Five Barrows Hill

About Five Barrows Hill

Situated on the windswept North Molton Ridge, this Exmoor summit is defined by its distinctive alignment of Bronze Age burial mounds. The high, heathery plateau offers a sense of immense space, with the Two Moors Way providing an easy approach to these ancient monuments, which mark one of the highest points in the region.

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Did You Know?

• •The name is a literal reference to the prominent group of Bronze Age round barrows that crown the ridge. While the name suggests five, there are actually nine distinct burial mounds in this cemetery, arranged in a roughly linear fashion across the summit plateau.
• •The summit provides a sweeping panorama that stretches north across the Bristol Channel to the Brecon Beacons in South Wales, while the rounded mass of Dunkery Beacon, Exmoor's highest point, is clearly visible to the east.
• •These barrows date back to the Early Bronze Age, roughly between 2000 and 1500 BC. They were likely positioned on this high ridge to serve as significant territorial markers for the early farming communities that grazed livestock on the surrounding moorland.
• •The hill serves as a major landmark on the Two Moors Way, the long-distance walking route that links Dartmoor and Exmoor. This specific section marks the transition from the lower Devon farmland into the true, rugged upland of the national park.
• •Despite the name’s mathematical certainty, any walker attempting to verify the count will quickly find that local geography is more generous than the title suggests; there are at least eight or nine distinct mounds, depending on how much of a stickler you are for archaeological preservation.