Simonsbath House
| Simonsbath House | |
| Somerset | |
|---|---|
 Simonsbath House | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SS772392 |
| Location: | 51°8’21"N, 3°45’24"W |
| Village: | Simonsbath |
| History | |
| Built Mid-17th century | |
| Country house | |
| Information | |
| Condition: | Converted to a hotel |
Simonsbath House is a historic house in Simonsbath on Exmoor in Somerset, built in the seventeenth century as the manor house of the estate and around which today's village was created.
Today it is a hotel; the Simonsbath House Hotel,[1] and also has outdoor activity centre.[2]
The house is a Grade II listed building.[3]
The house is to be found in the valley of the River Barle and walkers on the Two Moors Way footpath will pass it in the valley.
History
The house was built in the mid-17th century by the merchant, lawyer and philosopher James Boevey (1622-1696), the warden of the Royal forest of Exmoor, and for 150 years his was the only house in the forest.[3][4]
After Boevy's death and that of his wife, the house was sold with the Exmoor estate to Robert Siderfin of Luxborough, who used the grazing rights he gained on the estate but let the house to tenants, one of which was John Dennicombe, who allowed the house to fall into disrepair, and was eventually evicted, but only after he had burnt much of the wood panelling and other fixtures within the house.[4] During the second half of the 18th century and the early part of the 19th century the wardens of the forest were the Acland baronets who leased the house, and it was licensed as an inn.[4]
After a local Inclosure Act, the common land in this part of Exmoor was allocated between owners and commoners, and soon afterwards the Crown sold its portion by auction. Simonsbath House, with the accompanying farm and about 70,000 acres, were bought[5] by John Knight of Worcestershire in 1818 for the sum of £50,000.[6]
Knight set about converting the Royal Forest of Exmoor into agricultural land.[7] He and especially his son Frederick, who assumed management in 1841,[8] erected most of the large farms in the central section of the moor and built twenty-two miles of metalled access roads to Simonsbath. He built a twenty-nine mile wall around his estate, much of which still survives.[6]
Shortly after 1879, Hugh Fortescue, 4th Earl Fortescue (1854–1932) of nearby Castle Hill, Filleigh in Devon, Master of the Devon and Somerset Staghounds 1880/81–87, acquired the reversion of the whole of the former Royal Forest of Exmoor after the death of Frederick Winn Knight. This was largely done to further his passion for staghunting.[9] When Castle Hill was destroyed by a fire in 1934, the Fortescue family moved to Simonsbath House whilst rebuilding was in progress. The 4th Earl's granddaughter and eventual heiress, Lady Margaret Fortescue (1923-2013), devoted much time to attempting to put the Exmoor estate onto a profitable footing.[10]
The house was altered by the Fortescues,[3] including the building of one of the first Squash Courts in Britain in 1929.[4]
A 16th century heraldic chimney piece was brought by the Fortescues from their secondary seat at Weare Giffard Hall in Devon, and survives in today's hotel.
During Second World War the house was used as a school, and afterwards was as an hotel under the name "Diana Lodge Hotel" (in reference to the Roman goddess of hunting), which had several owners during the ensuing decades. In 1969 the name reverted to Simonsbath House.[4]
Architecture
The house, which consists of several bays, has white painted walls and slate roofs. Outside are several agricultural buildings which have been adapted to provide accommodation.
The interior includes a fireplace with a chamfered lintel which dates from 1654, panelling and a 17th-century overmantel with a painted coat of arms which was brought from Weare Giffard Hall, near Bideford, a secondary seat of the Earls Fortescue.[3]
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Simonsbath) |
References
- ↑ Burt, Paddy (2004-09-18). "Room service: Simonsbath House Hotel, Exmoor". Daily Telegraph. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/731248/Room-service-Simonsbath-House-Hotel-Exmoor.html. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
- ↑ "Simonsbath House Outdoor Activity Centre". Simonsbath House Outdoor Activity Centre. http://www.shoc.info/. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 National Heritage List 1058031: Simonsbath House Hotel
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 "History". Simonsbath House Hotel. http://www.simonsbathhouse.co.uk/history.html. Retrieved 11 November 2010.
- ↑ Worth, F.G.S; Worth, C R N (1879). Tourist's Guide To North Devon And The Exmoor District - With Map. Edward Stanford. pp. 94.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Simonsbath". Whatsonexmoor. http://www.whatsonexmoor.co.uk/villages/simonsbath.htm. Retrieved 2007-11-27.
- ↑ Havinden, Michael (1982). The Somerset Landscape. The making of the English landscape. London: Hodder and Stoughton. pp. 126–129. ISBN 0-340-20116-9.
- ↑ Stebbing, E.P. (1931). "Review of "The reclamation of Exmoor Forest" by C.S. Orwin". The Economic Journal 41 (161): 119. doi:10.2307/2224155.
- ↑ Exmoor Oral History Archive, Dulverton and District Civic Society, 2001 [1]
- ↑ Exmoor Oral History Archive