Selworthy

Selworthy is one of several attractive villages on the Minehead side of Porlock, and a starting point for woodland walks. The village and much of the country round about is in the care of The National Trust

Bow Cottage Selworthy - Image used by kind permission of Chris Spracklen

The charming village of Selworthy lies in the heart of the Holnicote Estate in a magnificent setting on the northern fringes of Exmoor. Thatched lime washed cottages surround a village green with superb views towards Dunkery Beacon. The white church on the hillside stands out from afar and has a good example of a barrel roof. The National Trust operates a gift shop, information centre and one of the cottages is an excellent tea room. There are good walks in Selworthy Woods. The Holnicote Estate of 12,443 acres is the National Trust's main property on Exmoor.

Selworthy Cottage - Image used by kind permission of Chris Spracklen

At first glance the cream-washed stone, thatched cottages seem typical of many ancient settlements in this area.  However, Selworthy was rebuilt in 1828 by Sir Thomas Acland of Killerton.  Sir Thomas was a philanthropist and designed the 'model' village himself to provide housing for the aged and infirm of the Holnicote Estate.

The delightful village of Selworthy is situated between Minehead and Porlock on wooded slopes beneath 1,014 feet high Selworthy Beacon. The village, which looks out across the lush valley towards Dunkery and the Exmoor hills, is known for its numerous fine thatched cottages, its attractive green and ancient tithe barn. Selworthy's 14th century church also has many interesting features and its south isle is an outstanding architectural treasure. Along with much of the surrounding countryside, the village is protected by the National Trust.

Cottage Selworthy August 1938 - photo presented with the kind permisssion of www.grumpystumpy.com

He used traditional designs and materials to create a deliberately old-fashioned village.  Located on the wooded slopes of  Selworthy Combe, the village is laid out loosely round a long green and climbs the hill to the 15th century church of All Saints.  The cottage gardens are sheltered by the trees Sir Thomas planted in the steep valley and on the hill above.  The church looks out over the thatched roofs and neat gardens of Selworthy to Dunkery Beacon.  At 1,705 feet this heather-and braken-covered area is the highest point on Exmoor. Sir Thomas Acland was probably influenced by his friend John Harford who commissioned John Nash to build Blaise Hamlet at Hembury in Bristol between 1810 -11 for his aged retainers.  Both villages are examples of the 'Picturesque' style of architecture but whereas the cottages of Blaise Hamlet are deliberately asymmetrical and varied, the buildings at Selworthy are pleasingly homogeneous with deep thatched roofs, eyebrow dormers and tall chimneys.  All Saints' Church Selworthy dates from the 14th Century The coloured cottage walls are painted with limewash that has been tinted creamy yellow with ochre

Selworthy Cottage

Selworthy Cottage

The cottages are maintained using wheat straw and hazel spars all sourced from with in the Holnicote Estate

Selworthy Church

Perhaps the most lovely church on Exmoor is All Saints at Selworthy. It is beautifully sited on a wooded hillside above the tiny village and its white-washed walls serve as a landmark for miles around. There was almost certainly a church here in Norman times for the circular font belongs to this period. The Domesday Survey, 1086, mentioned two nuns who held land of the king at Holnicote in Selworthy parish: and the list of rectors goes back to 1306.

The tower, and probably parts of the chancel wall, are14th century, the north aisle about a century later, and the rest late Perpendicular. The glory of Selworthy church is the south or Steyning aisle named after the Steyning family who were lords of the manor of Holnicote for 200 years or so up to the death of Charles Steyning in 1700. In his book Churches and Chapels of Exmoor Noel Allen explains that the aisle's beauty 'lies in the careful architectural balance of its graceful arches, clustered pillars with wreathed capitals, the fine tracery of the large windows, the lofty waggon roof set with 90 carved bosses and the wall plate lined with angels.' Other features include the carved oak pulpit with sounding board and an hour-glass to warn the preacher that his sermon should be drawing to a close and memorials to members of the Acland family of Holnicote who gave the estate to the National Trust in 1944.

Near Bury Castle

View from Selworthy Church

Selworthy Beacon

Selworthy Church

Selworthy Cottage

Selworthy Cottage

Ivy's Coaatge. - this tiny two bedroom cottage was built by by Sir Thomas Dyke Acland in 1825

Selworthy Church

In Selworthy Church is a copy of the Chained Book of 1609 entitled 'Defense of the Apologie of the Church of England' This is a copy of Bishop John Jewell's famous book. Born in 1523 at Buden he became Bishop of Salisbury in 1560 and a year later published this book. His aim was to show the true Catholicity of the Church of England compared to the additions made by the Roman Catholics. A copy of the book was placed in all the churches of England and Wales to inform the people. Bishop John Jewell died in 1571

Selworthy offers a panoramic view over much of the diverse landscape of the Holnicote Estate which covers some 20 square miles. The woods behind Selworthy lead up to Selworthy Beacon and a stretch of Heritage Coast. In the distance is the heather moorland around Dunkery Beacon. Across the vale, lie the ancient oak woodlands of Horner, part of one the largest National Nature Reserves in England. Mixed woodland, farmland. and Allerford, Bossington and Luccombe villages complete the landscape.

