In the 19th century trade increased with the export of iron ore from the Brendon Hills, paper, flour and gypsum.
The parish lies between the Brendon Hills and the River Tone.
In the 19th century the school was reported to have 200 pupils from the village and the iron mines in the Brendon Hills.
There are also cultivated areas including the Brendon Hills, which lie in the east of the National Park.
The valley between the Quantocks and the Brendon Hills is well worth exploring.
Colton was at a much lower altitude than Brendon Hill, and the tramway had to ascend from the mine on a new incline.
It is in a wooded district at the eastern extremity of the Brendon Hills.
It is situated at the foot of the Brendon Hills and acts as a gateway to Exmoor.
It lays sheltered at the northeast incline of the Brendon Hills.
The Brendon Hills are an outcrop of Exmoor itself, local and self-contained in their own way.