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Slowly, very slowly, great Dunkery grew less hard of aspect, shadows drew along at the base, while again the declining sun from time to time sent his beams into valleys till now dark. The thatched house at Holnicote by the foot of Selworthy much interested me; it is one of the last of thatched houses inhabited by a gentleman and landed proprietor.
Selworthy, a charming village 4 m. W. of Minehead, on the road to Porlock. It is best reached from Holnicote, along a pleasant shady lane, 1/2 m. long. There is much to repay the visitor. The mouldings of the arcade piers should be observed, and two of the capitals have the Devonshire foliage.
W. of the Quantocks are the Brendons and the highlands of Exmoor, the latter extending into Devon, though their highest point, Dunkery Beacon, is included in Somerset. Dunkery is 1707 ft. above the sea-level; and other conspicuous hills in this district are Lucott Hill , Elworthy Barrow , Selworthy Beacon , and Grabbist Hill.
The headland and its three curves boldly project into the sunlit waters; from its foot many a gallant stag hard pressed by the hounds has swum out into the track of passing vessels. Selworthy Woods were still in the afternoon heat; except for the occasional rustle of a rabbit or of a pheasant, there was no evidence of life; the sound of the sea was faint and soon lost among the ferns.
Thrushes sang, and chaffinches, and, sweetest of all, if simplest in notes, the greenfinches talked and courted in the trees. Two cuckoos called in different directions, wood-pigeons raised their voices in Selworthy Wood, and rooks went over cawing in their deliberate way.
The whole range of the hill can be traversed as far as Selworthy Beacon, and a descent may be made either to Wood Combe or Greenaleigh farm. Misterton, a village 1/2 m. S.E. of Crewkerne. Its church is of no antiquarian interest, though it possesses an ancient font. Monksilver, a parish 3 m. S. of Williton, rather less from Stogumber Station. The last half of the name is probably the Latin silva.
At Selworthy a footpath leads up through a wood on Selworthy Hill, and as it ascends, always at the side of the slope, gradually opens out what is perhaps the finest view of Dunkery Beacon, the Dunkery range, and that edge of Exmoor on to the shore of the sea.
On the road to the church is a 15th-cent. tithe-barn; whilst W. of the church, lying in a hollow, are some interesting almhouses, known as "Selworthy Green." Selworthy Beacon, rising above the village, is 1014 ft. above the sea. Shapwick, a village 4-1/2 m. W. of Glastonbury, situated on the Poldens.
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