Moorland district in north Devon and west Somerset, southwest England, forming (with the coast from Minehead to Combe Martin) a national park since 1954. The park covers an area of around 7,700 ha/19,000 acres, and includes Dunkery Beacon, its highest point at 519 m/1,705 ft; and the Doone Valley. Exmoor is thinly populated and remains isolated by relatively poor road connections. The principal settlements are the twin coastal resort towns of Lynton and Lynmouth in the north and Dulverton in the southeast; the resort town of Minehead lies just outside the national park to the northeast. Tourism and craft industries are important to the local economy. The moor provides grazing for Exmoor ponies, horned Exmoor sheep, and about 1,000 wild red deer. It is also the habitat of grouse, hawks, and falcons. Stag-hunting in the region attracts widespread controversy. Prehistoric remains, including early stone circles and barrows (burial mounds), are mainly located around the edge of the moor, …