Chapter 18

_Tatworth_, a parish 2 m. S. of Chard. The church is modern, but a Baptist place of worship, a plain, thatched building at South Chard, is supposed to have been an ancient chapel. It is locally known as St Margaret's, and over the doorway is an empty niche. For a curious custom of holding a sale by candlelight, see under _Chedzoy_.

TAUNTON, county town on the Tone (whence its name), 163 m. from London, and 44-1/2 S.W. from Bristol; pop. 21,000. A spacious station on the G.W.R. main line, Bristol to Exeter, forms a junction for the Yeovil, Chard, Minehead, and Barnstaple branches. The town is commodious, and its railway facilities make it an excellent centre. The streets are spacious and well-built, and converge upon a triangular market place which is rather spoilt by an ugly market hall in its centre. Though Taunton wears a prosperous and progressive air, it has behind it a very venerable history which is not without a flavour of stirring times. It finds a place in our national annals on four notable occasions. (1) In 710 King Ina of Wessex pushed the West Welsh beyond the Tone and erected a castle at Taunton as a barrier against their return. The site was subsequently fortified afresh by the Normans. (2) In 1497 Perkin Warbeck, in his dash for the throne, seized the town, but fled in terror at the approach of the Royal forces. (3) During the Civil War it was alternately occupied by the Royalists and Parliamentarians, and in 1643 Blake successfully withstood here attacks from Hopton and Goring; and the town was punished at the Restoration for this robust resistance by the demolition of its fortifications and the loss of its charter. (4) In 1685 the sentiments of the place were again enthusiastically "agin the government," and Monmouth was accorded here a royal ovation and was proclaimed king in the market-place. But this _coup de théâtre_ was only an introductory farce to the grim tragedy which followed. When Monmouth's hopes of sovereignty were rudely shattered by the _mêlée_ at Sedgemoor the town was handed over for pacification to the tender mercies of Kirke and the brutal justice of Jeffreys. The rebels got short shrift from both. Kirke, without preliminary inquiry, swung the culprits from the sign-board of his lodgings, and Jeffreys' law was notorious for its despatch. So numerous were the executions that Bishop Ken complained to the king that "the whole diocese was tainted with death." The name Tangier still attaches to the district where Kirke penned his "lambs," and the old "White Hart" (now a shop) at the corner of Fore Street marks the Colonel's own quarters. Jeffreys' lodgings have been demolished, perhaps under the impression that nothing was needed to keep alive the memory of the "Bloody Assize." The ecclesiastical interests of Taunton were from early days associated with the see of Winchester, and the establishment of a priory here early in the 12th cent. was the see's acknowledgment of its obligations. Nothing of this benefaction now remains but the monastic barn near St James's Church.

The parish church of _St Mary Magdalene_, though far the finest church in Taunton, was originally only a subordinate chapel-of-ease to the monastery. It is a spacious building, noteworthy for its imposing tower and quadruple aisles. Its probable designer was Sir R. Bray, Henry VII.'s architect, and the king is supposed to have contributed to its erection. The present tower is claimed to be a conscientious reproduction of the original fabric, removed in 1858 as dangerous. It is a lofty and ornate structure of four storeys, decorated with a triple tier of double windows, and divided at the stages by bands of quatrefoils. A crown of elaborate tabernacle work--a perfect medley of battlements and pinnacles--forms the cresting. The general design, though highly artificial, is well balanced. Note (1) the stoups on either side of the W. doorway; (2) the carvings (part of the original fabric) in the spandrels above. The S. porch--a very successful and noteworthy feature of the church--is dated 1508, The rest of the building must be nearly contemporaneous. The interior is rich, but somewhat devoid of interest. Note (1) the four aisles--an unusual arrangement, occurring also at Manchester Cathedral and St Michael's, Coventry; (2) the E.E. piers to N. aisle; (3) the fine oak roof of nave; (4) canopied figure (modern) of St Mary Magdalene on one of the nave piers; (5) monument of Robert Gray, with a laudatory and rhyming epitaph in N. wall; (6) figures of apostles between clerestory lights (cp. Bruton). _St James's Church_ has a good tower with turret and spirelet--likewise rebuilt. The interior is well proportioned and gains an air of great spaciousness from an unusually lofty chancel. The most noteworthy feature of the church is its splendid font, richly adorned with figures of apostles and ecclesiastics. The pulpit is dated 1633. Hard by, and in close proximity to the county cricket ground, is the _Priory Barn_, the only remnant of Taunton's once considerable and wealthy priory: note the windows--perhaps insertions from other fragments of the monastic buildings. _The Castle_, after centuries of complete neglect, underwent a well-intentioned but unfortunate restoration by Sir B. Hammet, but is now in the appropriate possession of the Somerset Archaeological Society, who have transformed it into a museum. The buildings, as they now stand, include (1) an outer gateway--the Castle Bow--now incorporated with Clarke's Hotel (note the portcullis groove); (2) a rectangular block consisting of Edwardian additions to an original Norm. keep and a great hall (fee for entrance, 2d.). Note (1) the arms of Bishop Langton, of Winchester, and Henry VII. over central gateway; (2) the drum tower (now the committee-room and library) at S.W. corner; (3) the immense thickness of the walls of the keep with its Norm. buttresses, and the lighter superstructure, with its Dec. windows, above; (4) the Great Hall, the scene of the Bloody Assize--a remarkably spacious chamber built by Bishop Horne, 1577. The shelves of the museum are stocked with a large collection of antiquities add natural-history specimens: the case containing the relics from Sedgemoor is of special interest. The exhibition as a whole would gain in point by being confined to objects connected with the county.

