The Village
Hawkridge is one of the oldest communities on the moor. Lying on the trackway that crosses the Barle at Tarr Steps, and in sight of the barrows on Anstey Common, it’s origins are very ancient. Certainly the church is one of the few on Exmoor to have Norman features and it almost certainly has Saxon foundations. By Victorian times the parish population was more than double what it is today, reflecting more working farmsteads, more cottages and greater numbers of people needed to manage the soil.
In 1867 it was reported that houses at Hawkridge were generally good with gardens and allotments, but aside from “The Rectory” at Tarr Steps, built to take advantage of the Romantic situation and which had a walled garden, the village did not have big houses. Life can still be challenging in this most characteristic of Exmoor settlements. Lifestyles have changed enough to enable the creation of the houses and gardens that are in the village today. The properties, take full advantage of the views out to the sweeping moorland landscape, once looked on as a “filthy, barren ground” but now regarded as one of Hawkridge’s great visual attractions.
The Parish of Hawkidge and Withypool
Withypool and Hawkridge is a combined parish within the Somerset part of the National Park.The main parts of the parish are the two settlements of Withypool and Hawkridge plus many scattered farms. The parish also contains the moorland of Withypool Common and Bradymoor and one side of the wooded valley of the Barle around Tarr Steps.
Area within National Park: 3097ha
Population 2001 census: 234 Occupied households: 105
County: Somerset District: West Somerset Ward: Exmoor
From 2001 census Withypool and Hawkridge Exmoor average England average
population density: persons per hectare 0.08 0.16 3.45
% of population 15yrs old and under 12.8 14.9 20.15
% of population 60 yrs old and older 31.1 25.95 20.75
% males/ % females 46/54 48/52 48/52
average persons per occupied household 2.2 2.2 2.3
holiday and second homes:
% of all household spaces 18.5 9.92 0.64
% population change since 1991 census +5 +2 +4
Infomation; Exmoor National Park
