Chapter 3

Somerset is _par excellence_ an agricultural county. With the exception of its share in Bristol, it has no large manufacturing centre. Its commercial insignificance, however, is quite a modern characteristic. It once took a leading place in the manufacture of cloth, and its productions were held in high esteem. Dunster, Watchet, and Shepton were especially noted for their fabrics. Many quaint country villages were once thriving little towns, and almost every stream had its string of cloth mills. The introduction of steam, and the more enterprising spirit of the North, stole the trade, and this former era of prosperity is now hardly remembered. Cloth mills, however, still survive at Frome, Tiverton, and Wellington. Collars are made at Taunton; gloves are stitched at Yeovil and Martock. There are shoe factories at Street and Paul ton. Crewkerne manufactures sailcloth. Chard has a lace factory. Frome possesses a large printing establishment and art metal-works. Bridgwater, besides abounding in brick-fields, is the only seat in the country of the bath-brick, industry. Coal is extensively mined in the Radstock district, and iron used to be obtained from the Brendons, though operations now seem to have ceased, and the mineral railway which brought the ore to Watchet for shipment is now disused. Quarries are numerous. The Mendips in the N., Street in the centre, and Ham Hill in the S., all afford plenty of material for the stone mason. There are large breweries at Shepton, Oakhill, Frome, and Wiveliscombe. Paper is made at Wookey, furniture is manufactured at Yatton, and there is a large bacon factory at Highbridge. Extensive orchards in the neighbourhood of Glastonbury and Taunton feed a large number of cider presses. In the agricultural world Somerset is chiefly known as a grazing ground. It is especially renowned for its cheese. Cheddar cheese is held universally in high repute, and the "pitch" of cheese at the Frome annual fair is said to be the heaviest in the kingdom.

In spite of its extent of seaboard Somerset has few ports. Apart from the share it may claim to have in Bristol, it possesses only three, Portishead, Bridgwater, and Watchet. Portishead, like Avonmouth on the other side of the Avon, is subsidiary to Bristol. Bridgwater lies 12 m. up the Parrett, though only half that distance from the sea in a direct line. Watchet serves the district, between the Quantocks and Brendons. Minehead has a little harbour, but is of no mercantile importance.

IX. CELEBRITIES

The roll of Somerset worthies, either natives of or residents in the county, is long and illustrious. The Church, law, literature, philosophy, arms, science, politics, and adventure are all represented. The following alphabetic list contains the most important names, with dates and brief particulars.[5]

_Natives_

_Alphege_ or _Aelfeah_, b. 954, at Weston near Bath; successively Bishop of Winchester and Archbishop of Canterbury; killed by the Danes, 1011; canonised.

_Bacon, Roger_, b. about 1214, at or near Ilchester; became a friar of the Franciscan Order; studied natural philosophy and wrote, besides other works, the "Opus Majus" (described as "at once the 'Encyclopaedia' and the 'Organon' of the 13th century"); d. 1294.

_Bagehot, Walter_, b. 1826, at Langport; economist and author of "The English Constitution"; d. 1877.

_Beckington, Thomas_, b. about 1390, at Beckington; successively Bishop of Salisbury and Bishop of Bath and Wells; d. 1465.

_Blake, Robert_, b. 1599, at Bridgwater; took part in the Great Civil War on the Parliamentary side, and defended Lyme and Taunton; made admiral of the fleet, and fought against Holland and Spain; d. 1657.

_Coleridge, Hartley_, b. 1796, at Clevedon; poet and biographical writer; d. 1849.

_Coryate, Thomas_, b. 1577, at Odcombe; travelled, first on the Continent (his journal, entitled "Coryat's Crudities," was long the only handbook for Continental travel), and subsequently in the East; d. at Surat, 1617.

_Cudivorth, Ralph_, b. 1617, at Aller; Professor of Hebrew and Master of Christ's College, Cambridge; author of "The True Intellectual System of the Universe"; one of the "Cambridge Platonists"; d. 1688.

_Dampier, William_, b. 1652, at East Coker; explorer and scientific observer; author of "A Discourse on the Winds" (said to have value even now as a text-book); d. 1715.

_Daniell, Samuel_, b. 1562, probably near Taunton; poet and prose writer (there appears to be no authority for the belief that he succeeded Spenser as poet-laureate); d. 1619.

_Dunstan_, b. 924, at Glastonbury; successively Abbot of Glastonbury, Bishop of Worcester and London, and Archbishop of Canterbury; d. 988; canonised.

