​Exmoor National Park was designated in 1954 to protect its natural beauty, especially its open and wild moorlands. Who would have thought that only 130 years before, serious attempts were made to drain the bogs and plough up the moors?

Exmoor National Park has a hidden secret, a mansion that was never completed, a garden that was lost and a community that was started only 200 years ago. 
In what people know to be Exmoor today, lies the small village of Simonsbath. Until 1820 it had just one house, but then change happened, a vision was created and a barren landscape became a hive of activity. 

This website tells it's story; the story of a landscape changed, a family's fortune and loss and of one man's vision. It also talks about the present situation and of its possible future.

Please read on to find out this fascinating tale of Gregorian passion, Victorian industrialisation and 21st Century hopes.

Latest Event News:

​In Search of John Knight's Lost Gardens
at Simonsbath
Open Day
Wednesday 27th June 2018
10am-1pm
This is a chance to see archaeological excavations in progress - led by South West Archaeology with local volunteers - searching for elements of John Knight's lost gardens which he laid out in the 1820's to ornament his planned mansion.

Location: Ashcombe car park in Simonsbath

Email: exmoor1820@gmail.com to find out more.

​If you are interested in this project then please get in touch via email at: exmoor1820@gmail.com 
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