Pixton Park

It is associated with at least three historically significant families, successively by descent: Acland, amongst the largest landowners in the West Country; Herbert, politicians and diplomats; and Waugh, writers.

The present grade II* listed Georgian mansion house was built circa 1760 by the Acland family and in 1870 was altered by Henry Herbert, 4th Earl of Carnarvon (1831–1890).

Henry Howard Molyneux Herbert, 4th Earl of Carnarvon (1831–1890), eldest son and heir, a leading member of the Conservative Party, a cabinet minister and eventually Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.

[15] 1874 was also the year of the building of the Carnarvon Arms Hotel on the Pixton estate, to serve the nearby railway station of Dulverton, opened in 1873 and closed in 1966 as part of the Beeching cuts.

Aubrey Nigel Henry Molyneux Herbert (1880–1923), second son of the 4th Earl by his second wife, a diplomat, traveller and intelligence officer, associated with Albanian independence and was twice offered the Throne of Albania.

Highclere Castle and other paternal estates were inherited by his elder half-brother George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon (1866–1923), the famous Egyptologist who discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun.

His widow stayed on at Pixton until 1952, and created a Roman Catholic chapel in the former Ironing Room, which she staffed with her own priest Father O'Brien, resident in a cottage by the stables.

[22] Waugh satirised mealtime conversation at Pixton, when "(hunting) arrangements were mulled over at great and inconclusive length"[22] in his depiction of Boot Magna in Scoop: In World War II the estate was used for pre-school child evacuees, an arrangement made by Auberon's sister Bridget Herbert (Mrs Grant), who had returned to live at Pixton with her two small daughters and became billeting officer for the local area, which saved the house from use by servicemen.

[18] In about 1990 the mansion house Pixton Park, but not most of the surrounding grounds, was purchased by Timothy F. Bell, a retired City of London financier, and his wife Beatrice, who still resided there in 2016.

[25] The westernmost boundary of the historic estate is marked by "Porchester's Post", a 10 foot high oak obelisk first erected in 1796 for that purpose, by Henry George Herbert, 2nd Earl of Carnarvon (1772-1833), of Highclere Castle in Hampshire, husband of Elizabeth "Kitty" Acland, heiress of Pixton.

It is located high up on Exmoor between Withypool Hill and Halscombe Allotment (grid reference SS 828 334), 7 miles north-west of Pixton Park.

[34] Towards Brushford the River Barle is crossed by the New Bridge dating from 1870, which led to Pixton Park,[35] At one time the estate had a herd of Sika Deer (Cervus nippon), and was used for pheasant rearing.

Pixton Park, south front
Arms of Dyke: Or, three cinquefoils sable [ 2 ] As visible in the Herbert Chapel, Brushford Church, Somerset
Edward II Dyke (d.1746), portrait circa 1741 attributed to Thomas Hudson (1701–1779), National Trust , Collection of Dunster Castle
Arms of Acland: Chequy argent and sable, a fesse gules . As visible in the Herbert Chapel, Brushford Church, Somerset
Arms of Herbert: Per pale azure and gules, three lions rampant argent . As visible in the Herbert Chapel, Brushford Church, Somerset
Arms of 2nd Earl of Carnarvon, four quarters (Herbert, Talbot, de Vere, Sawyer of Highclere: Azure, a fess chequy sable and or between three sea-pies (proper?) ) with inescutcheon of Acland of Pixton quartering Dyke of Pixton, for his wife the heiress Kitty Acland. Brushford Church, Somerset, above the effigy of his great-grandson Hon. Aubrey Herbert (1880–1923), of Pixton Park, Somerset, second son of the 4th Earl
Chest tomb and recumbent effigy of Hon. Aubrey Herbert (d.1923) of Pixton, in the Herbert Chapel, Church of St Nicholas, Brushford , Somerset, viewed from the nave. Above are six heraldic shields describing his ancestry and marriage
Arms of Hon. Aubrey Herbert of Pixton, of six quarters with inescutcheon of pretence of Vesey, for his wife Hon. Mary Gertrude Vesey, an heraldic heiress. The last two quarters are Acland and Dyke, of Pixton. Herbert Chapel, Brushford Church, Somerset
"Porchester's Post", viewed in 2005