The gateway to the Doone Valley which was made famous by RD Blackmore in his famous novel Lorna Doone.
The hamlet of Malmsmead is in the parish of Oare on the border of Devon and Somerset. The Doone valley can be accessed by following the Badgworthy Water upriver. There is also a memorial to Blackmore by the path up the valley. Malmsmead can easily be accessed from the Coleridge Way by crossing the footbridge instead of carrying along the north side of the river or from the South West Coast Path.