Somerset Walks - Larkbarrow and Alderman's Barrow
Updated: Aug 28
Larkbarrow and Alderman's Barrow: A Wild Exmoor Walk
There are parts of Exmoor where the landscape becomes so empty that it feels as though you have stepped out of modern Britain altogether. The walk from Larkbarrow Corner towards Alderman's Barrow is one of them.
This is the great open country west of the Dunkery range, a high, rolling landscape of heather, rough grass and shallow valleys where the young River Exe and its tributaries begin their journeys towards the sea. There are no villages here, few roads and very little to interrupt the horizon. Even the things left behind by people – ancient barrows, boundary markers and the ruins of an isolated farm – seem to belong to a much older world.
The five-mile walk is not particularly long, but it can be demanding underfoot. The moor can be very boggy, particularly after wet weather, and this is a place where a map and sensible footwear are essential.
What you get in return is something increasingly rare: a genuine sense of wilderness in southern England.
Larkbarrow and Alderman's Barrow Walk: At a Glance
Distance: approximately 5 miles
Starting point: Larkbarrow Corner
Terrain: Open moorland, tracks and rough ground
Difficulty: Moderate, mainly because of the terrain and boggy conditions
Map: Ordnance Survey OL9 Exmoor
Highlights: Alderman's Barrow, Larkbarrow, Elsworthy, Beckham, the ruined Larkbarrow Farm and huge Exmoor views
This is not a walk to undertake casually in poor weather. Navigation can be more difficult than the distance suggests, and the open moorland can become extremely wet underfoot. Take an OS map, wear proper walking boots and allow extra time if conditions are soft.
On a clear day, however, the rewards are extraordinary. This is some of the most remote-feeling walking in the West Country.
Dartmoor has it swathes – Bodmin Moor has some excellent sweeping scenery too – but there is one central area of Exmoor that particularly fits the bill.
The great waste, to use that word in the old fashioned sense, that lies west of the Dunkery range and provides the young River Exe with a vast bastion to guard its northern banks – is Southern England’s answer to the Russian steppes.
It is a primeval landscape which has more or less been untouched by the hand of man. Stand in its midst and the only straight line of man’s making you may see is the vapour trail of an airliner. Everything else will be as nature intended.
There’s an increasing argument over what these islands may have looked like before humans turned up to chop, clear, farm and eventually mess the whole place up. This landscape is, in my opinion, as close as you will get.
This is the England of the giant aurochs – a massive, extinct grazing beast twice the size of a modern cow. This is where great herds of big animals would have once roamed unmolested.
This is the great emptiness. The great void. Birthplace of rivers. Home of fresh air. Shrine of solitude. This, indeed, is the best antidote to modernism I can think of.
You’ll find it by travelling halfway along the Exford/Porlock road - which happens to be one of the most scenic thoroughfares in the West Country, passing as it does along a series of watersheds that separate the Dunkery range and the rest of the central massif.
Eventually you’ll come to an isolated lane that heads west. This will take you to Alderman’s Barrow, before rounding Larkbarrow Corner to scuttle away from the moors again and rejoin its former companion way, way down near the village of Exford.
But it’s Larkbarrow Corner I love returning to. It is a corner rich in walks. But now we’re off in a different direction to soak up the very best the wild savannah beyond can offer.
What I wanted to do was follow the route of the old trans-Exmoor canal. In case you are puzzled, thinking you’ve never heard of such a thing before, then I’ll admit there never was a proper waterway across the moors – nevertheless, the route of some kind of canal can still be seen.
To find it my we marched west from Larkbarrow Corner out into the middle of nothing - or rather, onto a big bald hill known as Elsworthy - and following the contour high above the deep ravine of the Exe we found the shallow workings of what was planned as a narrow waterway.
Why is it here? Who built it and what on earth for? As far as I can make out no one really knows for certain – but the general feeling is that John Knight, the great Exmoor “improver” (or dreamer, depending on which way you look at his work) had plans to build a railway to take out the ore from mines he owned in the central moors.
The Mysterious Canal That Wasn't a Canal
One of the strangest discoveries on this walk is the trace of what appears to be an old canal running across the moor. It sounds improbable – and it is, because there was never a proper canal carrying boats across this remote part of Exmoor.
What you can see, however, are the shallow workings of a planned waterway or engineered route. The story seems to be connected with John Knight, the great nineteenth-century "improver" of Exmoor, whose ambitious schemes included attempts to exploit the mineral wealth of the central moors.
Walking across this empty landscape, it is difficult to imagine industrial traffic crossing the hills. Yet these faint traces are reminders that Exmoor was not always regarded simply as wilderness. For generations people have tried to farm it, mine it, move across it and extract something from its apparently barren landscape.
Today the old workings are little more than scars in the grass – but they add another layer to an already extraordinary walk.
Long, long before we get anywhere close to far flung Pinkworthy Pond where the canal begins, this walk leaves the waterway as it rounds Ware Ball. Now we simply do a right-to-roam and walk north into the great area of nothing.
We’re heading for a birthplace of a hundred springs – otherwise known as Beckham – but nothing to do with the footballer, which is just as well because this is probably the last place on earth he’d ever be likely to visit. All I can tell you about Beckham is that you will find it by walking to map reference SS419807.
From there we dropped into the shallow valley system which is part of the East Lyn’s youthful river system, and made our way north east to the ruined farm at Larkbarrow.
You can see the ruins of the farm that once stood here defying loneliness and solitude – and you can also see the traces of the bullets and shells that blew the place to smithereens when Allied troops trained on manoeuvres here during the Second World War.
From this desolate place it’s simply a matter of following the track east then south, a mile and a half back to that celebrated birthplace of walks, Larkbarrow Corner.
Larkbarrow Farm: A Ruin in the Wilderness
Eventually the route reaches the ruins of Larkbarrow Farm, an extraordinary place to encounter in the middle of such empty country.
The farm once stood here in considerable isolation, surrounded by the rough moorland of Exmoor. Today its remains are a stark reminder of how difficult life must have been for people trying to make a living in this exposed landscape. The ruins also carry a darker twentieth-century history: during the Second World War the area was used for military training, and the old buildings were damaged by artillery and other firing practice.
There is something particularly poignant about seeing the remains now. The walls are slowly being reclaimed by the landscape, while the moor around them remains as vast and empty as ever.
It is one of those Exmoor places where history doesn't arrive in the form of a grand house or a carefully preserved monument. It is simply there in the stones, gradually disappearing back into the landscape.
Fact File
Basic walk: from Larkbarrow Corner west around Ware Ball, north to Beckham, then onto Larkbarrow Farm and back to start.
Distance and Going: five miles, can be very boggy in places.
Recommended map: Ordnance Survey OL9 Exmoor
Frequently Asked Questions
How long is the Larkbarrow and Alderman's Barrow walk?
The circular walk described here is approximately five miles, starting and finishing at Larkbarrow Corner.
Is the Larkbarrow walk difficult?
The distance is manageable, but the open moorland can be very boggy and rough underfoot. Good walking boots and an Ordnance Survey map are strongly recommended.
Where is Alderman's Barrow?
Alderman's Barrow is on the high open moorland of Exmoor, west of the Dunkery range and near the road between Exford and Porlock.
What is Larkbarrow?
Larkbarrow is both the name of an ancient landscape feature and the site of a former isolated farm whose ruins can still be seen on Exmoor. The name has been used as a landmark and boundary point for centuries.
Can you walk to Larkbarrow from Alderman's Barrow?
Yes. Larkbarrow and Alderman's Barrow are connected by paths and tracks across the open moor. The area forms part of a much larger network of Exmoor walking routes.
