Cutcombe – Trails, Dunkery Beacon and Prehistoric Landscape

Cutcombe is an interesting choice for a trip that brings together distinctive landscapes, walking and prehistoric remains. The area around the village offers various options for planning your days: from the rocky trail to Dunkery Beacon and the short visitor path in Snowdrop Valley to historic landscapes with burial mounds and standing stones. You can therefore choose your accommodation based on whether you want to focus on walks with panoramic views, special experiences in nature or the history of Exmoor.

Walking Trails with Different Points of Focus

The walking trail to the summit of Dunkery Beacon follows a 1.5-mile rocky path. At 519 metres, Dunkery Beacon is the highest point in Exmoor and Somerset. In clear weather, the 360-degree panoramic view extends across the Bristol Channel, Wales, Exmoor and Dartmoor. Anyone looking to combine a walk with expansive views will find a particularly distinctive destination here for their trip planning.

The walking trail from Cutcombe to Brockwell can also be assessed using specific details: it is 4 miles long and has a total ascent of 201 metres. The shorter visitor path in Snowdrop Valley offers a different way to experience the landscape. It leads approximately 1 mile downhill to the valley and then another mile uphill on the return, making around 2 miles in total.

If Snowdrop Valley is part of your itinerary, the main car park is at Cutcombe Cattle Market. The remote valley, which is privately owned, lies in a hidden part of Exmoor near Wheddon Cross and is accessible during the snowdrop flowering season in February. For this visit, Cutcombe is therefore a natural search term if you are looking for a holiday apartment or holiday cottage when planning your trip.

Prehistoric Landscape Around Dunkery Hill

The area is also notable for its visible traces of earlier cultures. Dunkery Beacon and the adjacent burial mounds comprise four round barrows and one platform barrow, which form part of a round barrow cemetery. The extensive summit of Dunkery Hill is also home to the Kit Barrows Cairns, consisting of two prehistoric burial mounds. They are located near a frequently used footpath across Exmoor that runs close to the distinctive Dunkery Beacon.

Another prehistoric burial mound lies 850 m north-east of Dunkery Bridge in the open moorland on Dunkery Hill. From there, extensive views open up to the east towards Croydon Hill and to the north towards Minehead Bay. Hoar Moor and Codsend Moors in the parishes of Exford and Cutcombe preserve an extensive prehistoric and historic landscape. This includes burial mounds and standing stones dating from the late 3rd to the early 2nd millennium BC. Anyone who enjoys discovering history while out and about can make these places the thematic focus of their excursions.

Further Experiences and Finding the Right Accommodation

The annual event at Dunkery Hill Gate features show jumping, a Handy Pony ring, a parade by the Minehead Harriers, a fancy-dress competition, a gymkhana and a dog show. This programme offers a different focus from a walk to the burial mounds or a day enjoying the views at Dunkery Beacon. When choosing your accommodation, therefore, consider which experiences will be most important to your group and which starting points you would like to include in your plans.

You can also discover the other destinations in this selection: Castle Cary, Chiselborough, South Petherton, Street, Stawley, Redlynch, Otterhampton and West Huntspill.

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