East Lyn Valley is a valley of Exmoor

Exmoor

Exmoor is an area of hilly open moorland in west Somerset and north Devon in South West England, named after the main river that flows out of the district, the River Exe. The moor has given its name to a National Park, which includes the Brendon Hills, the East Lyn Valley, the Vale of Porlock and ...

, covering northern Devon

Devon

Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...

 and western Somerset

Somerset

The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

.

The East Lyn River

East Lyn River

The East Lyn is a river which rises high in Exmoor, Somerset. It flows through the East Lyn Valley.-Watercourse:The river starts as the Upper East Lyn at Malmsmead it then flows for several miles, past Brendon and makes confluence with Hoar Oak Water at Watersmeet, where Watersmeet House is...

 is formed from several main tributaries beginning near Weir Water. Its mouth is at Lynmouth

Lynmouth

Lynmouth is a village in Devon, England, on the north edge of Exmoor.The village straddles the confluence of the West Lyn and East Lyn rivers, in a gorge below Lynton, to which it is connected by the Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway....

, The valley is abundant with wildlife, including dipper

Dipper

Dippers are members of the genus Cinclus in the bird family Cinclidae, named for their bobbing or dipping movements. They are unique among passerines for their ability to dive and swim underwater.-Description:...

s, grey wagtail

Grey Wagtail

The Grey Wagtail is a small member of the wagtail family, Motacillidae. The species looks similar to the Yellow Wagtail but has the yellow on its underside restricted to the throat and vent. Breeding males have a black throat...

s and heron

Heron

The herons are long-legged freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae. There are 64 recognised species in this family. Some are called "egrets" or "bitterns" instead of "heron"....

.During the Ice Age

Ice age

An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...

 glacial erosion eroded one side of the valley resulting in the steep valley which is seen today. This was responsible for floods in the valley in 1952.

The area was the setting for Lorna Doone

Lorna Doone

Lorna Doone: A Romance of Exmoor is a novel by Richard Doddridge Blackmore. It is a romance based on a group of historical characters and set in the late 17th century in Devon and Somerset, particularly around the East Lyn Valley area of Exmoor....

by R. D. Blackmore

R. D. Blackmore

Richard Doddridge Blackmore , referred to most commonly as R. D. Blackmore, was one of the most famous English novelists of the second half of the nineteenth century. Over the course of his career, Blackmore achieved a close following around the world...

.The church at Oare

Oare, Somerset

Oare is a village and civil parish on Oare Water on Exmoor in the West Somerset district of Somerset, England. The parish includes the hamlet of Oareford and the village of Culbone which contains its own tiny church.-History:...

 appeared in the novel. St Brendan’s church in the village of Brendon

Brendon

Brendon is a village in Devon, England, close to the border with Somerset near the Exmoor National Park. The village is 1½ miles SE of Lynton and W of Minehead is in a picturesque East Lyn Valley, has of land including Leeford hamlet and a large tract of moorland on the borders of Somersetshire...

  also overlooks the valley; the current building dates to 1738.
The Brendon Hills

Brendon Hills

The Brendon Hills are composed of a lofty ridge of hills in the East Lyn Valley area of western Somerset, England. The terrain is broken by a series of deeply incised streams and rivers running roughly southwards to meet the River Haddeo, a tributary of the River Exe.The hills are quite heavily...

form part of the landscape.