Selworthy (Somerset)

Tea Room in Selworthy

Selworthy is perhaps one of the most delightful places in all of southern England; it was established in 1828 as a model settlement to provide exemplary housing for elderly and infirm employees of the vast Holnicote Estate—on whose land Selworthy was built, as was the nearby village of Bossington. In the heart of the small village, a number of thatched cottages are arranged around a large lawn. Some of these cottages are available to rent as holiday homes, while others are used by the National Trust—the current owner of the Holnicote Estate—as a shop, or have been converted into a well-known and popular tea room (Periwinkle Cottage Tea Rooms).

By car, you can easily reach Selworthy in just a few minutes from Minehead, on the edge of Exmoor. The short „main street“ (essentially the only one) leads to the whitewashed 15th-century church—featuring a bell tower that predates it by about a century—where parking is available.

A stroll through the village and a visit to the tearoom and tea garden at „Periwinkle Cottage“ are an absolute must! Afterwards, you shouldn’t miss the walk up Selworthy Beacon—which rises to around 300 meters—as that wonderful, hearty cream tea at the Periwinkle Cottage Tea Rooms needs walking off. The route—a fairly gentle ascent through the woods followed by a stretch across open countryside past gorse that blooms yellow in the spring—also rewards you with fantastic views of Exmoor, the Bristol Channel, and even as far as Wales. We describe this walk in greater detail in the section „Highlights – Selworthy Beacon in Exmoor National Park.“

Selworthy in Exmoor, Somerset

Typical house in Selworthy (Exmoor, Somerset)

Selworthy in Exmoor, Somerset

Selworthy in Exmoor, Somerset

Selworthy in Exmoor, Somerset

View at Selworthy in Exmoor, Somerset

View from Selworthy towards Dunkery Beacon

Destination of the longing for cream tea: tea room in Selworthy (Somerset)

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Selworthy in Exmoor, Somerset

Church of Selworthy in Exmoor, Somerset

View from Selworthy Church towards Dunkery Beacon, the highest point on Exmoor.

Selworthy in Exmoor – the path here, behind the photographer, leads to Selworthy Beacon.

Flying a drone through Selworthy by Martin Pope: