Prior to 1927, the ponies on Winsford Hill were owned by the Acland family.
When the Royal Forest of Exmoor was sold by the Crown in 1818, the outgoing Warden, Sir Thomas Acland, took 20 of the Forest’s Exmoor pony stock, including 4 stallions to ensure the continuation of his herd. They were managed from Old Ashway Farm. The Aclands had owned Exmoor ponies on the Royal Forest since 1767 when the first Sir Thomas had become Warden.
An anchor-shaped brand was the distinctive mark of Acland ownership from 1797, which is why, even today, the herd is known as the Anchor Herd.
In 1927, Frank Green bought Old Ashway Farm and Ashway Side, a moorland enclosure that adjoins Winsford Hill. Included in the sale was a half share in the Acland herd of ponies. When Sir Francis Acland died in 1939, his son Richard assumed the title. Eventually, Frank Green bought out Sir Richard Acland and became sole owner of the herd. Frank Green was highly committed to the ponies and considered himself to be their guardian rather than their owner. He forged a close association with the Westcott family, who by that time had a wealth of experience of breeding Exmoors, and he benefited from their advice and from exchanging stallions with them.
The outbreak of the Second World War brought disaster. As food shortages developed, the majority of the herd were stolen one night. They were traced as far as Cumbria and presumably were slaughtered to provide meat on the black market. Only about a dozen ponies escaped this fate and Frank Green hid them away on the farm until the war ended.
About 1950, Simon Lycett-Green bought Old Ashway Farm from Frank, his great uncle. He and his daughter, who became Mrs. Rosie Wallace, returned the registered ponies, a stallion and twelve mares, to Winsford Hill. The work of rebuilding the herd began.
When Rosie Wallace died in 2005, the herd passed to her son David, who manages the herd today, with his wife Emma.
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