge and an inland salt marsh have formed. There few more delightful surroundings than Porlock Vale, nestled at the foot of Porlock Hill, bounded to the north by its shingle ridge and breath taking views towards the Bristol Channel, and to the south by the rolling hills of the Exmoor National Park. Often described as 'the jewel in Exmoor's crown', Porlock has a long history of settlements existing on or near the site of the existing village, with stone-age remains only a short distance away.
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