MEM23543 - Allerford (Place)

The historic core of Allerford is depicted on the Selworthy Tithe Map and the First and Second Edition 25 inch Ordnance Survey maps. [1-3] The Ordnance Survey MasterMap shows that the town has extended to the southwest beyond the historic core. [4] The name of the settlement is believed to derive from alder-tree ford. It was mentioned as Alrford in the Cartularium Saxonicum of 882 and as Alresford in the Domesday Book, when it was held by Ralph de Limesi as part of the Manor of East Luccombe. It passed through the de Luccombe and St. John families and was held by the Arundells in the late 15th Century. Allerford is now part of the Holnicote Estate, held by the Acland Family until it was transferred to the National Trust in 1944. The settlement has early medieval origins and includes a number of farmhouses and cottages, as well as a packhorse bridge, that survive from the later medieval period. The settlement follows the valley floor alongside the River Aller. A Conservation Area was designated in Allerford by Exmoor National Park Authority in 1984, encompassing the 19th Century boundary of the original settlement, which includes Allerford, Lower Allerford and Higher Allerford, but excluding the 1930s housing development at Hare Park and Brandish Street, a small historic hamlet 300 metres to the southeast. Further details given in Conservation Area Appraisal reports. [5,6]