Exmoor House is very well placed for exploring the National Park. We're in Wheddon Cross, right in the heart of Exmoor and the moor's highest village at 980 feet above sea level. It's a real working community with several farms, a cattle market, pub, school, church and shop/petrol station. The village is about three miles south-east of Dunkery Beacon, the highest point on Exmoor, from where there are fantastic panoramic views - wild moorland to the west, the Bristol Channel and Wales to the north, the rolling Brendon Hills to the east and the Quarme Valley to the south.
The village is part of the ancient parish of Cutcombe - indeed the villages of Wheddon Cross and Cutcombe are virtually one and the same. Cutcombe is the older part, its church listed in the Domesday Book, while Wheddon Cross grew up in the early 1800s as a staging post on the turnpike from Minehead to Tiverton.

Given its altitude, it may come as no surprise that Wheddon Cross sits on the watershed of two Exmoor rivers - the Avill (home to the famous Snowdrop Valley - see our Snowdrop Valley page for more information) and the Quarme. The former flows down to the Bristol Channel via the pretty medieval town of Dunster, the latter joins up with the Exe a few miles to the south. These are the two main rivers, but the whole area around Wheddon Cross is full of small, fast-flowing streams. There are numerous places worth visiting within a half-hour drive of Wheddon Cross: the Holnicote Estate, which is owned by the National Trust and offers superb walking; Porlock Weir, a quiet backwater that is just right for a summer’s day; medieval Dunster, with its castle perched high on a hill; Dulverton, a pretty little town beside the River Barle with an interesting museum; and Winsford Hill, another National Trust owned piece of moorland with fantastic views - and Exmoor pony sightings virtually guaranteed!

For more information on Wheddon Cross and Cutcombe, visit the excellent village website at www.wheddoncross.org.uk.