Alford
Referred
to in the Domesday book as Aldeford, the name comes from Old English
words "eald" and "ford" meaning old ford. The land in this area
was held at that time by Robert, Count of Mortain, a half brother
of King William. As a result of his beneficial dealings with original
Saxon tenants, Robert soon owned more Westcountry land than any
other follower of the king.
All Saints church according to Pevsner is an "uncommonly complete
example of a PERP church" (what's that??), not substantially restored
or freshed up and still provided with its screen and benches. Apparently
the modest west tower with an old pyramid roof, the embattled aisles
with much cusped three light windows, and the chancel with two light
and three light windows all clearly identify it as a Perp church.
(So now you know!). The chancel roof is "Somerset timber work at
its best". The church is in a "fine position away from the village
against the screen of the grounds of Alford House, which extend
to the River Brue)."Alford House, states Pevsner, is late Georgian
remodelled "in an insensitive neo-Elizabethean style by Penrose
in 1877". |
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Avoncliff
Old Court at Avoncliff is a group of three storey buildings built
around 1800, possibly as weavers' workshops and accommodation. It
later became a workhouse for the poor (in 1841 alone 400 additional
paupers were admitted!) and in the 1920's it was a hotel. Upstream
towards Bradford there is a weir which powered two flock mills,
on either side of the river, until their closure in the late 1930's.
The original mills there dated back many centuries and were first
used for grinding corn and fulling wool. A gruesome fatal accident
occured in the 1790's when a 12 year old boy got trapped in the
machinery. Part of the complex on the Westwood side has been converted
into a superb house, but only dilapidated rusting remains are left
of the other mill.
The Avoncliff
area is dominated by a 100m long aqueduct, which carries the Kennet
and Avon Canal over both the River Avon and the railway. The aqueduct
was built in 1798 and has three arches, a solid parapet and balustrade
ends. The railway was built below it in 1857. Avoncliff wharf was
alongside the Cross Guns pub and much stone from Westwood quarrries
would have been loaded there. The Kennet and Avon Canal gradually
deteriorated so that by the 1930's and 40's many sections were barely
navigable. The Limpley Stoke to Avoncliff section had always been
prone to leaks and landslips and was dewatered in1954. The Kennet
and Avon Trust was set up to reopen the canal, and this was eventually
achieved in the late 1980's. |
| Babington
The
name Babington means Baba's Enclosure and is from the Old English
personal name "Baba", and tun. Mystery surrounds the fate of the
original village which has disappeared without trace. Babington
House is now the country outpost of an exclusive London Club. It
has a distinctive seven-bay facade and was built in 1700 by Mompesson.
A tiny church, added in 1750, lies in front of it. |
| Beacon
Hill
In Roman times two major roads crossed
here. The Fosse Way linked Exeter and Lincoln and the “Lead”
Way was used to transport ingots from the Mendips to Southampton.
There are superb views either side of Beacon Hill. Ascending up
the Fosse Way from Oakhill, looking north, there is Ashwick church
on your left and in the distance, a little on your right, Downside
Abbey at Stratton dominates the skyline. Further to your right is
Holcombe village. On the path further up can you find the parish
boundary stone dated 1776? Descending, looking south, Glastonbury
Tor can be seen in the far distance on your right and even further
away, on your left, is St.Alfred’s Tower. Inglesdon Hill is
discernible straight ahead as a long lowish ridge.
Beacon Hill is now
a Woodland Trust area and as such one can ramble freely in it. Originally
it was an Iron Age burial site. It starts in fields to the west
and extends through the woods to the east. Four barrows in the fields
are apparently still visible, but most of the dozen or so others
have disappeared under the trees. Three remain in a clearing, one
crowned by an eighteenth century boundary stone, which we pass.
An urn from one of this group is in Birmingham City Museum. |
| Butleigh
In
the Domesday Book this area is Bodeslege. The name could derive
from the Old English words "bud" and "leah"
which together mean “cultivated meadow”. Another possibility
is from a personal name and leah leafding to a meaning of “Budeca’s
clearing”.
The Hoods and Grenvilles are associated with this essentially agricultural
village (no coal, quarries or wool trade). The Reverend Hood had
two sons who became peers for naval services. Viscount Hood, born
1724 was the admiral who captured Toulon and Portugal in Napoleonic
wars and Lord Bridport, born1726, commanded the channel fleet that
defeated the French off L’Orient. The Hood monument, on the
ridge, was erected in 1831 to remember Sir Samuel Hood, a grandson
of Rev Samuel’s older brother and was originally linked to
Butleigh Court by a mile long avenue of cedars of Lebanon.
There is an epitaph to the Hood family by the poet Southey in St.
Leonards church. The jambs on the outside door are oldest part of
the church (Saxon?) which has hammer beam roof and windows and miserichords
in the chancel.
