Porlock
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Porlock | |
  Porlock shown within Somerset |
|
| Population | 1,377 |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | |
| District | West Somerset |
| Shire county | Somerset |
| Region | South West |
| Constituent country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | MINEHEAD |
| Postcode district | TA24 |
| Dialling code | 01643 |
| Police | Avon and Somerset |
| Fire | Devon and Somerset |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| European Parliament | South West England |
| UK Parliament | Bridgwater |
| List of places: UK • England • Somerset | |
Porlock is a quiet coastal village in Somerset, England, situated in a deep hollow below Exmoor, five miles west of Minehead. The village has a population of 1,377 (2002 estimate).
East of the village is Bury Castle an Iron age hill fort.
In the Domesday book the village was known as "Portloc".[1]
The area has links with several Romantic poets, and R. D. Blackmore the author of Lorna Doone, and is popular with visitors. The visitor centre with exhibits and displays about the local area. Also on display are the bones of an Aurochs, discovered on Porlock beach in 1999.[2]
Contents |
[edit] Geography
The village adjoins a Porlock Ridge and Saltmarsh nature reserve created when the lowland behind a high shingle embankment was breached by the sea in the 1990s, which has now been designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest. Copses of white dead trees remind the visitor of when this was fresh water pasture.
A picturesque, wooded combe called Hawkcombe leads about three miles from the village up to high open moorland. The stream, (which is called "Hawkcombe Waters"), runs past an interesting Victorian hunting lodge, called The Cleeve, then underground beneath the Overstream Hotel in the center of the village.
The South West Coast Path goes through Porlock, many walkers stopping rather than continuing on the gargantuan walk to Lynton. There is also a Coleridge Way walk.
Culbone church is said to be the smallest church in England. The main structure is 12th century. Services are still held there, despite the lack of road access - it is a two-mile walk from Porlock Weir, and some 3-4 miles from Porlock itself.
A new toll road bypasses the 1-in-4 gradient on Porlock Hill. There is an ancient stone circle on the hill.
[edit] Church
The Church of St Dubricius dates from the 13th century. The spire was damaged in a storm of 1703.[1] The church has been designated by English Heritage as a grade I listed building.[3] Within the church is a 1th century of John Harrington who fought alongside Henry V in France in 1417.[4]
[edit] "Person from Porlock"
The poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who lived nearby at Nether Stowey (between Bridgwater and Minehead), was interrupted during composition of his poem Kubla Khan by "a person on business from Porlock", and found afterward he could not remember what had come to him in a dream.
Coleridge and William Wordsworth (who lived nearby at Alfoxden) would often roam the hills and coast on long night walks, leading to local gossip that they were 'spies' for the French. The Government sent an agent to investigate, but found they were, "mere poets". Their walks are celebrated by the Coleridge Way which ends in Porlock. Their friend Robert Southey published a poem titled "Porlock" in 1798.
[edit] Words to Jerusalem
Legend has it that the area beyond Culbone towards Lynmouth where Glenthorne is now situated is where Jesus may have alighted on a trip with Joseph of Arimathea. This is said to have inspired the words to William Blake's famous poem, Jerusalem:
- "And did those feet in ancient time
- Walk upon England’s mountains green?
- And was the Holy Lamb of God
- On England’s pleasant pastures seen?
- And did the countenance divine
- Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
- And was Jerusalem builded here
- Among these dark satanic mills?"
[edit] Submerged forest
From the end of the last glacial period, about 10,000 years ago, the melting of ice caps has caused the sea level in the Bristol Channel to rise about 40 metres. It has been at roughly its present level for the last 2000 years but is still rising very slowly.
Between 7000 and 8000 years ago the area that is now Porlock Beach was more than five miles inland. It was a flat, low lying area and the climate was warm and wet. The area was thickly wooded and Mesolithic people lived by hunting and fishing. They probably hunted wild cattle, the bones of which have been found here. The stumps of trees were preserved in the marshy conditions in which they grew and have today been revealed as the sea has risen to erode them. At low tide can be seen tree trunks, a thin layer of peaty soil and a large amount of grey clay soil which is now inhabited by sea shells known as piddocks.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Farr, Grahame (1954). Somerset Harbours. London: Christopher Johnson, 154.
- ^ Porlock Visitor Centre. Everything Exmor. Retrieved on 2008-02-20.
- ^ Church of St Dubricius. Images of England. Retrieved on 2008-02-20.
- ^ Leete-Hodge, Lornie (1985). Curiosities of Somerset. Bodmin: Bossiney Books, 45. ISBN 0906456983.
[edit] External links
- www.porlock.co.uk by the Porlock Tourist Association.