_Fielding, Henry_, b. 1707, at Sharpham, near Glastonbury; novelist (best known work, "Tom Jones"); d. 1754 at Lisbon.

_Hood, Samuel_, b. 1724, at Butleigh; admiral (Nelson wrote of him as "the best officer, take him altogether, that England has to boast of"); made a viscount; d. 1816.

_Hooper, John_, b. 1495 (place unknown); Bishop of Gloucester and Worcester; burnt at the stake, 1555.

_Irving, Henry_ (real name John Henry Brodribb); b. 1838, at Keinton-Mandeville; actor; knighted; d. 1905.

_Kinglake, Alexander William_, b. 1809, at Taunton; wrote "Eothen" and "Invasion of the Crimea"; d. 1891.

_Locke, John_, b. 1632, at Wrington; philosopher; author of "Essay on the Human Understanding," and works on education and the currency; d. 1704.

_Norris, Edwin_, b. 1795, at Taunton; Oriental scholar; d. 1872.

_Parry, William Edward_, b. 1790, at Bath; Arctic explorer; knighted; d. 1855.

_Prynne, William_, b. 1600, at Swainswick; Presbyterian pamphleteer; wrote "Histriomastix" (directed against stage-plays); several times pilloried; d. 1669.

_Pym, John_, b. 1584, at Brymore, near Cannington; politician; one of the five members of the Commons whom Charles I. sought to arrest; d. 1643.

_Quekett, John Thomas_, b. 1815, at Langport; microscopist and histologist; conservator of the Hunterian Museum; d. 1861.

_Speke, John Hanning_, b. 1827, at Ashill; African explorer; discovered Lakes Tanganyika and Victoria Nyanza; accidentally shot, 1864.

_Young, Thomas_, b. 1773, at Milverton; scientist, and Egyptologist; described as the founder of physiological optics, and one of the first to interpret the hieroglyphics on the Rosetta Stone; d. 1829.

_Residents_

_Church, Richard William_, Rector of Whatley from 1852 to 1871.

_Coleridge, Samuel Taylor_, resided at Clevedon (1795) and Nether Stowey (1796-98).

_Ken, Thomas_, Bishop of Bath and Wells from 1684 to 1691; wrote the morning and evening hymns, "Awake, my soul, and with the sun," and "Glory to Thee, my God, this night."

_More, Hannah_, resided for many years between 1786 and 1833 at Barley Wood, near Wrington, and did much to spread education and religion among the Mendip miners.

_Smith, Sydney_, the humorous Canon of St Paul's, and one of the founders of the _Edinburgh Review_, held from 1829 till his death in 1845 the living of Combe Florey.

_Wolsey, Thomas_, the famous cardinal, held for a time the living of Limington. Whilst here he is said to have been put in the stocks by Sir Amyas Poulett of Hinton St George for drinking too much cider. When he became Chancellor of England he revenged himself on the knight, who was Treasurer of the Middle Temple, by forbidding him to quit London without his leave.

_Wordsworth, William_, resided in 1797 at Alfoxden, a house near Holford.

For distinguished persons who have resided at Bath, see p. 46.

[5] Chiefly derived from the "Dictionary of National Biography."

DESCRIPTION OF PLACES IN SOMERSET ARRANGED ALPHABETICALLY

_N.B._--The following abbreviations are adopted:--

Norm. = Norman (1066-1190). Trans. = Transitional (1145-1190). E.E. = Early English (1190-1280). Dec. = Decorated (1280-1377). Perp. = Perpendicular (1377-1547).

[Proofreader's Note: Additional abbreviations found in the text are: G.W.R. = Great Western Railway S.& D. = Somerset and Dorset Railway.]

_Abbot's Leigh_, a village 4 m. W. from Bristol. The church, which stands at the bottom of a long lane, is, with the exception of the tower, entirely modern, the original fabric having been destroyed by fire in 1848. Near the S. porch is the base of an old cross. The churchyard commands a good view of the mouth of the Avon. _Leigh Court_ is a modern residence. A former mansion was one of the many hiding-places of Charles II. when a fugitive.

_Aisholt_ (or _Asholt_), 8 m. W. of Bridgwater, is a little village on the E. slope of the Quantocks. The church is hidden away in a small combe, and its tower looks most picturesque against the green background of Asholt Wood, but it is not in itself interesting. Note, however, (1) little plain stoup and niche in the S. porch, (2) large squint (now blocked) in the S. aisle, (3) old font. S. of Aisholt is _Holwell Cavern_, a cave of considerable extent, and containing stalagmites and stalagtites, but rather inconvenient of access.