James Grenville became very unpopular in 1773 when he pulled down
some dilapidated church walls and reduced churchyard size to increase
his own estate. 70 years later (1845), when George Neville Grenville
was building a mansion (Butleigh Court) which encroached on the
appropriated land, bones were dug up, thereby leading people to
consider the mansion cursed. Robert Neville Grenville designed steam
carriage and drove around preceded by cyclist with red flag in the
19th century.
The
recently closed Butleigh hospital was built in 1883. Great Breach
Wood is not an all an ancient woodland and has mostly arisen from
the neglect of a 19th century plantation on former farmland.
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| Calingcott
In the
Domesday Book the name is Credelincote. This has been translated
as "freeman's family cottage" from the Old English words ceorl,
ingas and cot. |
| Cameley
The Celtic
"cam" and Old English "leah" (curved river meadow)
provide the origins of the name which was Camelie in the Domesday
Book. The village, centred around St. James's church, was once a
small but thriving community beside the River Cam. However with
the opening of a turnpike road one kilometre to the east a population
shift occurred and Temple Cloud became the dominant settlement in
the parish. A new church was built there in 1924 and St.James's
consequently declined and fell into disrepair; so much so that it
was closed during W.W.II, primarily because of a dangerous roof.
Fortunately it was later recognised as a little gem and became a
"redundant church" looked after by the Churches Conservation Trust.
Its interest lies in the fact that it largely escaped the attentions
of nineteenth century restorers and has retained simple original
furnishings, leaving an interior of great atmosphere and charm.
The leaning walls of the nave and the south doorway date from Norman
times, although windows have been added to the former. The chancel
was rebuilt in the 15th century, and the 62 feet tower also dates
from that century. The porch was restored in 1620. Inside there
is a flagstone floor and fascinating 17th and 18th century box pews.
The pulpit has woodwork from the 1600's and some seating in the
knave is mediaeval, dating from 1400. Seating on the south side
of the two galleries is known to have been built in 1819. Fragments
of wall paintings remain, mainly in the nave, reminding us of how
adorned churches were pre-Reformation. A final fact: the communion
rails are thought to have been built in the 1630's when Archbishop
Laud decreed that churches should provide rails so that dogs could
not defile the sanctuary !! |
| Camerton
Most of you will have
passed the site of the original Roman settlement of Camerton; it
was on the Fosse Way (now the A367) just before you turn down the
lane to present day Camerton. In the Domesday Book the name is Camelertone.
It means "curved river enclosure" from the Celtic cam and the Old
English tun. St. Peter's Church at Camerton is famous more because
of the journals of the long serving rector John Skinner than for
its structure. Skinner was born in Claverton and as a youth lived
in Oxford. Initially he trained as a lawyer and entered Lincoln's
Inn. Subsequently he trained for the clergy and became a curate
at Brent Knoll. He was ordained in 1797 and his uncle Haggard bought
him the living of Camerton for £1400 in 1799. He arrived, age 28,
in 1800. His law background proved useful in the disputes that arose
following local enclosures; at the time of his appointment the parish
boundaries were not properly settled and there were problems with
the implementation of the 10% tithe entitlements granted to the
rector. Really he was unsuited to a parish where life was rough
and often short. He battled with local gentry and workers alike
and was pretty intolerant of other religious denominations. He suffered
chronically from depression and his last resting place is unrecorded
because he shot himself in 1839. Many believe he is interred in
his wife's grave. In his diary in June 1822 he wrote "I am heartily
sick of the flock over which I am nominated"and in July 1822, referring
to a morning service he reported that "The singers, who have been
in a state of constant intoxication since yesterday, being offended
because I would not suffer them to chant the service .... put on
their hats and left the church." The following diary extract is
a classic, referring to the Lady of the Manor, Mrs.Jarrett, amongst
others "I am tied hand and feet and placed in a pillory to be pelted
at by Methodists, Catholics and Colliers; and moreover a combination
of worthless farmers and an overbearing woman with an unprincipled
steward to contend with ...... Who will undertake the office of
clergyman if he is exposed to the miseries I have sustained during
25 years I have been rector of Camerton."The church stands on the
site on what were probably Roman earthworks. When Skinner arrived
the church comprised a medieval nave and chancel, and a north chapel
built in 1638 by the Carew family, lords of the manor. There was
also a north porch and a west tower, which still remain. This tower
has grotesque and fascinating corbels including an elephant, a rhinoceros
and human figures bearing a zither, beads and a skimmer. Skinner
hadn't a lot of interest in the fabric of the church but was interested
in extending it. John Jarrett, Lord of the Manor didn't like his
plans and by the time his cousin had become rector in the 1860's
these had been changed. The net result was an architectural monstrosity
with seating for 500 that rarely attracted 50 for its services.
