The Turret

LYNTON - Traditional Charming Fisher Village

by iris2002

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... what the tour-guide says > Set amongst the spectacular scenery of an area known as England’s Little Switzerland is Lynton, a small Victorian town with a selection of shops, tea-rooms and cafés. The town boast few buildings of particular note but the Town Hall is worth a second glance, as is the strangely named Valley of Rocks Hotel. The Lyn and Exmoor Museum is housed in St Vincent’s Cottage. It has some interesting exhibitions of Exmoor life, including information about the local lifeboat and the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway.

Both Lynton and Lynmouth owe a great deal to Sir George Newnes, a publisher who lived at Hollerday House on Hollerday Hill above Lynton. This mansion unfortunately burned to the ground in 1913 in mysterious circumstances. The house was built. The steep gradient between the two villages had always been a deterrent to visitors and a hard climb for the locals. In 1887 Newnes and Thomas Hewitt began to lay a 900 foot twin track up the steep gradient. The unique water operated cliff railway was opened in 1890 and, apart from needing new track in 1908, operates now as it always has.

But there's much more to see by the sea :)