Holnicote Estate

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Holnicote House
Location Exmoor, England
Coordinates 51°12′21″N 3°33′43″W / 51.20583°N 3.56194°W / 51.20583; -3.56194Coordinates: 51°12′21″N 3°33′43″W / 51.20583°N 3.56194°W / 51.20583; -3.56194
Location of Holnicote House in Somerset

Holnicote Estate /ˈhʌnɪˌkʌt/ is a National Trust property consisting of 5,026 hectares (12,420 acres) of Exmoor National Park situated in West Somerset, England. The property was donated to the National Trust in 1944 by Sir Richard Thomas Dyke Acland, 15th Baronet; it had been in the Acland family since 1745.[1]

The name of the estate is pronounced "Hunnicutt".

House and outbuildings

There have been four manor houses at Holnicote. Limited information is available about the early buildings. One is known to have been built between 1493 and 1521 based on dendochronology from the gatehouse. When this was purchased by the Blackford family in 1705 they replaced the existing house with a new one.[2] The stable block from that building still survives.[3]

The gatehouse was built along with a house in the early 17th century however the house was destroyed by fire in 1779. The Ackland family built a thatched cottage on the site which was destroyed by fire in 1851 but replaced in 1861 and had a kitchen extension added in 1874.[2] The lodge was built in the 19th century.[4] There are several cottages including Rose Bower [5] and the 17th century Butlers Cottage.[6]

There is also an 18th century Flemish bond red brick granary.[7]

Estate

The estate was acquired by Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, 7th Baronet by marriage into the family of Baron Arundell of Trerice in 1745.[8] He had kennels built for the North Devon Staghounds. The esatate passed down through the Acland family.[9]

Holnicote Estate contains more than 240 kilometres (150 mi) of footpaths and bridleways. It includes Dunkery and Selworthy Beacons, and the villages and hamlets of Selworthy, Allerford, Bossington, Horner and Luccombe as well as the Horner and Dunkery National Nature Reserve.

The estate also plays host to a point to point course on which many Exmoor hunts hold their meetings throughout the spring.

Use as a children's home

During the early 1940s the property was used by the Somerset County Council as a children's home where many children born from liaisons between African American service men and local women were housed, after being given up for adoption.[10]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "National Trust, Holnicote Estate". BBC. Retrieved 11 January 2012. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "MEM22093 - Holnicote House". Exmoor National Park. Retrieved 15 December 2013. 
  3. ↑ "Stable block to Holnicote House". National Heritage List for England. English Heritage. Retrieved 15 December 2013. 
  4. ↑ "Higher Lodge". English Heritage. Retrieved 15 December 2013. 
  5. ↑ "Rose Bower and No 53". English Heritage. Retrieved 15 December 2013. 
  6. ↑ "Butlers Cottage". English Heritage. Retrieved 15 December 2013. 
  7. ↑ "Granary". English Heritage. Retrieved 15 December 2013. 
  8. ↑ Richardson, Isabel (1996). "Chapter 10 A Selworthy Cottage". In Evans, David Morgan. The Remains of Distant Times: Archaeology and the National Trust. Boydell Press. pp. 73–83. ISBN 978-0851156712. 
  9. ↑ Richardson, I.J. "The Acland Family and Exmoor". Exmoor national Park. Retrieved 15 December 2013. 
  10. ↑ "The babies they left behind". Life 25 (8): 41. 23 August 1948. Retrieved 4 February 2012. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Holnicote Estate.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.