_Alford_, a small village on the river Brue, 1-1/2 m. S.W. from Castle Cary. In the fields on the S. side of the road is a mineral spring, which once enjoyed a short-lived local popularity. The church stands in the grounds of Alford House. It is a 15th cent. Perp. building, and contains (1) some ancient benches, (2) old glass in one of the N. windows, (3) a slender Perp. screen, (4) a pulpit dated 1625, (5) piscina. Note massive corbels in chancel. The shaft of a cross with a modern head stands in the churchyard.

_Aller_, a village 2-1/2 m. N.W. from Langport, lying at the base of High Ham Hill. Aller witnessed the sequel to two stirring events. Here Guthrum was baptised at Alfred's insistence after his defeat at Ethandune (879), and here the Royalists made their last but ineffectual rally after their rout at Langport in 1645. The church stands apart from the village on a knoll rising from the marshes. It contains (1) an ancient font, (2) an effigy of Sir W. Botreaux (1420) on the N. side of choir. The internal arrangements of the tower are peculiar. It has three arches, those on the N. and S. being apparently purposeless.

_Angersleigh_, a small parish 5 m. S. of Taunton (follow the Honiton road to the fourth milestone, then turn to the right). It has a very small church, perhaps originally Dec., but altered into Perp. It contains a good carved oak reading-desk and lectern.

_Ansford_, or _Almsford_, a village 1/2 m. N. from Castle Cary. Restoration has robbed the church of most of its interest; its tower has some good gargoyles. A memorial-stone on the roadside near the church marks the scene of a sudden death.

_Ash_, a parish including several small hamlets, 1 m. N.E. from Martock. The church is modern.

_Ash Priors_, a small village 1 m. N.W. of Bishop's Lydeard Stat., owes its name to the fact that it once belonged to the Priory of Taunton. The church contains nothing of interest, though the N. pier of the chancel arch preserves its squint.

_Ashbrittle_, 7 m. W. of Wellington (nearest stat. Venn Cross, 3 m.), a parish standing on very high ground. The second element in the name is a personal description, derived from the Norman Brittel de St Clare. The parish church has been completely restored, and is devoid of interest.

_Ashcott_, a parish on the Poldens, 3 m. S.W. of Glastonbury, with a station (S. & D.J.R.) two miles away. The church has a W. embattled tower with a carving on the W. face representing the sacred monogram, a mitre, and a pastoral staff. There is a stoup in S. porch, but no other feature of interest.

_Ashill_, a parish 3-3/4 m. N.W. of Ilminster, situated on rising ground on the Taunton and Ilminster road. The church is interesting by reason of the Norman work that it contains, including N. and S. doors and triple chancel arch (restored). There are two effigies in recesses in the nave wall, one representing a woman and her six children. At Capland, 1-1/2 m. off, there is a chalybeate spring.

_Ashington_, 3 m. E.S.E. of Ilchester, has a small church dedicated to St Vincent. It is remarkable for the large square bell-cot over the W. gable (cp. Brympton and Chilthorne Domer) which is supported by a massive buttress in the middle of the W. front. Within the building note (1) the three lancets at the E. end; (2) the foliated interior arches of the chancel windows (two of which are very small lancets); (3) the pulpit, dated 1637. The glass in some of the windows is good.

_Ashton, Long_, is a straggling village, noteworthy for its court and church. _Ashton Court_, the seat of Sir J.H. Greville Smyth, was erected by Inigo Jones in 1634, and is surrounded by a beautifully-wooded park. Long Ashton church contains a fine screen, gilded and painted (the old colours being reproduced), and a 15th cent. tomb (in the N. chapel) with two effigies, belonging to Sir Richard Choke and his wife. There are also two mutilated effigies, preserved in the N. porch, which are supposed to belong to the de Lyons family, who once owned the park.

_Ashwick_, 2 m. S.E. of Binegar. There is no village, but merely a group of houses. The church has a graceful late Perp. tower, with spirelet: this is the only original part of the fabric, the rest having been rebuilt in 1825. _Ashwick Grove_ is a prettily-situated mansion, said to contain a good collection of pictures.

