Tarr Steps

Tarr Steps is a clapper bridge of stone slabs that crosses the River Barle in Exmoor National Park. It has 17 spans, and the top slabs weigh 1 to 2 tonnes each. Its age is uncertain: some theories go back to the Bronze Age, others to around 1400, and the listing describes it as medieval. Atlas Obscura calls it the longest and oldest bridge of its kind. It is Grade I listed and a scheduled monument. Floods, most recently in 2012 and 2016, have washed away slabs; the stones are numbered so that they can be put back in place.

From the car park, which has toilets, it is a walk of roughly 400 to 450 m to the bridge. According to Visit Exmoor, the circular walk upstream (about 3 km, around an hour), returning over a footbridge, cannot currently be completed because Hinds Pitt Bridge has been closed until further notice since May 2025 (as of October 2026). The valley is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, and at dusk you may see red deer and otters. The Tarr Farm Inn offers refreshments.