MEM24996 - Nursery Plantation, Simonsbath (Monument)

An area of plantation is shown on the 25 inch 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map centred at SS 7719 3969. It is labelled "Nursery Plantation". [1] The remains of the tree nursery appears to be visible on aerial photographs taken in 1946-8 by the Royal Air Force. [2] The plantation is not shown on the 2021 MasterMap data. [3] A letter from Robert Smith at Emmetts Grange to Frederic Winn Knight dating from August 1851 mentions the forthcoming "sale of Nursery Trees - to be spent in planting & buying young firs". [4] Beech trees were used for "fencing", as they surmounted the hedgebanks that were installed around each land parcel on Exmoor. This required a large amount of plants, and whilst some were purchased, it is likely most were grown at Simonsbath, "where there was a considerable nursery and a full-time nurseryman". In 1850, £16 was paid for beech nuts. Between January 1850 and March 1851, expenditure on the Nursery was £172 0s 4d. [5]