West Lyn River
Encyclopedia
The West Lyn is a river which rises high in Exmoor
, Somerset
, and joins the East Lyn
at Lynmouth
in Devon
.
The upper reaches have been designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest
, because of the geomorphological landforms created in the 1952 flood.
The lower reaches of the river towards Lynmouth are known as the Glen Lyn Gorge. This has been turned into a tourist attraction, which includes a museum about the water cycle and the floods of 1952 and a small hydroelectric plant has been installed.
Water is piped from the river to be used as the power source for the Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway
, which is a water-balance funicular railway.
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 ...
, 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...
, and joins the East Lyn
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...
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....
in 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...
.
The upper reaches have been designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest
Site of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based upon...
, because of the geomorphological landforms created in the 1952 flood.
The lower reaches of the river towards Lynmouth are known as the Glen Lyn Gorge. This has been turned into a tourist attraction, which includes a museum about the water cycle and the floods of 1952 and a small hydroelectric plant has been installed.
Water is piped from the river to be used as the power source for the Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway
Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway
The Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway is a water-powered funicular railway joining the twin towns of Lynton and Lynmouth on the rugged coast of North Devon.-Origins:...
, which is a water-balance funicular railway.