Other things worthy of attention in Taunton are (1) the old Grammar School in Corporation Street, now incorporated with the Municipal Buildings, (2) the two fine old houses opposite the Market Hall, (3) Gray's and Pope's alms-houses in East Street, (4) the old thatched alms-houses (originally a lepers' hospital) at the E. extremity of the town, in East Reach, bearing on the wall Abbot Bere's monogram and arms. A visit should be paid to _Vivary Park_ at the end of High Street, a tastefully laid-out public recreation ground on the site of the old monastic fishponds. The Shire Hall, in Shuttern, a somewhat pretentious modern building, contains a number of busts of Somerset worthies. A rough lane striking off to the R. from the Trull road leads to an old Roman causeway crossing a narrow, one-arched bridge locally known as _Ramshorn Bridge_.

_Tellisford_, a small village 1 m. S. of Farleigh Hungerford. Its church has a passing likeness to that at Farleigh; it preserves within the porch a stoup and a fair Trans. doorway.

_Templecombe_ (or _Abbas Combe_), an inconsiderable village at the S.E. extremity of the county, with an important station on the S. & D. and L. & S.W. lines. The church is ancient but uninteresting, and seems to have been considerably altered. It contains a curious E.E. font. The tower is somewhat peculiar, and forms the S. porch. On the rising ground at the S. of the village are the remains of a _preceptory_ of the Knights Templars, founded in the 12th cent. by Serlo Fitz-Odo. From this foundation the place takes its name. A long building, which was perhaps once the refectory, but which is now used as a barn, will be noticed abutting on a farm-house along the road to Milborne Port. In an orchard at the back of the farm are the ruins of a small chapel.

_Thorne_ (or _Thorne Coffin_), a parish 2-1/2 m. N.W. of Yeovil. Its small church (without a tower) contains nothing of interest except a pulpit of the date 1624 (cp. Chilthorne Domer).

_Thorne St Margaret_, a village 3 m. W. of Wellington. Its church has been rebuilt, and the only object of interest that it retains is a small brass (affixed to the W. wall) with an inscription in Latin and English, of a punning character, to a person called Worth.

_Thornfalcon_, a parish 3-1/2 m. E. of Taunton, with a station on the Taunton and Chard line. Its Perp. church preserves some good bench-ends dated 1542. There is a holy-water stoup inside the S. door, and an ancient font. Not far from the church, at a spot where four ways meet, is a roadside cross.

_Thurlbear_, a parish 3-1/2 m. S.E. of Taunton. It has a small church which is remarkable for having fine Norm. arcades N. and S., it being one of a very small number of churches in the immediate neighbourhood of Taunton that retain much Norm. work. The squint is peculiar, and there is an early font under the belfry.

