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North Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty

Ilfracombe is situated in the northern part of the North Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), which stretches west and south from Coombe Martin to the Cornish border, and contains some of the finest cliff scenery in Britain, including the beautiful cliffs of Ilfracombe's own Hillsborough Nature Reserve.

In the north, steeply dipping rocks form hogsback cliffs along the whole of the North Devon coast in a natural continuation of Exmoor's dramatic coastline. Turning south, Hartland Point's dark, sheer crags and razor-like reefs are the coast at its sternest. Facing the full force of the Atlantic, its fractured jagged drama is the stuff of wreckers' tales.

In contrast, the AONB includes the broad sweep of Barnstaple Bay, the surfing beaches of Woolacombe and the huge dune systems of Braunton Burrows on the Taw and Torridge Estuary.

The remote cliffs and cliff-top grasslands are important ecological sites, with many Sites of Special Scientific Interest. The AONB contains many Sites of Special Scientific Interest including Braunton Burrows, which is the core of a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.