OWNERSHIP of ‘White Rock Cottage’, at one time Simonsbath School, was officially transferred from Exmoor National Park Authority to the Simonsbath and Exmoor Heritage Trust at a signing ceremony on September 11, and will now become a community asset.

The event, part of the annual Heritage Open Day Festival, gave 150 guests the chance to see the restored buildings and visit neighbouring Ashcombe gardens - which volunteers have been working to restore.

It also marked the culmination of an eight-year project involving the national park, local volunteers, Minehead U3A, Somerset and Devon Garden Trusts, former pupils of the school, archaeologists and academics and local craftspeople.

This included ‘Spirit of Place’ work led by the national park and funded through North Devon Biosphere, to capture the site’s most cherished memories and qualities and sift through hundreds of historic pictures and letters tracking the history of the building from an estate worker’s cottage in 1820, up to its last use as the village school in 1970.

Rob Wilson-North, national park head of conservation and access, said: “Work by the Knight family to transform the 16,000 acreage from moorland to farmland, with the beginnings of a great mansion and gardens, were all completed within two years.

“To call it the largest land reclamation led by one man that England has ever seen is no exaggeration. It must have been a truly extraordinary time and it’s heartening to have played a part in putting these important buildings back at the heart of the community they helped to create.”

Steven Pugsley, chairman of the Simonsbath and Exmoor Heritage Trust and national park authority member, said: “It’s an honour to be carrying forward this project, which from modest beginnings has thrown open the human story of how this moorland community shaped the face of Exmoor.

“We look forward to working to celebrate this important piece of our heritage and planning how best to make these charming buildings part of community life once again.”