Selworthy (pop 518) is a village famed for its thatched cottages, mostly in National Trust ownership but privately tenanted. The beautiful whitewashed church overlooks a green where there is a National Trust shop, toilets and a tea shop. There are miles of walks on the wooded hillside behind, with superb views across the Vale of Porlock and along the coast from Selworthy Beacon, where there is a wheelchair trail. Selworthy has a large and prominent church, with one of the largest wagon roofs in the country. The church offers a fantastic view of the vale to Dunkery Beacon and Exmoor. A visit to Selworthy is a stimulating experience. Picturesque fhatched cottages, built as almshouses in the nineteenth century by Sir Thomas Acland surround the green, and there is a fine fourteenth-century tithe barn nearby. Selworthy is an ideal centre for walking through the woods to Hurlestone Point, with stunning views across the Bristol Channel to South Wales, or up Selworthy Combe, past the Wind and Weather Hut to Selworthy Beacon on North Hill, and then back fot a cream tea at Periwinkle Cottage on the Green.

Cottage at Selworthy

Some call the Church itself, the Cathedral of Exmoor. Standing in these exquisite surroundings with superb views, the church is a fine example of the Perpendicular style of architecture. It has a nave and two aisles, the southern aisle built in 1538 being described by one authority as 'one of the greatest treasures of English architecture.' The church is full of fascinating furniture and monuments: the Acland balcony pew, built in 1816 when the Aclands were lords of the manor; the classical style west gallery — now the organ loft; the leather reredos created in Porlock in 1909; the Norman font and numerous brasses, one dating to the year of the Spanish Armada.

Two hundred years ago Selworthy village and the hills behind presented a quite different aspect  Below the church were three farms with their out-buildings clustered where the Green is today while on the slopes behind were small enclosed fields and above, open moorland. There were few trees on the hillside save those in the boundary hedgerows for most wood and scrub would have been cut for fuel.
It was Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, the tenth baronet (1787-1871), who was responsible for fashioning the Green and planting the wooded hills that we know and love today. The Acland family lived at Killerton in Devon but spent happy holidays at nearby Holnicote House, attending Selworthy church on Sundays and taking long walks on the hills with their rector and friend, the Reverend Joshua Stephenson. Soon after the birth of his first child in 1809 Sir Thomas set about a gradual landscaping of the hills above Selworthy. Plantations of trees marked  the births of each  of his children, footpaths were laid out and features like Mitcham Seat and Agnes Fountain were created. This landscaping must have provided useful work for employees on the estate at a time when many rural communities were suffering intense poverty. Sir Thomas was acquainted with John Harford of Blaise Castle near Bristol and knew Blaise Hamlet, the model village housing estate pensioners, designed for J. S. Harford senior in 1809 by John Nash. Sir Thomas determined to do something similar at Selworthy. Realising that the three little farms below the church were no longer viable he decided that this was the ideal spot for those labourers and servants of the family, no longer able to work through age or illness, to see out their remaining years.

Several farm buildings were pulled down, hedges removed, the remaining cottages remodelled and two new ones built. On 9 August 1828 the rector was able to record in his diary, 'Sir Thomas called at the Parsonage and we looked at the new cottages.' The houses may have been designed by the Holnicote agent, Mr Birmingham, but they incorporated many features loved by Sir Thomas which recur all over the estate: ogee windows, leaded lights and Tudor and gothic arches. On a more practical note, privies and wash-houses were added at the backs. A man who ended his days in one of these cottages was James Larcombe, for many years head gamekeeper on the estate. James lived and worked within sight and sound of Selworthy church all his life. Born in the village in 1794, he lost his arm in an accident while a boy but was still able to fire his gun, set traps and apprehend poachers. James and his wife, Sarah, lived at Buddie Hill for many years next to their son, William, and his wife, Mary, where Sarah would have been able to keep an eye on the four grandchildren. The eldest of these, John, became a blacksmith perhaps serving his apprenticeship at the forge at Buddie Hill while his brother William became a gamekeeper and worked alongside his grandfather.

OS Grid Reference: SS9146

Contributed by: Lucy Pinknall, Jim Lenton, Charles Howard, Jenny Tomkins