_Thurloxton_, a parish half way between Taunton and Bridgwater (lying a little off the main road), and 3 m. N.W. of Durston Station. The small church of St Giles is noteworthy for (1) the carved oak screen, which has rests for books attached to it, (2) the fine oak pulpit (dated 1634), with four figures in relief, three apparently representing Faith, Hope, and Charity (cp. Stoke St Gregory), (3) the W. door, made of one solid block of wood; over the entrance is the date 1500. Observe, too, the piscina and the old tub font.

_Tickenham_, a village 4 m. E. from Clevedon and 3 m. from Nailsea Station. Its church, dedicated to SS. Quiricus and Julietta, is interesting. The tower (as at Wraxall and Brislington) is characterised by having niches on each face rising above the parapet between the pinnacles, and containing effigies. Externally, there should be observed (1) the square sanctus-bell cot, (2) the E.E. porch. The interior is very plain. The square piers of the arcades have no capitals, and are possibly Norm., though one has at two of its angles small pilasters with carved capitals. The chancel arch is round-headed, probably early Norm., without mouldings. In the N. aisle there are three life-sized effigies (two knights in full armour and a lady), assigned to the 13th cent., and supposed to be members of the Berkeley family. Note (1) font, (2) ancient glass.

A neighbouring farm contains some remains of an old 15th-cent. house, once the residence of the Berkeleys.

Above Tickenham on the N. lies _Cadbury Camp_, covering about 7 acres. It is protected by double ramparts and ditches, the former consisting of piled limestone fragments, now almost entirely covered with turf. Roman coins have been found within it. The position commands a fine view, both landward and seaward.

_Timberscombe_, a small wayside village, 3 m. S.W. of Dunster on the Dulverton road. The church (Perp.) has an unimposing tower (rebuilt 1708) with slate pyramidal spire. Within is a small coloured rood-screen resembling that at Carhampton, but with staircase intact. Note (1) piscinas in chancel and aisle, (2) old wooden door to N. entrance, (3) Devonshire foliage on one of the arcade piers (cp. Luccombe). In the churchyard is a restored cross. Half a mile beyond the village is the manor house of _Bickham_, one wing of which was originally a chapel.

_Timsbury_, one of the colliery villages near Radstock, 1 m. N.W. from Camerton. Like its neighbour Paulton it stands high, but it is both more attractive and more pleasantly situated, commanding a pretty prospect towards Camerton, which it overlooks. The church was rebuilt in 1826, but the chancel was added later from designs by Sir G. Scott.

_Tintinhull_ (formerly _Tyncnell_), a village 1-1/2 m. N. from Montacute Station, preserving some old houses and possessing an interesting church. The latter appears to be E.E. with Dec. and Perp. insertions and additions. The massive tower is unusually placed on the N. side, and has in the basement a blocked squint. Features of the church which deserve notice are (1) the S. porch, which has a ribbed roof, and supports on its gable an odd kind of sundial (cp. Middle Chinnock), (2) stone base of rood screen, on which is a mutilated piscina, (3) double piscina (E.E.) in chancel, (4) bench-ends (1511), with the old seats hinged to them, (5) ancient tiles (14th cent.), (6) Jacobean pulpit; (7) brasses, one to John Stone (d. 1416), and another, with effigy, to John Heth (d. 1464). At one end of the churchyard is a gate-post with an inscription; and not far away is the former rectory (now called the _Court House_). In the village, beneath a magnificent elm, are the ancient stocks.

_Tolland_, a village 4 m. N. by E. of Wiveliscombe. Its small church contains little of interest, except some ancient tiles and some carved woodwork. In the parish is an old manor house called _Gaulden Farm_, with a large hall decorated with a fine plaster ceiling, with pendant and cornice, but inspection of it is not easily obtained. James Turberville, Bishop of Exeter, is said to have lived here in seclusion, when deprived of his see in 1559.

_Treborough_, a small village 6 m. S.W. of Williton. The district is hilly, and the church small.

