"Red deer and Exmoor ponies on this hilly walk that clips the edge of Molland Common"
Walk directions
With the church on your left, follow the lane away from The London Inn. Where it bears sharp left (Moor Lane) by a disused chapel, keep straight on, dropping steeply into and out of a combe to reach Latchgate Cross. The lane bears sharp right.
Keep ahead, turning right through a gate. Turn left along the top edge of two fields via gates. At the end of a third, cross a stile – the ground ahead drops steeply. Keeping right of a gully, descend carefully to a footpath post, and bear left down to a stile leading onto a lane.
Turn left on the lane, cross a stream and ascend steeply to Bremley Cross.
Ignore bridleway signs ahead, but immediately turn left towards a signed gate. Follow the track up the west side of a combe, with Gourte Farm on your right. The track bears right, away from the hedge bank, and climbs steeply (good views to Dartmoor behind). The wide-open spaces of Molland Common appear invitingly ahead. Eventually follow the track left through a gate.
Keep along the left edge of the field. Turn right at the corner, and about 100yds (91m) before the field end pass through the right of two gates onto Molland Common.
Turn left along the lower edge, soon descending, with a hedge bank left. The track becomes more defined and drops steadily to cross a small ford and footbridge over a stream. Pass through a gate, and follow the hedged track uphill past Smallacombe Farm.
At a T-junction keep ahead through a gate into a field. Cross diagonally, passing to the right of a fence corner, then through a gate in the field corner. Keep straight ahead, dropping steeply over a disused leat to a footbridge/stile/footbridge, then ascend steps onto a grassy track. Turn left. Where the track forks, keep ahead, uphill, passing a line of beech trees. Cross the field in
the same direction, and go through a gate onto Moor Lane.
Cross over and go through a gate. Cross the field to pass through a gate. Head across the next, dropping through a gate onto a track. Keep ahead downhill, to the left of farm buildings. After a few paces turn left into the churchyard, then right, left and left again to find your car.
If you approach South Molton via the Chulmleigh road, which heads north through rolling farmland, the town known as ‘the gateway to Exmoor’ suddenly appears against a wonderful backdrop of Exmoor’s southernmost hills. Granted a market charter and the right to hold an annual fair (still celebrated... in June) in 1357, it still has an active pannier market and main weekly market. The undulating farmland around the town is some of the least walked in the county, yet home to a wealth of small villages, hamlets and scattered farmsteads, linked by a labyrinth of narrow lanes. One particularly interesting settlement is Molland, nestled in unspoiled countryside between the A361 and Exmoor, 7.5 miles (12.1km) east of South Molton. This tiny village shelters beneath the swell of Molland Common, surrounded by hilly farmland and wooded combes. Molland is home to a good pub, a village shop, and the most perfect example of a Georgian church found in Devon. St Mary’s Church escaped the attentions of Victorian restorers. Step through the enormously heavy wooden door (the weight in itself implies you have arrived somewhere special) and you are met by dark, high box pews, flagstone floors, ornate 17th- and 18th-century monuments to the Courtenay family who lived at West Molland, leaning arcades and an impressive three decker canopied pulpit. During conservation work in 2009, a section of the original seating dating from 1500 was found partially supporting the pulpit – the existing box pews are later, and date from the early 18th century. In the church you will also find information relating to the Molland lily, rare in the country and thought to have been introduced to north Devon by monks from Spain in medieval times.
Devon sums up all that is best about the British landscape, with its magnificent coastlines, two historic cities, the world-famous Dartmoor National Park and south Devon’s glorious English Riviera. A fashionable and much-loved holiday destination, hiking and cycling in the National Parks is extremely popular among visitors, with a great choice of off-road routes.
"Red deer and Exmoor ponies on this hilly walk that clips the edge of Molland Common"
Walk details
1hr 45min
Difficulty:
Hard
Gradient:
Challenging
Distance:
3 miles (4.8kms)
Ascent:
328ft (100m)
Walk directions
With the church on your left, follow the lane away from The London Inn. Where it bears sharp left (Moor Lane) by a disused chapel, keep straight on, dropping steeply into and out of a combe to reach Latchgate Cross. The lane bears sharp right.
1 of 8
Keep ahead, turning right through a gate. Turn left along the top edge of two fields via gates. At the end of a third, cross a stile – the ground ahead drops steeply. Keeping right of a gully, descend carefully to a footpath post, and bear left down to a stile leading onto a lane.
2 of 8
Turn left on the lane, cross a stream and ascend steeply to Bremley Cross.
3 of 8
Ignore bridleway signs ahead, but immediately turn left towards a signed gate. Follow the track up the west side of a combe, with Gourte Farm on your right. The track bears right, away from the hedge bank, and climbs steeply (good views to Dartmoor behind). The wide-open spaces of Molland Common appear invitingly ahead. Eventually follow the track left through a gate.
4 of 8
Keep along the left edge of the field. Turn right at the corner, and about 100yds (91m) before the field end pass through the right of two gates onto Molland Common.
5 of 8
Turn left along the lower edge, soon descending, with a hedge bank left. The track becomes more defined and drops steadily to cross a small ford and footbridge over a stream. Pass through a gate, and follow the hedged track uphill past Smallacombe Farm.
6 of 8
At a T-junction keep ahead through a gate into a field. Cross diagonally, passing to the right of a fence corner, then through a gate in the field corner. Keep straight ahead, dropping steeply over a disused leat to a footbridge/stile/footbridge, then ascend steps onto a grassy track. Turn left. Where the track forks, keep ahead, uphill, passing a line of beech trees. Cross the field in
the same direction, and go through a gate onto Moor Lane.
7 of 8
Cross over and go through a gate. Cross the field to pass through a gate. Head across the next, dropping through a gate onto a track. Keep ahead downhill, to the left of farm buildings. After a few paces turn left into the churchyard, then right, left and left again to find your car.
If you approach South Molton via the Chulmleigh road, which heads north through rolling farmland, the town known as ‘the gateway to Exmoor’ suddenly appears against a wonderful backdrop of Exmoor’s southernmost hills. Granted a market charter and the right to hold an annual fair (still celebrated... in June) in 1357, it still has an active pannier market and main weekly market. The undulating farmland around the town is some of the least walked in the county, yet home to a wealth of small villages, hamlets and scattered farmsteads, linked by a labyrinth of narrow lanes. One particularly interesting settlement is Molland, nestled in unspoiled countryside between the A361 and Exmoor, 7.5 miles (12.1km) east of South Molton. This tiny village shelters beneath the swell of Molland Common, surrounded by hilly farmland and wooded combes. Molland is home to a good pub, a village shop, and the most perfect example of a Georgian church found in Devon. St Mary’s Church escaped the attentions of Victorian restorers. Step through the enormously heavy wooden door (the weight in itself implies you have arrived somewhere special) and you are met by dark, high box pews, flagstone floors, ornate 17th- and 18th-century monuments to the Courtenay family who lived at West Molland, leaning arcades and an impressive three decker canopied pulpit. During conservation work in 2009, a section of the original seating dating from 1500 was found partially supporting the pulpit – the existing box pews are later, and date from the early 18th century. In the church you will also find information relating to the Molland lily, rare in the country and thought to have been introduced to north Devon by monks from Spain in medieval times.
Devon sums up all that is best about the British landscape, with its magnificent coastlines, two historic cities, the world-famous Dartmoor National Park and south Devon’s glorious English Riviera. A fashionable and much-loved holiday destination, hiking and cycling in the National Parks is extremely popular among visitors, with a great choice of off-road routes.
