National Trust acquires slice of Lorna Doone landscape

The Trust has an aim to improve the site's facilities to encourage more people to see the surrounding nature (Photo: National Trust/Sarah Hailstone)
The Trust has an aim to improve the site's facilities to encourage more people to see the surrounding nature (Photo: National Trust/Sarah Hailstone)

The National Trust has announced its acquisition of a legendary slice of Lorna Doone landscape on Exmoor made just prior to lockdown.

The 3.6ha (9 acre) site includes Lorna Doone Farm and the nearby Cloud Farm campsite situated on the Exmoor coastal landscape, which inspired the novel by RD Blackmore, published in 1869.

Acquired before the coronavirus crisis for £1.5m, completion took place before the lockdown significantly affected the Trust’s finances.

The National Trust said the purchase was likely to be the last acquisition for 'quite some time' as the lockdown had caused an estimated £200m loss of income this year.

Set to become the gateway to Lorna Doone’s inspiring Exmoor landscape, the Trust has an aim to improve the facilities and open up the site to encourage more people to benefit the surrounding nature.

The setting is popular for walking and is connected by public rights of way to other National Trust places (Photo: National Trust/Mark Johnson)
The setting is popular for walking and is connected by public rights of way to other National Trust places (Photo: National Trust/Mark Johnson)

The setting is popular for walking and is connected by public rights of way to other National Trust places including Watersmeet, a five-mile walk along the East Lyn river, which features heavily in the novel.

Wildlife in the area includes beavers and water voles on the nearby Holnicote estate. The UK’s most endangered butterfly, the high brown fritillary, and the more common dark green fritillary, also feature.

April Braund, visitor experience manager for the National Trust, said: “For those familiar with the book, RD Blackmore’s descriptions of the Exmoor landscapes of rolling hills and deep wooded valleys are at the heart of the site.

Cloud Farm from a distance (Photo: National Trust/Mark Johnson)
Cloud Farm from a distance (Photo: National Trust/Mark Johnson)

"Visitors will have plenty to see; “a deep green valley, carved from out the mountains in a perfect oval…wooded hills swept up to the sky-line…a little river glided out from underground with a soft dark babble, unawares of daylight; then growing brighter, lapsed away, and fell into the valley”.

“We are hoping that by making this beautiful spot more accessible, we can encourage more people to connect with nature.”