Holnicote Estate is a National Trust

National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty

The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...

 property consisting of 5026 hectares (12,419.5 acre) of Exmoor National Park situated in West Somerset

Somerset

The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. The property has been in the ownership of the National Trust since 1932, when it was donated by the Acland family.

Holnicote Estate contains more than 240 kilometre of footpath

Trail

A trail is a path with a rough beaten or dirt/stone surface used for travel. Trails may be for use only by walkers and in some places are the main access route to remote settlements...

s and bridleways. It includes Dunkery

Dunkery Beacon

Dunkery Beacon is the summit of Dunkery Hill, and the highest point on Exmoor and in Somerset, England. It is also the highest point in southern England outside Dartmoor....

 and Selworthy Beacons, and the villages and hamlets of Selworthy

Selworthy

Selworthy is a small village and civil parish from Minehead in Somerset, England. It is located in the National Trust's Holnicote Estate on the northern fringes of Exmoor. The parish includes the hamlets of Bossington, Tivington, Lynch, Brandish Street and Allerford.At Selworthy Beacon, which is...

, Allerford

Allerford

Allerford is a village in the county of Somerset, England, located within Exmoor National Park, and is part of the parish of Selworthy in the district of West Somerset. It appears in Domesday Book as “Alresford – forda Ralph de Limesy Mill”....

, Bossington, Horner and Luccombe

Luccombe, Somerset

Luccombe is a village and civil parish in the Exmoor National Park in the English county of Somerset. It at the foot of the moor's highest hill, the Dunkery Beacon, and is about one mile south of the A39 road between Porlock and Minehead. Administratively it forms part of the district of West...

 as well as the Horner and Dunkery National Nature Reserve

National Nature Reserve

For details of National nature reserves in the United Kingdom see:*National Nature Reserves in England*National Nature Reserves in Northern Ireland*National Nature Reserves in Scotland*National Nature Reserves in Wales...

.

The estate also plays host to a point to point course on which many Exmoor hunts hold their meetings throughout the spring.

Use as a children's home

During the early 1940s the property was used by the Somerset County Council

Somerset County Council

Somerset County Council is the county council of Somerset in the South West of England, an elected local government authority responsible for the most significant local government services in most of the county.-Area covered:...

 as a children's home where many children born from liaisons between African American

African American

African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

service men and local women were housed, after being given up for adoption.

External links

• Holnicote Estate information at the National Trust