_Trull_, a village 2 m. S.W. of Taunton, on the Honiton road. Its church is of no great architectural interest, but is remarkable for its woodwork--rood-screen, pulpit, and seat ends. The screen is very good: note above it the tympanum, projecting below the chancel arch and formerly joined to the rood-loft by an oak addition. The pulpit has five figures in high relief, which seem to represent an apostle, a pope, a cardinal, and two bishops (or perhaps a bishop and a mitred abbot). Among the bench-ends are panels representing figures in a religious procession, including (1) a boy with a cross, (2) a man with a candle, (3) a man with a reliquary, (4) and (5) two ecclesiastics (or perhaps choristers) with books. The artist's name (Simon Warman) and the date of his work (1560) are engraved at the W. end of the N. aisle. There is also some excellent ancient glass in the E. and S. windows of the chancel. In the churchyard, under a tree, are preserved the parish stocks.

_Twerton_, a populous working-class suburb on the W. side of Bath, with a station on the G.W.R. main line to Bristol. The name of the place (the town at the weir) betrays its Saxon origin, but the only thing known of its early history is that the Bath monks had a cloth mill here. A large clothing factory, which is one of the chief industries of the place, after a fashion perpetuates the tradition. The old village and church lie on the S. side of the railway embankment, and may be found by passing under the station archway. The church has more than once been entirely rebuilt, but still retains a commonplace Perp. tower. A photograph in the vestry shows a curious inscription on one of the battlements. A good Norm. doorway, now built into the N. porch, and a Norm. font, are relics of the original church. Henry Fielding lodged in one of the houses in the village and penned a portion of "Tom Jones" here.

_Ubley_, a village 2 m. S.E. of Blagdon. The church tower has rather an odd appearance, as in addition to a low spire, it has a prominent stair turret with pyramidal cap. Within, the N. arcade has been pushed out of the perpendicular by the weight of the roof. At the entrance of the S. chapel is a chained copy of Erasmus' Paraphrase of the Gospels, 1522 (cp. Bruton). The pulpit is Jacobean, and the altar bears date 1637. The churchyard is beautifully kept, and a very handsome restored cross stands on a little "green" fronting at the churchyard gate.

_Uphill_, a village at the mouth of the Axe, 2 m. S. of Weston-super-Mare. It is an unattractive collection of cottages without any present-day interest. Somewhere, however, in the neighbourhood once existed the old Roman seaport of Axium, where the lead dug from the Mendips was shipped for export. The church is early Victorian Gothic, with a new chancel. The old ruined church on the hill is a conspicuous landmark from Weston. It is a Norm. building, altered in Perp. times, with a low central tower. Note (1) the restored Norm. N. doorway; (2) three-faced gargoyle on S. side of tower. Near the church is the shell of a watch-tower. The old Roman road which ran across the Mendips from Old Sarum had its terminus here. Uphill was once notable for a bone cavern, but this has now been destroyed by the encroachments of a quarry. The contents, which included many valuable remains of extinct animals, have been scattered amongst neighbouring museums.

_Upton_, a village on the Haddeo, 6 m. E.N.E. of Dulverton. The neighbourhood is very picturesque. The church has been removed to a more convenient position at Rainsbury, but the tower of the old fabric, which has been allowed to remain, marks the original site.

_Upton Noble_, a parish 2-1/2 m. S.W. of Witham Friary. The church has a small gable-roofed tower, and preserves in the E. wall of a S. chapel a defaced crucifix within a nimbus. The font is early.

_Vallis_, 1 m. N.W. from Frome--a prettily-wooded bottom, through which flows a stream pleasantly margined by a strip of pasture. The vale is sufficiently romantic to make it a favourite trysting-place with the neighbouring townsfolk, but it is being rapidly ruined by extensive quarrying operations. The rocks, however, are geologically of much interest, as upon the edge of the upturned strata of mountain limestone will be noticed horizontal layers of oolite. On the side of the defile is the old manor-house of the Leversedges, now applied to farm purposes. The ruins of the original banqueting-hall (_temp._ Henry VII.) will repay investigation. The pedestrian should approach the vale from Frome across the Lees, and may either return to the town by following the course of a tributary brook to Egford, or may prolong his walk along the banks of the main stream to Elm and Mells.

_Venn Cross_, a rural station on the G.W.R. line to Barnstaple. It stands on the very border of the county, and serves a number of neighbouring villages.

