The town of Hartland, which incorporates the village of Stoke to the west, is the most north-westerly settlement in the county of Devon, England.
Now a small town which acts as a centre for a rural neighbourhood and has a minor tourist traffic, until Tudor times Hartland was an important port. It lies close to the promontory of Hartland Point, where the coast of Devon turns from facing north into the Bristol Channel to face west into the Atlantic Ocean. There is an important lighthouse on the point. The town's harbour, Hartland Quay, is to the south of the point, and has long been too small for modern shipping. The high tower of the church at Stoke remains a significant landmark for ships in the Bristol Channel.
Hartland is a convenient centre for walking parts of the South West Coast Path, and the wild coastal scenery around the point is some of the most dramatic on the path, with excellent views across to Lundy Island.
The name "Hartland" presumably derives from the Old English word "hart" for a deer, and it is therefore surprising that it is not more common in England. The many places in other English speaking countries called Hartland probably bear witness to the historic importance of Hartland rather than being independent derivations, since the word "hart" was largely obsolete before the European discovery of the New World.
