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 LADY MARGARET FORTESCUE

Born: Chipping Camden, Gloucestershire, 1923
Lived: Filleigh, Simonsbath
Recording made: 2001
Length of recording: 1 hr 5 mins

To read a summary of the contents of the oral history recording click CD1.

Listen to an audio clip by clicking wma or mp3.  (Click here for information about downloading audio clips)

Margaret Fortescue's grandfather, who lived at Castle Hill, outside Barnstaple, owned 20,000 acres of Exmoor. She says she thinks he bought it for the staghunting. Her father inherited it on his death. When she was 10 the house at Castle Hill burnt down and they went to live at Simonsbath while it was being rebuilt. She and her sister had two blissfully happy years there, generally running wild.

She inherited the Exmoor estate unexpectedly in 1958 when her parents died within a few days of each other, subsequently selling a large part of it to meet the burden of double death duties. Looking back, she wishes she had done things differently.  The National Park later bought the moorland. She keeps in touch with their old employees and says she trembles to think what will happen if hunting is banned, it is the lifeblood of Exmoor.