_Vobster_, a small village 2 m. S. of Mells Road Station. Its uncouth name is said to be derived from some Dutch weavers who once worked a mill on the banks of the neighbouring stream. The church is a neat little modern building.

_Walton_, a village 3 m. S.W. of Glastonbury. The church is modern. At the W. end of it is a thatched 15th cent. parsonage with some ecclesiastical windows, now a farm. From the hill behind the village (marked by a windmill) an excellent view of the full extent of Sedgemoor may be obtained.

_Walton-in-Gordano_, a village 1 m. N. of Clevedon, very prettily situated near the Channel. Of the church, the only ancient part is the base of the tower (15th cent.), under which a few fragments of carved stones are preserved. The present building is said to be modelled on the style of the old.

_Wanstrow_, a village 6 m. S.W. of Frome, with a station on the G.W.R. branch to Wells. The church is ancient, but without interest.

_Washford_, a large hamlet in the parish of Old Cleeve, with a station (on the G.W.R. branch to Minehead) which affords easy access to Cleeve Abbey.

WATCHET, a small port of some 2000 inhabitants, situated on the Bristol Channel. It has always been of some trading importance, as giving access to the valley between the Brendons and Quantocks, and has seen some history. In Saxon times it was more than once raided by the Danes, and on the road to Williton is a spot called "Battle Gore," which may preserve the memory of a fight with the invaders. Its church, _St Decuman's_, on the way to Williton, is interesting. It has a good tower, with a figure of the saint on the S. face. There is a stoup outside the W. door, and remains of another in the S. porch. It will be seen that the chancel roof is a continuation of that of the nave. In the interior note (1) the group of four bishops, and St George (or St Michael) with the Dragon on some of the arcade piers; (2) the oak roof, pulpit and cornice; (3) the screen (which, however, is mostly modern). There are two chapels, Holy Cross on the S. and St Peter's on the N. The latter is filled with tombs and brasses of the Wyndham family, chiefly 16th and 17th cent. In the churchyard is a restored cross. The farm-house of Kentisford, near the church, was once a manor-house, and preserves the name of St Keyne.

_Wayford_ is a village 3 m. S.W. of Crewkerne Station. Its church occupies an elevated position, and displays several ancient features. Its windows are E.E. or Dec., some having the interior arch foliated. There is a good double piscina under a foliated canopy, and an old octagonal font.

_Weare_, a large village near the Axe, 3 m. S.W. of Axbridge. It is said to have been a borough in the early part of the 14th cent., sending two members to Parliament. The church has a good tower, rather deficient in height, with triple belfry windows. The treatment of the belfry staircase is unusual, and deserves notice. The interior of the church contains comparatively little of antiquarian interest. In one of the N. windows are some fragments of ancient glass, bearing seemingly the initials of Thomas Beckington. Note (1) piscina and small brass (late 15th cent.) in the sanctuary, (2) square Norm. font, (3) Jacobean pulpit (1617). There is a cross in the churchyard.

_Wedmore_, a large village 4 m. S. of Cheddar, situated on rising ground, which affords a good view of part of the Mendips and of the hamlets resting upon their slopes. The place is famous as the scene of Guthrum's "chrisom-loosing" after his baptism at Aller, and of his treaty with Alfred (see p. 13). Its church (Perp.) is an interesting building. The tower is central (as at Axbridge, Yatton, etc.), with triple windows in the belfry; and as it has no pinnacles, it presents a very plain outline (cp. Yeovil). The original cruciform plan of the church is disguised by the N. and S. aisles and chapels. The oldest parts are the tower arches and the S. doorway, which are late Trans.; the S. chapel has a Dec. window; the rest of the structure is Perp. Note (1) gallery or parvise over the porch; (2) groined vaulting under tower; (3) wooden roof of N. chapel; (4) sedile, piscina, and squint; (5) fine Jacobean pulpit; (6) mural brasses to Thomas and George Hodges (1583 and 1630). There appear to be traces of a double rood-loft (as at Axbridge and Crewkerne). There is a cross in the churchyard, and a second (with defaced sculptures) in a garden on the L. hand of the Glastonbury road.

At _Mudgeley_, a hamlet 1-1/2 m. away, King Alfred is believed to have had a palace, and the foundation of walls have been discovered in the course of recent excavations.