_Athelney_, included within the parish of Lyng (with a stat.), is the spot historically famous for having harboured Alfred in 878 when he had to escape before a sudden inroad of the Danes (see p. 12). It was once an island (the name means "isle of the nobles"), and in wet weather must even now almost resume that condition. Alfred, after having defeated the Danes at Ethandune, founded a monastery here, of which all traces have unhappily disappeared. A small monument (best approached from the main road between Lyng and Borough bridge) was erected in 1801 by Mr John Slade, the owner of the estate, to commemorate the events connected with the locality; but the inscription is misleading in giving 879 (instead of 878) as the year when Alfred took refuge here, and in stating that he lay concealed for a whole year (instead of a few months). The neighbourhood abounds in osier and reed-beds, producing materials for basket-work.

AXBRIDGE, 10 m. N.W. of Wells, is an ancient town, which still preserves an air of antiquity. It is situated in a neighbourhood largely devoted to market gardens, in which quantities of strawberries are grown. It was a borough as early as the reign of Edward the Confessor, but its corporation was abolished in 1886. Its most notable feature is the church of St John the Baptist. It is a large cruciform structure with a central tower, having three windows in the belfry, and rather shallow buttresses. The figure on the W. face of the tower is supposed to be Henry VI. or Henry VII., that on the E. St John. Within the church note (1) the roofs, that of the nave plaster with pendants (1636), those of the aisles oak (15th cent.); (2) the carved capitals of the S. arcade and squint in the S.E. tower pier; (3) the mural monument to William Prowse in the N. aisle; (4) the altar before the tomb of Anne Prowse (in S. aisle), covered with a cloth worked by her own hands (1720); (5) brass in N. aisle to Roger Harper (1493); (6) in S. wall of sanctuary piscina and sedilia. In the N. wall is a curious hole, apparently connected with an external cell (where there are the remains of a broken piscina). The purpose of this cell is a great puzzle. The church seems to have possessed two rood-lofts (cp. Crewkerne); and has a two-storied building on the S. of the W. door, which is thought by some to be a treasury.

In the town there are some old houses with projecting upper storeys. One of them, called _The Old Manor House_, deserves a visit for the sake of a fine ceiling in one of its rooms. In the Town Hall are preserved the old stocks, the apparatus used in bull-baiting, and a money-changer's table, dated 1627.

_Babcary_ is a village a short distance E. of the Fosseway, 6 m. N.N.E. of Ilchester (nearest stat., Sparkford). The first syllable of the name is a personal appellation which doubtless appears in Babbicombe; the second is derived from the neighbouring stream. There is a church of ancient origin, but since its restoration it exhibits little of interest except a piscina (with credence shelf) and a good Caroline pulpit (1632).

_Babington_, 1 m. S. of Mells Road station. There is no village. The church dates from the reign of George II. _Babington House_ is a mansion of some age but little beauty.

_Backwell_, 1-1/2 m. S.E. of Nailsea station, a parish which perhaps owes its name to the _back_ or ridge on which it stands. It has a spacious church, prettily situated. The Perp. tower has double belfry windows, and elaborate pinnacles, but the summit seems to have been injured and rebuilt, for the upper lights are enclosed within an ogee moulding which breaks the line of the parapet; and one of the pinnacles is of unusual character. At the S. door note stoup, and within the church observe (1) the 15th cent. screen; (2) the squints, high up in the chancel pillars; (3) the E.E. sedilia on the S.; and (4) the chapel on the N. side of the sanctuary. In front of the chapel is a large tomb with a full length effigy of a knight in armour (probably a Rodney); whilst within there is a mural brass and other memorials. The chapel is the resting-place of Elizabeth, successively wife of Sir Walter Rodney and of Sir John Chaworth, who died 1536.

_Badgworth_, 3 m. S.W. of Axbridge, lies a little way off the Bristol and Bridgwater road. The church is dedicated to the saint that has given his name to Congresbury, St Congar. It has a fair tower (with a good open parapet), which contains two pre-Reformation bells, but the interior contains little of note. The piscina looks like E.E. with a restored drain.

_Bagborough, West_, 3-1/2 m. N. of Bishop's Lydeard station, is a parish pleasantly situated on the S.W. side of the Quantocks. The church (St Pancras) adjoins Bagborough House, and preserves its former stoup and piscina. There are a few carved bench ends.

_Baltonsborough_, a village on the Brue, 4 m. S.W. of Glastonbury. It possesses a 5th cent. church (St Dunstan's) containing a few features of interest in the chancel, among them being the cornice, the piscina and aumbry, and an old chair dated 1667. The screen is modern. The nave retains a number of the old 15th cent. benches; to the end of one of them is hinged a seat which, when raised, projects into the aisle, perhaps to accommodate some youthful but unruly member of the congregation. The old door and lock deserve a passing notice.

