North Exmoor is a 12005.3 hectare

Hectare

The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...

 (29665.0 acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Devon

Devon

Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...

 and Somerset

Somerset

The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...

, notified in 1954.

This site is within Exmoor National Park and includes the Dunkery Beacon

Dunkery Beacon

Dunkery Beacon is the summit of Dunkery Hill, and the highest point on Exmoor and in Somerset, England. It is also the highest point in southern England outside Dartmoor....

 and the Holnicote

Holnicote Estate

Holnicote Estate is a National Trust property consisting of of Exmoor National Park situated in West Somerset, England. The property has been in the ownership of the National Trust since 1932, when it was donated by the Acland family....

 and Horner Water Nature Conservation Review sites, and the Chains

Chains (geological site)

The Chains is the name given to the north-west plateau of Exmoor, Somerset, England. This plateau lies above the contour line, and includes the source of the River Barle....

 Geological Conservation Review

Geological Conservation Review

The Geological Conservation Review is produced by the UK's Joint Nature Conservation Committee and is designed to identify those sites of national and international importance needed to show all the key scientific elements of the geological and geomorphological features of Britain...

 site. The site is nationally important for its south-western lowland heath communities and for transitions from ancient semi-natural woodland through upland heath to blanket mire. The site is also of importance for its breeding bird communities, its large population of the nationally rare Heath Fritillary

Heath Fritillary

The Heath Fritillary is a butterfly of the Nymphalidae family. It is found throughout the Palaearctic from Western Europe to Japan, in heathland, grassland, and in coppiced woodland. Its association with coppiced woodland earned it the name "Woodman's Follower" in parts of the UK...

 butterfly

Butterfly

A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...

 (Mellicta athalia), an exceptional woodland lichen

Lichen

Lichens are composite organisms consisting of a symbiotic organism composed of a fungus with a photosynthetic partner , usually either a green alga or cyanobacterium...

 flora

Flora

Flora is the plant life occurring in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring or indigenous—native plant life. The corresponding term for animals is fauna.-Etymology:...

 and its palynological interest of deep peat on the Chains. The ancient woodland

Ancient woodland

Ancient woodland is a term used in the United Kingdom to refer specifically to woodland that has existed continuously since 1600 or before in England and Wales . Before those dates, planting of new woodland was uncommon, so a wood present in 1600 was likely to have developed naturally...

 is mostly to be found around Horner and Hawkcombe Woods

Hawkcombe Woods

Hawkcombe Woods is a National Nature Reserve near Porlock on Exmoor, Somerset, England.The woodlands are notable for their lichens, heath fritillary butterfly, red wood ant colonies, dead wood invertebrates and ancient pollards....

 near Porlock

Porlock

Porlock is a coastal village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated in a deep hollow below Exmoor, west of Minehead. The parish, which includes Hawkcombe and Doverhay, has a population of 1,377....

 where it is open to the moorland and is grazed by domestic stock and Red Deer

Red Deer

The red deer is one of the largest deer species. Depending on taxonomy, the red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Asia Minor, parts of western Asia, and central Asia. It also inhabits the Atlas Mountains region between Morocco and Tunisia in northwestern Africa, being...

(Cervus elaphus) of which there is a large population.