MEMBERS of Thorverton History Society enjoyed a talk by Dr Graham Wills on the subject of “Pinkery Pond and Simonsbath Canals – an Exmoor enigma”, at the January meeting.

Graham started the evening by describing the pond as being in a beautiful area in the high moors of Exmoor. It is more like a lake than a pond, is the largest man-made lake in the South West and is now an SSSI.

When it was built it was part of the largest industrial work undertaken on the moor. It is an area of mystery and can play unexpected tricks with your imagination.

Although only about 25 miles from Thorverton many at the meeting have never visited the site. Simonsbath is about five miles away.

The pond was built by John Knight, a wealthy industrialist from the midlands who bought a large area of land (about 1,600 acres) on Exmoor in about 1890. A dam was created to hold the waters and this can be clearly seen even though it is in a wild place.

There are two tragic stories associated with the pond. One concerned Richard Gammins. His wife had died leaving him with 10 children. He took up with a new lady but she left him and after a visit to the pub he said he was going to end it.

He went missing and a search party found his clothes and pony at the pond. The pond was searched using grappling hooks and divers from Lynmouth but they could not find him.

Drain plugs to two 12 inch pipes were found in a tunnel at the site and eventually they were removed using hydraulic jacks. When the water was drained they found his body.

In 1912, 25 years later, William Stenner went missing. Again the pond was drained but they found nothing. Eventually his body was found elsewhere in an old mine.

The pond occupies an area of about 3.5 acres but could be double that. Rainfall in the area is high but there is a small catchment area. But what was it built for? No one knows for sure but there are several theories.

Was it a reservoir to feed a canal or proposed canal that might have been used to carry ore? Was it for irrigation? Did Knight simply want a lake to look at? But why near the top of a hill? Was it to feed water leats? Or might it have been a boating lake?

There is evidence of nearby canals that follow the contour lines. One is 5.6 miles long and the other is 5.3 miles long. However, these seem to have been abandoned early in their construction. English Heritage consider the leat known as Pinkery canal to be a large drainage channel.

In 1974 letters were found showing an intention to build workers’ cottages and an inclined railway at Porlock Weir. This may have been for bringing in lime from South Wales.

The lime would have been spread on the moor to improve the soil. Another inclined railway would have been constructed at Simonsbath.

The canals were constructed at about the same time as the Tiverton and Bude canals. There would have been enough room for a towpath and lime could have been spread on the south facing slopes from such a canal and Knight had carried out a similar project in Worcestershire.

Knight also built 29 miles of walls around his Exmoor estate along with farms and mills. Was the pond and canals/leats built to provide a reliable supply of water power for these? Was it to compensate for times when water supply was low?

Why was the project not finished? Firstly, a neighbour did not give consent for work to be done on his land – and was the need for waterpower less than anticipated?

Sadly, few records exist of John Knight’s time at Exmoor. His wife was in poor health and they went to live in Italy.

I understand there might be a guided walk led by Graham to Pinkery pond for those interested – keep an eye open for further details

Robert Turner