_Banwell_, a large village 1-1/2 m. W. of Sandford and Banwell station, was once the site of a Saxon monastery, bestowed by Alfred upon Asser, and is now famous for its church and caves. The place gets its name from its large pond, fed by a copious spring, though the meaning of the first syllable is obscure (perhaps from _bane_, ill, implying that the spring was thought to have remedial qualities). The church has a tower with triple belfry windows, which is lofty and finished with pinnacles and spirelet. It should be compared with Winscombe, both being spoilt by the flatness of the buttresses. It is regarded as early Perp., and assigned to about 1380. The figures on the W. front are the Virgin and St Gabriel; note the lilies (there should be only one, as at Winscombe). The nave is lofty, with clerestory and plaster roof (coloured like oak); the effigy at the W. is St Andrew. There is a very fine rood-loft (1521) with fan-tracery both in front and rear: the present colours are believed to reproduce the original; curiously, the choir seats are _outside_ the screen. Note (1) the font (Norman) with unusual carving on the bowl; (2) Perp. stone pulpit, attached to one of the pillars of the arcade; (3) the seat ends and oak benches (the original width of the latter may be seen in the last pew on the S. side); (4) the brasses, three on the floor before the chancel, and another (of John Martok, succentor of Wells, and physician to Bishop King) in the vestry. This vestry contains some old Flemish glass (brought from Belgium in 1855), depicting the story of Tobit; and there is more ancient glass belonging to the church in the E. windows of the aisles. Originally there was only a N. aisle, and the tower buttresses can still be seen within the S. aisle.

_Banwell Court_, near the church, contains some remains of a manor house, built by Bishop Beckington. In a shed near the fire brigade station are (1) two old thatch-hooks (1610), used to drag burning thatch from the roofs of houses; and (2) an old fire-engine of the same date.

On the hill which rises above the church (in a field entered near the junction of the roads) a large cross is traced on the surface of the ground, and raised in relief to the height of 2 ft., the limbs being between 50 and 70 ft. long. It is surrounded by a low stone or earth fence, and its purpose is problematical. On the hill there is also a camp, where flints of Neolithic date have been found; and near it is an ancient track-way known as the _Roman Road_.

The _caves_ (two in number) are in private grounds belonging to Mrs Law. They have probably been created by the action of water, and when discovered were filled with the bones of wild animals (many of them now extinct) embedded in silt, which had been washed into them. In one of them there is now stacked a quantity of these bones, whilst a selection of them is deposited in Taunton Museum. The caves are shown by some of the outdoor servants of the house. Unlike the caves at Cheddar and Burrington, they open upon the summit of the hill instead of into a ravine.

_Barrington_, a village 4 m. N.E. of Ilminster, is worth visiting for the sake of its church and its interesting Elizabethan house called _Barrington Court_. The church is cruciform, with an octagonal central tower. The tower arches are E.E., with plain chamfered piers; but there is a good deal of Dec. work in the transepts (note windows and the fine canopy over one of the piscinas). The E. window is Perp.: observe the piscina and niches in the chancel, and the large squints. The N. porch has an ogee moulding, and contains a niche with figures of the Virgin and Child.

_Barrington Court_ (now a farm) is a magnificent E-shaped building, with numerous twisted chimneys, turrets, and finials. It was built by Henry Daubeny, the first Earl of Bridgwater, (d. 1548); and passed successively into the possession of the Phelipses (afterwards of Montacute) and the Strodes. It was here that William Strode in 1680 entertained the Duke of Monmouth. Recently an effort has been made to purchase it for the nation.

_Barrow Gurney_ is a small village, prettily situated (1 m. from Flax Bourton stat.), with a church about a mile away. Near the church there once existed a Benedictine nunnery (said to have been founded before 1212); and what is now the S. aisle was formerly the nuns' chapel, and it still retains an early doorway and a few other vestiges of antiquity. At the W. end of the aisle is an enclosure with a number of tiles, supposed to be the burial-place of one of the sisters. With the exception of this S. aisle, the church has been entirely rebuilt and enlarged. Note the mural monument to Francis James (of Jacobean date), and the old bell beneath the tower. The churchyard contains a restored cross. Adjoining the church is _Barrow Court_ (H.M. Gibbs) a fine Elizabethan building. In the village is a house of the date 1687. Some reservoirs of the Bristol waterworks are close by.

_Barrow, North_, a small village 2-1/2 m. N. from Sparkford Station (G.W.R.). The church, rebuilt 1860, is without interest, except for a very curious font of uncertain date, standing on a modern pedestal.