Exmoor is loosely defined as an area of hilly open moorland in west Somerset and north Devon in South West England. It is named after the River Exe, the source of which is situated in the centre of the area, two miles north-west of Simonsbath. Exmoor is more precisely defined as the area of the former ancient royal hunting forest, also called Exmoor, which was officially surveyed 1815–1818 as 18,810 acres (7,610 ha) in extent. The moor has given its name to a National Park, which includes the Brendon Hills, the East Lyn Valley, the Vale of Porlock and 55 km (34 mi) of the Bristol Channel coast. The total area of the Exmoor National Park is 692.8 km2 (267.5 sq mi), of which 71% is in Somerset and 29% in Devon.
Dulverton is a town and civil parish in west Somerset, England, near the border with Devon. The town had a population of 1,408 at the 2011 Census. The parish includes the hamlets of Battleton and Ashwick which is located approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) north west of Dulverton.
Brushford is a village and civil parish 2 miles (3.2 km) south of Dulverton and 12 miles (19 km) north of Tiverton in Devon, in the Somerset West and Taunton district of Somerset, England. According to the 2001 census, it had a population of 535 in 243 households, reducing to 519 at the 2011 Census. It covers an area of 1,149 hectares (11 km2) of which 3 hectares (0.030 km2) is within the Exmoor National Park.
Colonel Sir Frederick Winn Knight was an English Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1841 to 1885.
The River Barle runs from the Chains on northern Exmoor, in Somerset, England to join the River Exe at Exebridge, Devon. The river and the Barle Valley are both designated as biological Sites of Special Scientific Interest.
Holnicote in the parish of Selworthy, West Somerset, England, is a historic estate consisting of 12,420 acres of land, much situated within the Exmoor National Park.
Exford is a rural village at the centre of Exmoor National Park, 7 miles (11 km) north-west of Dulverton, and 10 miles (16 km) south-west of Minehead, in Somerset, England. Less than a mile away is the hamlet of Lyncombe.
Winsford is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, located about 5 miles (8 km) north-west of Dulverton.
Simonsbath is a small village high on Exmoor in the English county of Somerset. It is the principal settlement in the Exmoor civil parish, which is the largest and most sparsely populated civil parish on Exmoor, covering nearly 32 square miles (83 km2) but with a population, at the time of the 2001 census, of 203 in 78 households, reducing to 156 at the 2011 census. The River Exe rises from a valley to the north, and the River Barle runs through the village and is crossed by a triple-arched medieval bridge that was extensively repaired after floods in 1952.
Mordaunt Fenwick Bisset, of Bagborough, Somerset, was a British Conservative Member of Parliament and a famous west-country Master of Staghounds.
Pixton Park is a country house in the parish of Dulverton, Somerset, England. It is associated with at least three historically significant families, successively by descent: Acland, amongst the largest landowners in the West Country; Herbert, politicians and diplomats; and Waugh, writers. The present grade II* listed Georgian mansion house was built circa 1760 by the Acland family and in 1870 was altered by Henry Herbert, 4th Earl of Carnarvon (1831–1890). Although Pixton Park is situated within the manor of Dulverton, the manorial chapel relating to Pixton is situated not at Dulverton but within the Church of St Nicholas, Brushford, across the River Barle, as the lordship of the manor of Dulverton was held from 1568 by the Sydenham family seated at Combe House, on the opposite side of the River Barle to Dulverton and Pixton.
Philip Froude Hancock universally known as Froude Hancock was an English rugby union forward who played international rugby for the British Isles XV on two tours, the 1891 and 1896 tour of South Africa.
Simonsbath House is a historic house in Simonsbath on Exmoor in Somerset, England. The Grade II listed building is now the Simonsbath House Hotel, and outdoor activity centre. It lies in the valley of the River Barle and on the Two Moors Way footpath.
Ashwick House is an Edwardian mansion in Ashwick, four miles northwest of Dulverton, Exmoor, Somerset, England.
The red deer of Exmoor have been hunted since Norman times, when Exmoor was declared a Royal Forest. Collyns stated the earliest record of a pack of Staghounds on Exmoor was 1598. In 1803, the "North Devon Staghounds" became a subscription pack. In 1824/5 30 couples of hounds, the last of the true staghounds, were sold to a baron in Germany. Today, the Devon and Somerset is one of three staghounds packs in the UK, the others being the Quantock Staghounds and the Tiverton Staghounds. All packs hunt within Devon and Somerset. The Chairman as of 2016 is Tom Yandle, who was previously High Sheriff of Somerset in 1999.
George Wentworth Warwick Bampfylde, 4th Baron Poltimore (1882–1965) of Poltimore and North Molton, Devon, was a peer and major landowner in Devonshire, whose family had been seated at Poltimore from about 1300. He was a Justice of the Peace for Devon and occupied the honorary position of High Steward of South Molton, Devon.
Duvale is a historic estate in the parish of Bampton, Devon. It is situated on a narrow flat plain in the steep-sided valley of the River Exe, 1 1/2 miles south west of the town of Bampton and 5 miles north of Tiverton, also on the River Exe further downstream. The name, given by Pole (d.1635) as Deu Vale, is said by him to signify "a valley of water". It was until the nearby construction of the present busy A396 road a place of exceptional seclusion and tranquility.
Combe is a historic estate in Somerset, England, situated between the town of Dulverton and the village of Brushford.
Northmoor is an historic estate in the parish of Dulverton in Somerset, England. The Victorian mansion house known as Northmoor House is set amongst steep wooded valleys on the southern edge of Exmoor.
The descent of the Holnicote estate in Somerset, England, is as follows:
