Exmoor is a large region of moorland, mountains, and forests shared by Devonshire and Somersetshire in southwestern England. The best-selling Lorna Doone gave the Exmoor region a new source of income—tourists. Some complained that the mountains and forests of the region were not as spectacular as Blackmore had led them to believe, but most loved the area. The region remains popular with tourists. Blackmore set Lorna Doone in the heightened Exmoor of his imagination, a fitting place for giants such as John Ridd and Carver Doone.

The novel begins on November 29, 1673, John Ridd's twelfth birthday and his last day at Blundell's School, Tiverton, Devon. Because of his father's murder, John must return home to Plover's Barrows, in Oare, Somerset. This farm, together with the surrounding moorland, is the principal setting for the novel. The outlaw clan, the Doones of Bagworthy, occupy a part of Exmoor called...