138 THE RED DEER OF EXMOOR. 



But to return ; Oare must have occupied a unique 

 position from the earHest time, because it was 

 apparently the only part of the ancient forest which 

 was not " Royal Demesne," and in which there were 

 any inhabited houses. 



The manor was granted by the conqueror to Ralph 

 de Pomerai, from whom it passed to the Kellv 

 family, and from them through the Spurriers to its 

 present possessor, Mr. Nicholas Snow, to whose 

 careful preservation of the deer the hunt owes so 

 much. 



Whether in very early times there ever was any 

 hamlet or residence at Simonsbath is very doubtful. 

 Tradition, indeed, speaks of a Saxon palace, but of 

 this there is no confirmation. 



Being in the king's demesne, and so free from 

 taxation, it is not mentioned in Doomsday, nor do we 

 find any mention of it in any of the Pleas of the 

 Forest. It was a recognised name in the time of 

 Henry VIII., for Leland speaks of it in his '' Itinerary," 

 and mentions a wooden bridge over the river, pre- 

 sumably a " clammer," which looks as if there had 

 been someone living there, and in Elizabeth's reign 

 we are told that Hugh Pollard kept staghounds 

 there. Whatever there was in the way of enclosure 

 or building cannot have been much, for in 18 18 the 

 total enclosure at Simonsbath is given as 108 

 acres. 



Charles I., in 1625, granted, along with a lease 

 of the forest, to Earl Pembroke "a further clause of 



