Buildings on or near Exmoor

Buildings on or near Exmoor

Because Exmoor was a Royal Forest, ie a hunting reserve, it was unpopulated in Medieval times. The first house on the moor was only built at Simonsbath in 1654. It was not until the 19th century that farms were built around the moor.

Dunster Yarn Market towards Dunster Castle

Although the late 16th century is traditionally see as the beginning of the domestic building boom, on Exmoor the 15th century saw a large amount of building. A number of medieval farmhouses, with later adaptations, continue to function in the 21st century. At Molland 13 farmhouses have been classed as of late medieval origin and three, including Great Champson manor house, as early 16th-century. Their solid jointed-cruck roofs with smoke-blackened timbers confirm the quality of building in the area.

Among domestic building the main range of Combe in Dulverton was a medieval open-hall, as were Beer in Brushford and West Nethercote in Winsford. The survival of medieval longhouses on Exmoor is due to their substantial quality and their remoteness and isolation. The longhouse with humans and animals under one roof, and originally with a single entrance for people and livestock, was common in the uplands of south-west England. It is not possible to say from the recorded surviving examples how widespread the form was on Exmoor. Mainly attributed to the 15th or 16th centuries, they are of substantial jointed-cruck construction, a form used in Somerset between the 1390s and 1630s.

Lower Sowerhill in Brushford, Badlake in West Anstey, and Edbrooke and Lyncombe in Winsford are 15th-century longhouses. Medieval Bungsland in East Anstey was remodelled in the late 16th or early 17th century when a shippen was added. West Nightcott in Brushford, Luckesses in Exford and Cloggs in Hawkridge may be 16th-century and represent the replacement of an older house in the same form. The longhouse continued to be built in upland areas, probably for economy of space and masonry, until the 17th century, although with a solid division between house and shippen.

Whatever the effects of the Black Death may have been in this area mass desertion was not a result. Of 49 settlements found in surnames in four of the areas’ parishes in 1327 only 5 had lost their dwellings by the 19th century. Some of these may have been lost after the medieval period and others may simply have changed their names. Most deserted farmstead sites have been deserted since the early 19th century. Evidence of prosperity in the area in the 15th century is shown in the church towers of Dulverton and Exford, the naves of Hawkridge and Winsford, and the virtual rebuilding of Brushford and Withypool churches. Several good quality stone bridges survive from the late medieval period including Barle and Hele bridges in Dulverton, Landacre bridge in Hawkridge and two packhorse bridges in Winsford. Clearly a large amount of trade was passing along Exmoor’s roads.

There are also some high-class houses surviving in the south of the area. Most notable is Combe in Dulverton, home of a branch of the Sydenham family. The house appears to be a 20th-century reworking of an Elizabethan house but the main range was originally an open-hall medieval house. Other surviving medieval houses include the former open-hall houses at Beer in Brushford and West Nethercote in Winsford. The survival of medieval longhouses in the area probably reflects the pastoral nature of agriculture. The longhouse with humans and animals under one roof was a common form of farmhouse in the uplands of south-west England. They are usually thought of as medieval, especially those with a common entrance for people and livestock or at least a communicating door. However, the form continued, probably for economy of space and masonry, until the 17th century, although with a solid division between house and shippen.

It is not possible to say from the recorded surviving examples how widespread the form was on Exmoor, nor when they were first built. They have been attributed to the 15th or 16th centuries and are of jointed-cruck construction but none have been dendro-dated. However, the jointed-cruck form in Somerset has been found in houses dendro-dated between 1391 and the 1630s. Most date from the first half of the 15th century including an example at Luccombe in northern Exmoor, so it may be that some jointed-cruck houses are earlier than has been previously thought.

Known 15th-century examples of longhouses from this area are at Lower Sowerhill in Brushford and Edbrook and Lyncombe in Winsford. West Nightcott in Brushford, Luckesses in Exford and Cloggs in Hawkridge are said to be 16th-century longhouses. They may be earlier or represent the rebuilding of an older house in the same form. Many, but not all, are remote and isolated which may held to explain their adaptation and survival.

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Buildings on or near Exmoor

Buildings on or near Exmoor