Simonsbath House

Simonsbath House

Simonsbath House was built c 1654 for James Boevey who had just bought the former royal forest of Exmoor. It was the first property to be built in the forest and for nearly 300 years it stood isolated many miles from its nearest neighbours. It was sited by the main east-west road over the moors near the medieval bridge across the river Barle. It served as  the centre of forest administration as well as being the farmhouse of a 110-acre farm.  It was considerably enlarged and altered by both the Knight and Fortescue families in the 19th and 20th centuries.