Subsequently John Jarrett's children took corrective action and
in 1892 converted "something most unsightly and inconvenient" to
"some sort of ecclesiastical propriety". After all this work few
original features remain. The
population of Camerton rose rapidly in the early 1800's, a reflection
of the increase in mining activity. In 1801 it was 594, in 1811
it was 786, and by 1821 over 1000. Camerton Court was built in 1835
and Pevsner describes in as having a one storey Ionic colonnade
or veranda to the south and four Tuscan column porte-cochere to
the north !! |
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Chelynch
The name
means hill ridge and is from the Old English words “ceol”and
“hlincl”. |
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Croscombe
Several derivation
of the name have been suggested such as from words “cores”
and “cum” meaning the “weir in the valley”.
Another source puts forward a mutation from “Correge’s
cumb”.
The village became prosperous in the 16th and 17th century when
the wool and cloth trade was at its height. At that time there were
over 30 mills on the River Sheppey between Doulting and Wells, and
even as late as 1836 there were mill ponds which supplied 3 clothing
mills, a silk mill, a hosiery mill and 2 grist mills.
An indication of this past is in the name Rack Close and in the
ridges from ancient field systems on south facing slopes where woollen
cloth was stretched and dried between poles.
St.Mary’s church has a fine steeple (most Somerset churches
have towers) which was damaged by lightning 1936. Inside Jacobean
wood carving is evident in the rood screen, pulpit (1616) and box
pews and there is an early 15th century wagon . A treasurary was
added on the southwest end in the early 16th and its upper rooms
were once used as a meeting place for many guilds, including archers,
fullers and hogglers (labourers). It later became an armoury and
lockup.
Croscombe also has a Baptist church and an old Methodist chapel,
now occupied by Seventh Day Adventists.
There
are many other old and interesting features in the village; The
Rectorial Manor house at eastern end of the village is early Tudor.
The Manor House is also pre-reformation and has a doorway with hood-moulds
and windows with four-centred lights. The Bull Terrier pub was previously
known as the Rose & Crown and is one of Somerset oldest pubs,
having been first issued a licence way back in 1612. There is a
small Tythe barn on Church Street and a Cross which was saved &
retained in its position despite the authorities wanted to move
it when road widening to accommodate the first traction engines.
The bridge nearest the centre is a medieval squint bridge.
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| Dunkerton
Dunkerton village
is on the River Cam. In the Domesday Book the name is Duncretone.
It means "hill of rocks enclosure" from the Old English words dun,
carr and tun. Pevsner is fairly dismissive of the church... "much
restored in 1859 ... tower with diagonal buttresses and a three
light window with a reticulated tracery. Rest not of much architectural
interest." |
| East
and West Lydford
Lydford is first recorded in a Saxon Charter
of 744, when together with Lottisham it was granted to Glastonbury
Abbey as an estate of "10 cassati" (over 1000 acres). By the time
of the Domesday Book it had been divided into two estates with a
separate entry for West Lydford and East Lydford. West Lydford was
held by Aelfric,a Saxon lord and East Lydford from Glastonbury Abbey
by Aelfward, a Saxon thegn whatever that is!). Aelfric’s father
Brictic held West Lydford at the Norman Conquest and amongst the
recorded details are mills (and half a dozen slaves!) on both estates.
East Lydford shows evidence of having been provided with a central,
regular, planned village, whereas West Lydford seems to have retained
some of its earlier farmsteads, giving rise to an irregular series
of settlements. The Fosse Way, a Roman roads which linked Exeter
and Lincoln, cuts between the two villages. Each village had a church
but the mediaeval church at East Lydford beside the River Brue was
replaced by the church in the centre of the village where we start
. Lydford was Lideford in the Domesday book and later Liedford.
The name derives from the Old English words "hlyd" and "ford" meaning
"loud ford" but better interpreted as "ford across the torrent".
At
East Lydford the mediaeval church of St.Peter (1311-1866) is known,
from 18th century water-colours, to have been a small stone building
with a chancel and knave, a small square bell turret housing two
bells on the west gable end and a large south porch It was periodically
flooded; a wall was swept away in the great flood of 1786 for example.
Thomas Horsey, a seventeenth century (1657-1690) rector, was a great
persecutor of local Quakers. In 1661 he even seized the coffin from
a passing Quaker funeral procession, because of non-payment of tithes,
and buried it in his dung heap!! In 1866 it was replaced by St.Marys
in the centre of the current village. St. Marys was designed in
a 14th century style by Benjamin Ferrey and built by the rector
J.J.Moss in memory of his wife, who had died in 1863. The tower
starts square and becomes octagonal. It was last used for regular
worship in 1987 and demolition was considered in 1989. It is now
listed in the Mendip District register of 1997 as a historic grade
II building at risk. It is designated a "dangerous structure" and
has its windows boarded up. Since 1993 it has been privately owned.
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