Lynton & Lynmouth Hotels - Romanced by the poets

Romantic poets, Coleridge, Wordsworth and Shelley were amongst the early visitors to Lynton & Lynmouth at the turn of the 19th century but wealthy Victorians discovered Lynton & Lynmouth as a tourist destination in the mid1800s. One notable visitor, Albert Edward Prince of Wales afforded one Lynton hotel to adopt the ‘royal’ title and the fashionable resort was born. Almost immediately a building programme began with elegant residences, many of which are now a Lynton & Lynmouth hotel or Lynton B&B and these two small villages quickly expanded with ambitious building projects including a water powered cliff railway to join the two towns which is still in operation today. Victorian construction & engineering continued with large Lynton & Lynmouth hotels and an impressive town hall. Another influential Victorian, Thomas Hewitt built a home for his bride here and it too is now a Lynton hotel.

Railways

The national railway network was expanded to bring families to the area and is still in evidence today. A restored steam line still runs from Minehead to just short of Taunton at Bishops Lydiard offering holidaymakers a taste of the romance of steam travel. More recently, the narrow gauge line, which originally ran from Barnstaple to Lynton has been re-installed at Woody Bay Station and draws visitors from all over the world.

Lynton & Lynmouth Accommodation

A search for Lynton & Lynmouth accommodation will result in a variety of Victorian period buildings, elegant summer residences many now a Lynton B&B, period rectories and chapels all nestled around and above the Lyn river mouth where Exmoor meets the sea.