West Lyn River

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The Glen Lyn Gorge, on the West Lyn

The West Lyn is a river of Exmoor, which flows through the north-east of Devon.

The river rises high in Exmoor, at the Chains in Somerset, flowing north but within a few hundred yards enters Devon. It joins the East Lyn River at Lynmouth in Devon and here enters the Bristol Channel.

The upper reaches of the West Lyn have been designated as a 'Site of Special Scientific Interest', because of the geomorphological landforms created in the deadly 1952 flood.[1]

The lower reaches of the river towards Lynmouth, known as the Glen Lyn Gorge, is a tourist attraction including a museum about the local water cycle, the floods of 1952, and a small hydroelectric plant. Water is piped from the river to generate hydroelectric power for the Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway, which is a water-balance funicular railway.

References

  1. SSSI listing and designation for River Lyn