A Tranquil Rural Retreat in Beautiful Exmoor National Park, SW England

Description

This is a comfortable, traditional much-loved family home, built in around 1864 with many original features. Available to people who love buildings with character and don't want everything to be shiny and grey and matching. There is central heating and the house is recently double-glazed throughout, in replica wooden window frames. There are 2 double bedrooms and 1 single available, all at the front of the house looking down the valley. (One single back bedroom is locked for storage). There is one bathroom and separate toilet upstairs, and another toilet downstairs. There is a cosy room we call the Study with a wood-burning stove. A table in front of the window is the perfect place to work. There are excellent books in the bookshelves: local history, 19th century novels, theology etc. The other front downstairs room is the sitting room, with a Victorian open fire. There is a grandfather clock and my grandmother's desk. There is a large farmhouse-style kitchen with a flag-stone floor (covered with a rug) and a table with seating comfortably for 6. Next to the kitchen is the small narrow room we call the Dairy, with a slate slab all along one wall, to keep food cool before fridges. We still use it for cheese, fruit etc. There is a small front garden and a large back garden, and the house has views over fields and hilly woods. You can walk out of the front door and up on to the moor where you will sometimes see the herd of semi-wild Exmoor ponies. The stars are amazing because the skies are some of the darkest, least light-polluted in the UK. Exmoor was the first place in Europe to be designated an International Dark Sky Reserve in 2011. It's a quiet, relaxing place to stay, read, walk, think, write. There is fast broadband so you are well connected for research. A few miles away (by road, nearer on foot) is the lake of Wimbleball Reservoir, where you can fish, canoe, paddle-board etc. The coast is about 10 miles away with the stunning South West Coast Path for walks with a view of the sea. The house has good maps and local walking guidebooks. The village is 1 mile away with a community-run village shop and a Church. The small Exmoor town of Dulverton is 5 miles away. It has restaurants, pubs, a good second hand bookshop, a small supermarket, a dress shop, a country sports shop etc. The beautiful medieval village of Dunster with its famous yarn market and National Trust castle on the hill is about 8 miles away. The nearest mainline railway stations are at Tiverton Parkway (18 miles), and Taunton (22 miles.) The university town of Exeter is about 1 hour's drive, and Bristol 1 hour and a half. It is essential to have a car.