![Holdstone Hill [Holdstone Down]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/93/Large_Cairn_of_Stones_and_Triangulation_Pillar_atop_Holdstone_Down_-_geograph.org.uk_-_4740109.jpg)
Dartmoor & Exmoor
Holdstone Hill [Holdstone Down]
350M
1147FT
About Holdstone Hill [Holdstone Down]
Rising sharply above the North Devon coast near Combe Martin, this heather-clad Tump offers a quintessential maritime Exmoor experience. The climb is rewarded with dramatic views across the Bristol Channel to the Gower Peninsula and Lundy Island, with the towering profile of Great Hangman dominating the coast to the west.
Key Statistics
Rank
75th Highest in Region
Parent Range
Exmoor
Prominence
?
90m
Nearest Town
North Devon
Geology
You are walking across the Hangman Sandstone Formation. This solid sandstone provides the sturdy foundation for the landscape of Holdstone Hill.
Nearby Fells
Find It
OS Grid Reference
SS619477
Latitude
51.2118°N
Longitude
3.9785°W
Did You Know?
- •The name likely derives from the Old English 'halig' (holy) and 'stan' (stone), suggesting the hill has been a site of spiritual significance since at least the Anglo-Saxon period.
- •In 1958, the Aetherius Society declared the summit a 'holy mountain' after their founder claimed to have encountered a cosmic being here; the group still holds regular pilgrimages to the summit to harness what they describe as 'spiritual energies'.
- •The hill is frequently bagged alongside its neighbour, Great Hangman; at 318 metres, the latter is the highest sea cliff in England and Wales, offering a vertigo-inducing perspective of the surf crashing against the Exmoor coast.
- •From the summit cairn, the view north across the Bristol Channel is remarkably clear, often picking out the white lighthouse on Flat Holm island and the distant, dark silhouettes of the Brecon Beacons in Wales.
- •While some visitors come searching for flying saucers and mystical alignments, the most reliably spotted residents are the wild Exmoor ponies that graze the wind-scoured heathland.