Off the Beaten Track in Somerset: Larkbarrow Farm

John Knight built Larkbarrow Farm as a model farm in the 1840s. He attempted to turn large areas of moorland on Exmoor into productive farmland. The farmhouse and outbuildings were arranged around a courtyard. Trees were planted on three sides of the farm to shelter it. The first tenant was James Meadows. He arrived in 1852 but he left by 1852 when his attempt to establish a dairy farm and produce cheese failed. Larkbarrow was uninhabited until the 1860s when shepherds from Scotland lived in the farmhouse. It was later used as a shooting lodge. The farm passed to the Fortescue Estates in the late 19th century.

During the Second World War the farmhouse was used for target practice by the army and only a few low walls remain standing today. The site has been conserved by Exmoor National Park Authority: they have capped the standing walls and cleared the undergrowth.

Another model farm was constructed c1850 half a mile to the west of Larkbarrow Farm, at Great Tom's Hill. This farm was occupied until the Second World War, when it too was used for target practice.

Larkbarrow Cottage was built between Tom's Hill Farm and Larkbarrow and was occupied until the 1920s. In July 1923 one of the occupants, Will Little, was killed when he was struck by lightning on his way back from work at nearby Warren Farm. The remains of Larkbarrow Cottage can still be seen.

Since 2021 Larkbarrow Farm has been used as the destination for the Exmoor Dark Sky Discovery Trail.