MEM23544 - Bossington (Place)

The historic core of Bossington is depicted on the Porlock Tithe Map and later First and Second Edition 25 inch Ordnance Survey maps. [1-3] The Ordnance Survey MasterMap shows that there has been a small amount of development immediately to the east and the west of the historic core since the Second Edition 25 inch Ordnance Survey map. [4] The settlement is discussed in detail in the 2003 Conservation Area Appraisal. [5] Bossington is part of the Holnicote Estate, transferred from the Acland Family to the National Trust in 1944. The village was designated a Conservation Area in 1984 jointly with West Lynch and Bossington Green, an area of grass that separates the two settlements. The main village street in Bossington is described as "one of the best examples of a group of cottages displaying characteristic local vernacular features, notably the tall front lateral stacks and adjoining rounded bread ovens" that probably date to the early 17th Century. The overall scale and pattern of building materials is stated to be "especially harmonious." Bossington includes a number of farmhouses, cottages and other buildings surviving from the later medieval period. It is a linear settlement with property plots fixed during the medieval period, arranged along both sides of the lane following Horner Water on the level ground to the west of the river. The settlement was not significantly rebuilt during the 19th Century by the Aclands, although this occurred elsewhere (E.G. Selworthy). Bossington was recorded as Bosintune in Domesday and as Bosinton in the Assize Rolkls of 1256. In 1270, it was referred to as a "township in the Forest of Exmoor". Further details are given in the Appraisal. [6]