| Simonsbath | |
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Simonsbath
Simonsbath shown within Somerset |
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| Area | 82.07 km2 (31.69 sq mi) |
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| Population | 203 |
| - Density | 2 /km2 (5.2 /sq mi) |
| OS grid reference | SS775395 |
| Parish | Exmoor |
| District | West Somerset |
| Shire county | Somerset |
| Region | South West |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Minehead |
| Postcode district | TA24 |
| Police | Avon and Somerset |
| Fire | Devon and Somerset |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| EU Parliament | South West England |
| UK Parliament | Bridgwater and West Somerset constituency |
| List of places: UK • England • Somerset | |
Simonsbath is a 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.[1]
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 which was extensively repaired after floods in 1952.[2] It is also on the Two Moors Way footpath.
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The -bath element in this place-name, not recorded before 1791,[3] is easily accounted for: the Old English bæth signified "water, a pool". The identity of Simon is less sure. R.J. King pointed out that the name is frequently met with in the West of England, "especially in connection with old boundary lines".[4] Thomas Westcote, in his View of Devonshire in 1630, preserved a local tradition that "Simon" was a great hunter and Robin Hood-like figure who had his stronghold at Symonsburrow, at the highest point of the Blackdown Hills, a barrow that pre-dates even a medieval legend associated with it.
The Exmoor Forest Inn was originally known as the Refreshment House, then from 1885 The William Rufus Inn and then The Exmoor Forest Hotel in 1901. For a while it was split in half with the nearest part to the road being the Temperance Hotel, until re-united in 1909. It was teetotal until 1933 when the parish of Exmoor was granted its excise licence. In 2005 the term ‘Inn’ was reinstated to the name, when the building was renovated.
When known as the William Rufus Inn, it was said to be the haunt of the noted Exmoor Highwayman Tom Faggus, who married ‘Girt Jan Ridds’ sister whose exploits are recorded in ‘Lorna Doone’. Once it was said, Faggus’s enemies laid a trap to catch him in the Inn, but Faggus whistled for his strawberry mare Winnie who jumped through the window and kicked all her masters enemies away from him. Faggus jumped on the mares back and escaped.[5]
Simonsbath House was built in the mid-seventeenth century for John Boevey, the warden of the Royal forest of Exmoor and for 150 years his was the only house in the forest which consists largely of moorland. After the Royal Act of Inclosure it was bought, with the accompanying farm and about 70,000 acres (280 km2),[6] the remaining portion of the former Royal Forest belonging to the Crown, by John Knight of Worcestershire in 1818 for the sum of £50,000. The Grade II listed building is now the Simonsbath House Hotel,[7] and outdoor activity centre.[8] Knight set about converting the Royal Forest, now known as Exmoor National Park, into agricultural land. He and especially his son Frederick, who assumed management in 1841,[9] erected most of the large farms in the central section of the moor and built 22 miles (35 km) of metalled access roads to Simonsbath. He built a 29 miles (47 km) wall around his estate, much of which still survives.[10]
The mansion was never finished; cultivation has not spread far from the farmstead centres; the walls bother the sportsman more than the deer; and the bogs are as deep, the inner recesses of the moors as wild and solitary, and the coarse grass, and the bracken, and the heathers supreme in their occupancy mile after mile, as if no effort had ever been made to redeem its mingled wildness and sterility."[11]
The small hamlet developed in the nineteenth century, when more houses were built along with St Luke's Church (1856), providing a centre for the population. The church has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II listed building.[12] At around the same time as the construction of the church a mine was developed alongside the River Barle. The mine was originally called Wheal Maria, then changed to Wheal Eliza. It was a copper mine from 1845–54 and then an iron mine until 1857, although the first mining activity on the site may be from 1552.[13] A restored Victorian water-powered sawmill in the village, which was damaged in the floods of 1992, has now been purchased by the National Park and returned to working order, making the footpath signs, gates, stiles, and bridges for various sites in the National Park.[14][15]
Simonsbath was owned by the Earls Fortescue. Sir John William Fortescue, the fifth son of the third earl, was librarian at Windsor Castle 1905–26 and was best known for his sixteen-volume History of the British Army. After his death in 1933 his ashes were scattered locally and a cairn built in his memory.[16] The eldest sons of the Earls Fortescue had the courtesy title of Lord Ebrington. The last Lord Ebrington died in World War II at El Alamein.[17]
The civil parish of Exmoor has its own parish council which has responsibility for local issues, including setting an annual precept (local rate) to cover the council’s operating costs and producing annual accounts for public scrutiny. The parish council evaluates local planning applications and works with the local police, district council officers, and neighbourhood watch groups on matters of crime, security, and traffic. The parish council's role also includes initiating projects for the maintenance and repair of parish facilities, as well as consulting with the district council on the maintenance, repair, and improvement of highways, drainage, footpaths, public transport, and street cleaning. Conservation matters (including trees and listed buildings) and environmental issues are also the responsibility of the council.
The village falls within the Non-metropolitan district of West Somerset, which was formed on April 1, 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, having previously been part of Dulverton Rural District.[18] The district council is responsible for local planning and building control, local roads, council housing, environmental health, markets and fairs, refuse collection and recycling, cemeteries and crematoria, leisure services, parks, and tourism.
Somerset County Council is responsible for running the largest and most expensive local services such as education, social services, libraries, main roads, public transport, policing and fire services, trading standards, waste disposal and strategic planning. Local health services are managed by the Somerset Coast Primary Care Trust.
It is also part of the Bridgwater and West Somerset constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election, and part of the South West England constituency of the European Parliament which elects seven MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.
Simonsbath is 1,250 feet (381 m) above sea level,[19] in the valley of the River Barle. On the Chains is a 3 acres (1.2 ha) reservoir known as Pinkery Pond. It was formed by damming the River Barle, in the 19th century by John Knight and his son, and was originally intended to be 7 acres (2.8 ha). The purpose is unknown but close to the pond is the remains of a small canal.[20]
On the moor north of the village is Exe Head, which is the source of the River Exe. It lies on peaty soils over rocks dating from the mid Devonian (to which this area gave its name) to early Carboniferous periods.[21] Quartz and iron mineralisation can be detected in outcrops and subsoil. The Devonian Kentisbury Slates are exposed in the small quarry by white water.
The mean annual temperature is 8.3 °C (47 °F). The average annual total rainfall is 69.6 inches (1,768 mm), although 7.35 inches (187 mm) fell in the 24-hour period preceding 10 a.m. on 16 August 1952, which was one of the contributory factors leading to the flooding in Lynmouth.[22]
Estimates from the 2001 census show Simonsbath as having a population of 300 in 110 households, 99.7% of which are white and 0.3% Asian or Asian British.[23]
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