Exmoor Walks: Hoar Oak
It was one of the hottest stuffiest days of the year and we wanted some air - so where better than The Chains on Exmoor.
My wife Sue and I walked over Dure Down from the Simonsbath-Lynmouth road, past Exe Head, and down to Hoar Oak Cottage yesterday and enjoyed every step of the weary, very hot, way.
Here’s an article I wrote a while ago…
Even the name suggests a degree of upland loneliness and bleakness - Hoaroak Cottage, tucked in an empty valley under the windswept, boggy, vastness of The Chains on Exmoor, is one of the most remote buildings in all the West Country.
As such, the ancient moorland home has played host to all manner of tales and legends - to the extent that it has become something of an enigma with its own dedicated website and a society of friends.
Now the semi-ruined cottage - which some say is the capital of the Middle of Nowhere - has just undergone refurbishment work to stabilise its fabric.
A spokesman for the Exmoor National Park Authority (ENPA), which acquired the cottage in 1969, told me: “The building, which probably dates from the beginning of the 1800s but may be much older, is an evocative and historically important reminder of the hardships of upland sheep farming on Exmoor. It was occupied until 1958 and then allowed to fall into disrepair.
“In 2009, following the death of the tenant, the authority began to explore ways of safeguarding the remote building,” she added, saying the ENPA had worked closely with the Friends of Hoar Oak Cottage, the Exmoor Society and Exmoor Uprising to agree a way of consolidating the remains of the cottage to a stable ruin.
Matt Harley, ENPA property manager, said: “The presence of sensitive wildlife, the distance to the nearest road and the vagaries of our summer weather has meant that the careful consolidation of the building has taken three years - however it is now complete and we are delighted with the results.”
Praising the project, Rachel Thomas, chairman of the Exmoor Society, commented: “I am really impressed with what’s been achieved in retaining what appears to be a ruin from a distance in a relatively wild, open landscape - but with the ability to read the story of a cottage when close up - leaving a feeling of mystery and a desire to explore further.
“The Friends of Hoar Oak Cottage have done a splendid job in stimulating interest on their website,” she added. You can find out more about the enigmatic ruin by visiting http://www.hoaroakcottage.org/
