Goats have been recorded in the Valley of Rocks over many centuries. The Domesday book recorded seventy-five goats in the Manor of Lyntonia. Over the years the fortunes of the goats have been somewhat mixed and man's intervention has played an important part in their history.
Goats were removed in the mid-nineteenth century as Coopers guide of 1853 tells us that before this wild goats were encouraged in the valley, and that it was felt necessary to destroy them as they killed so many sheep by butting them over the adjacent cliffs.
Goats were again introduced into the valley in 1897 by Sir Thomas and Lady Hewitt. These were domestic goats believed to have come from Sandringham and although not ideally suited to the harsh environment of the valley survived as a small, mainly white herd until they eventually died out in the 1960s.
Goats Valley
of The Rocks Lynton
The herd in the valley today originated from the Cheviot Hills of Northumberland and were introduced in 1976. They are well suited to the valley environment and breed freely. This goat is our original native breed, introduced by the very first farmers, but further developed and shaped by the harsh climate of Northern Europe, so that it is small and stocky with a large rumen that can be packed full of poor grade fodder which then acts like a furnace to keep it warm. Even its ears are small to ward off the effects of frost, and its overall appearance is very much in keeping with the Exmoor Pony, a breed that developed in similar conditions. In fact, the British Native Goat has been termed the 'Exmoor Pony Of The Goat World'.
In the spring the billies move away to higher ground and nearby woods on Hollerday Hilll where they will stay for the summer, returning to join the females and kids in August ready for the rut. When the weather gets very hot and dry the billies sometimes go down the cliffs onto the rocky foreshore and then walk into Lynmouth to drink from the river.
Contributed by:George Townsend |
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