John Knight (Exmoor pioneer)
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John Knight of Lea Castle, Wolverley, of 52 Portland Place in London, and of Simonsbath House, Exmoor, Somerset, was an agricultural pioneer who commenced the reclamation of the barren moorland of the
Lea Castle, Wolverley, postcard photograph c. 1900. Built after 1809 by John Knight I, ironmaster. Sold by his son John Knight II (1765–1850) in about 1818 to finance his purchase of Exmoor Forest. Demolished 1945 with the exception of the gatehouse which still stands. A series of watercolours c. 1816 of the interiors of Lea Castle attributed to the painter John Carter (1748–1817) is held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Elisha Whittelsey Collection, no. 56.601(4)
Stock-proof hedgebank erected circa 1824 by John Knight, this particularly well-preserved section separating the Forest of Exmoor from the manor of North Molton, to the west (left)
1st of 21 sketches by Edward Lear, documenting his Italian tour with his friend Charles Knight. Caption: "L & K leave Frascati, July 28th 1842, Villa Taverna. L contemplates a ferocious horse with feelings of distrust". British Museum, London
Simonsbath
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Simonsbath is a small village high on Exmoor in the English county of Somerset. It is the principal settlement in the Exmoor civil parish, which is the largest and most sparsely populated civil parish
The River Barle at Simonsbath
The River Barle upstream of Simonsbath
Simonsbath House in the valley of the River Barle
Sale particulars published in 1818. Somerset Archives.