Mountains & hills · South West England
Dunkery Beacon
In or near Luccombe.
Dunkery Beacon — Named summit at 519 m.
Wikimedia Commons contributors — see linked file page for photographer and licence licence
Plan your visit
- Typical visit
- 3 h–8 h
- Best time of year
- Late spring – early autumn (May–Oct)
- Nearest railway station
- Minehead · 9.6 km
- Free entry
- Dog-friendly
Getting there & planning your visit
To visit Dunkery Beacon, the nearest railway station is Minehead, located 9.6 km away. Entry is free, and the postcode for sat-nav is TA24 7AT.
About
Dunkery Beacon is a named summit in the United Kingdom. Wikidata describes it as: "Named summit at 519 m.". Coordinates: 51.1628°, -3.5867°.
Photo gallery
Protected designations
- Site of Special Scientific Interest: North Exmoor SSSI
- Site of Special Scientific Interest: River Barle SSSI
- National Nature Reserve: DUNKERY & HORNER WOOD
Designations sourced from Natural England open data under OGL v3.
From the Wikipedia article
Dunkery Beacon at the summit of Dunkery Hill is the highest point on Exmoor and in Somerset, England. It is also the highest point in southern England outside of Dartmoor. The sandstone hill rises to 519 metres (1,703 ft) and provides views over the surrounding moorland, the Bristol Channel and hills up to 86 miles (138 km) away. The site has been visited by humans since the Bronze Age, and contains several burial mounds in the form of cairns and bowl barrows. Sweetworthy on the lower slopes is the site of two Iron Age hill forts or enclosures and a deserted medieval settlement. The hill is part of a Site of Special Scientific Interest and National nature reserve. It was in private ownership until the 20th century, when it was donated to the National Trust by Sir Thomas Acland, Colonel Wiggin and Allan Hughes; a stone cairn was erected at the summit to commemorate the event.
Excerpt from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0. See the source article linked in Sources below.
Background
History
Dunkery Hill was part of the "Royal Forest of Exmoor", established by Henry II according to the late 13th-century Hundred Rolls. There has been some debate about the origin of the name "Dunkery" and its predecessors "Duncrey" and "Dunnecray". Eilert Ekwall suggests that it comes from the Welsh din meaning hillfort and creic or creag meaning rock. There are several Bronze Age burial mounds at or near the summit. Two of the largest are Joaney How and Robin How, which have been damaged over many years, although plans have been made to restore and protect them. "How" comes from the Norse for burial mound. Joaney How on the northern slope, is more than 22 m in diameter. On the southeastern…
Sourced from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Coordinates
- 51.1628, -3.5867
- District
- Somerset
- Parish
- Cutcombe
- Postcode
- TA24 7AT
- Parliamentary constituency
- Tiverton and Minehead
- Nearest railway station
- Minehead — 9.6 km
Sources
- osm: n431363823 (ODbL)
- wikipedia: Dunkery Hill (CC BY-SA 4.0)
- commons: Dunkery Beacon.jpg (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Other places nearby
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Ley Hill
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Nutscale Reservoir
Reservoirs & lochs · 3.5 km
Church of St Mary
Historic churches · 3.5 km
Luccombe
Towns & cities · 3.5 km
Horner Wood Scout Campsite
Campsites · 3.6 km
Porlock Post
Mountains & hills · 3.7 km
Woodcocks Ley
Mountains & hills · 3.7 km
Pool Bridge
Campsites · 3.8 km
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📷 5Frequently asked questions
- Where is Dunkery Beacon?
- Dunkery Beacon is in South-West England, United Kingdom (postcode TA24 7AT), in the parish of Cutcombe.
- What is Dunkery Beacon?
- Dunkery Beacon — Named summit at 519 m.
- How do I get to Dunkery Beacon?
- The nearest railway station is Minehead, about 9.6 km away. Drivers can use postcode TA24 7AT.
- Is Dunkery Beacon a protected site?
- Yes — Dunkery Beacon is part of the North Exmoor SSSI Site of Special Scientific Interest and the River Barle SSSI Site of Special Scientific Interest.
- Is Dunkery Beacon free to visit?
- Yes, Dunkery Beacon is free to enter.
- How do I get to Dunkery Beacon?
- Drivers can navigate to postcode TA24 7AT. It sits within the Tiverton and Minehead parliamentary constituency.