The author, Alexander McCall Smith wrote:
“The simple life, the humble life, is as wonderful, in its way, as any grand life of achievement and public recognition.“
McCall Smith’s words could have been written to perfectly describe the people of Hoar Oak Cottage. We thank him for permission to use them here.
For time beyond memory a one room shepherd’s hut was located at the present site of Hoar Oak Cottage. Archaeology has shown the original single room had a central fireplace and would have been used to house the shepherd responsible for sheep taken up onto the hills for summer pasturing. This was a ‘commoners right’ for local families granted by the Crown who was responsible for The Royal Forest of Exmoor.
After the Royal Forest was sold into private hands (1818) the little shepherd’s hut was used by the Vellacott family from Furzehill. They expanded it to house a Vellacott son, wife and young family. After that, the cottage was expanded bit by bit and was used as a family farm from the beginning of the 1800s until the mid-1960s. Some of the families who lived there were locals from Devon and Somerset and some came from Scotland.
Information discovered by The Friends about those families is shared below.
Details about what these peoples’ life was like can be found on THIS LINK.
Details about the Scottish shepherds on Exmoor can be found on THIS LINK.
We are always on the lookout for more details about the Hoar Oak Cottage families. If you have anything to share – or indeed any questions we might be able to answer – please contact us by email on info@hoaroakcottage.org.
