 There is evidence of occupation of the area by people from Mesolithic times onward . In the Neolithic period , people started to manage animals and grow crops on farms cleared from the woodland , rather than act purely as hunters and as gatherers . It is also likely that extraction and smelting of mineral ores to make metal tools , weapons , containers and ornaments started in the late Neolithic , and continued into the bronze and Iron Ages . An earthen ring at Parracombe is believed to be a Neolithic henge dating from 5000 – 4000 BC , and Cow Castle , which is where White Water meets the River Barle , is an Iron Age fort at the top of a conical hill . 
