On our way to our holiday accommodation in Porlock Weir, we stopped in Porlock itself for groceries etc. This was another small Somerset village where the pace of life appears much slower than what we are used to in Suffolk - which is itself reasonably chilled out!
The house was brilliant! The travel firm's description really summed it up: Garden View is a comfortable, spacious ground-floor apartment, within the west wing of a beautiful Edwardian hunting lodge, Porlock Vale House. There is an enclosed and private garden directly outside the property with stunning views across the fields to the sea.
From the rear view below, taken from the beach, our accommodation was on the ground floor of Porlock Vale House, on the right-hand side - all in all, a lovely spot.
Garden View from the beach looking over the horse paddock.
The beach from which I took the above photo. This one above looks toward the Weir end of Porlock Weir.
The bottom of the garden, looking toward the beach over the paddocks.
Porlock Weir itself is a harbour settlement approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km) west of the inland village of Porlock, Somerset. Like most ports in West Somerset, the harbour is tidal and is home to a small flotilla of yachts and is visited by many more in spring and summer. The port has existed for more than a thousand years. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle reports that in 1052 Harold Godwinson came from Ireland with nine ships and plundered the area and before that in 866 AD it was raided by Danes. In the 18th and 19th centuries coal from South Wales was the main cargo.
Just loved this row of cottages on the harbour side. I believe they are called Gibraltar Cottages and are mainly 17th century.
View along the beach further, toward Gore Point
The Ship Inn at Porlock Weir. We had a great lunch here on Sunday
The Ship Inn, known colloquially as The Top Ship, dates back to at least the 15th Century, making it possibly one of the oldest inns in the country. It is believed that even before that date some sort of hostelry existed on the site. It is an establishment that boasts a long and varied history from ties to smuggling, visits from a Poet Laureate and as an invaluable part in the long and arduous journey by horse-drawn coach to and from Lynmouth.
When the pub became The Ship Inn, geographically Porlock was quite different to it is now, the marshes north of the village were underwater as the Bristol Channel came up to where the village school now stands. This meant The Ship Inn was situated very close to the shoreline- an ideal spot for smuggling, or Free Trade as it was known! It is rumoured that at least one secret tunnel exists, linking the Inn to a nearby cottage: useful for bringing in stock or getting rid of contraband when the excise men came knocking! During the reign of King Charles II the smuggling in Somerset became so notorious that His Majesty’s Surveyor-General of Customs, William Culliforde, visited the county. In 1682 The Ship was a venue for a clandestine meeting between smugglers and a corrupt revenue officer. The story leaked out and the revenue officer stood trial.
Another old, thatched property in the street.
The remains of two lime kilns are visible as brick arched recesses incorporated into a house known as 'The Kiln'. They were first noted on the 1903 Ordnance Survey map and are therefore fairly recent in date.
So, this was our base area for some exploration of Exmoor - or part of it at least.
Index of posts
Comments