The Book of the Axe
Extracts from Published 1875 A Note: George P. R. Pulman’s ‘The Book of the Axe’ is a ‘must have’ priority for anyone interested in the history of this part if Somerset. It was published in four editions, and in parts, between1845 and 1875. The short excerpt recorded here comes from the 1875 edition, and relates almost entirely to Winsham Parish. The style of writing is of course a little ornate by to-day’s standards, and reflects the style of life enjoyed by the Victorian ‘leisured’ class, of which Mr Pulman was undoubtedly a member. Nevertheless it reflects a real enthusiasm for the subject that shows throughout the text. He displays wide knowledge of many subjects, and also occasionally makes social comment, giving a fascinating insight into social attitudes of the time. Most importantly he has recorded information and stories about the parish of Winsham, and the surrounding area, which, in all probability, would have been lost with the passage of time without the endeavours of this Victorian gentleman. In reading this excerpt, please do not neglect the Footnotes. They contain a wealth of information. J.S.S.
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Contents
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Extracts from Published 1875 |
To access footnotes left-hand click the number
Winsham is a very pleasantly situated village, on the
right of the river, in the county of Somerset, the union of Chard (from
which town it is distant about five miles), and the new electoral
division of West Somerset. The parish comprises 3,010 acres, and the
number of its inhabitants is 991, against 1,062 in 1851. It is divided
into two tithings, namely, Winsham tithing, comprising the village of
Winsham the hamlets of Purtington and Amerham; and Street and Leigh
tithing, comprising the rest of the parish.
The word Street, is one
of unmistakable indications of the passage of the great Roman Fosse-way,
the course of which through this district I have endeavored to trace in
the Introductory Chapter. Besides the proofs of Roman presence in the
locality given in that Chapter and in other parts of this work, I may
here mention that Collinson speaks of an urn containing Roman coins
found between Street and Winsham.
Other Roman have since been
found in the same neighbourhood, along with abundant evidence of a
resident population ages before Romans set their foot in Britain. That
many of the Roman roads were constructed upon the line of the earlier
British track ways has been already discussed, indeed is generally
regarded as an admitted fact, nothing is more probable than that
the portion of the Fosse-way from Dinnington to Axminster through Perry
Street, at least, was one of them. In 1855 some labourers making drains
through Rack Close, at Perry Street, occupied by Mr. W. Deane and
belonging to Earl Poulett, dug up an earthenware vase or urn, which,
with its contents, are thus described by Mr. Arthur Hull: “The
urn was found about three feet and a half below the surface. It was made
of clay, about half an inch thick, but of very rude workmanship, and one
side of it was smashed with the pickaxes. Its height was six inches and
a half. Its diameter at the bottom, five inches and a half. Its bulk in
the middle seven inches and a half, and at the top, or cover, four
inches and a half. The rim of the cover lapped over the top of the
vessel to the depth of an inch and a half. It contained a number of
amber beads of various sizes, from that of a pea to about an inch and a
quarter in diameter, many of which fell to pieces on being touched, and
others, through ignorance, were destroyed." There was one bead of
purple glass about the size of a large pea, "and also a piece of
metal, seemingly brass [bronze], like the top of a triangular file".
Nothing is said about burnt bones or any other human remains, the
workmen, who, " through ignorance," destroyed so many beads, probably
not troubling themselves in their researches. But there can be no doubt
that this was a cinerary urn containing the ashes of a female, but of
what particular period there is no direct evidence to show. The Belgic
Britons, the Romans, and the pagan Anglo-Saxons all practiced cremation,
or burning the bodies of the dead, and burying them in urns under mounds
or barrows of greater or less size, and there was a uniform belief that
articles of various kinds burned or buried with the dead would add to
the comfort and happiness of the spirit in the unknown world to which it
had departed. Thus weapons of war and of the chase, personal ornaments,
even food, wine, and, among the Saxons, even horses and dogs were
buried. The Celtic people, indeed, had their wives sacrificed in order
to be buried with their husbands, and mothers probably their infant
children. Mr. Hull may be right in assigning the “find” in question to
the Celtic period, but it may probably be the early Saxon one - the
rudeness of the pottery and the nature of the ornaments being indicative
of the interment of a person not of high importance and residing in a
remote locality. The piece of bronze might have been a hairpin, or some
other female ornament, or, not improbably, the pin which secured the
cloth in which the ashes from the funeral pyre were wrapped and placed
into the urn. Beads were common ornaments of both sexes, and the
ancients had a great affection for amber, which was supposed to be a
preservative from witchcraft and evil spirits. So that beads made of
that substance are very commonly found in Saxon and other early graves -
even in those in which not cremation but inhumation was practiced.
The village of Winsham consists of three streets - the principal street, leading up from the river, being wide and straight, with a renovated old cross at its extremity. Many of the houses are newly built, the place having at different times, of late years, suffered very severely from fires. It has more the appearance of a decayed little town than that of a rural village; and, in truth its importance was formerly much greater than at present. In ancient times it must have reflected much of the importance of the splendid Abbey in its immediate vicinity, and have been benefited by it in a variety of ways. In more modern times partaking of the commercial characteristics of those times, and in common with many other places in this part of the country, it was the seat of a considerable manufactory of the woollen cloth for which the West of England was unrivalled before the application of steam to machinery transferred so large a portion of the trade to the north. 1
The manor of Winsham, in the Saxon times, was original vested in the church of Wells, but it appears that, ”by some sinister practice or other, it was alienated from it, and fell into, the bands of one Elsi". Bishop Giso, however, compelled him to restore it to its proper owners, and at the Conquest it thus surveyed: - "Osmund holds of the bishop Winesham. Elsi held it at the time of King Edward, and gelded for ten hides. The arable is sixteen carucates. Thereof in demesne are four hides, and there are three carucates, and twelve servants, and fifty villains, with nine ploughs. There are two mills of twenty shillings rent, and six acres of meadow. Wood half a mile long, and a furlong and a half broad. It was worth six pounds, now ten pounds".
"Robert holds of William Lege. Sirewald held it in the time of King Edward, and gelded for three hides. The arable is forty caracates. In demesne is one carucate, with one servant and five villains, and two cottagers, and eight acres of meadow. Wood two furlongs long and one furlong broad. It was formerly worth thirty shillings, now twenty shillings".
“Roger holds of William Strate. Huscarl and Almar held in the time of King Edward, and gelded for one hide and a half. The arable is two carucates. There are three villains, and one cottager with one plough, and one acre and a half of meadow. Pasture five furlongs long, and two furlongs broad. It was, and is, worth fifteen shillings."
An interesting account of the way in which Winsham was restored to the church of Wells is given in a curious little chronicle, in Latin, published by the Camden Society, and entitled "Histriola de Primordiis Episcopatus Somersetensis" &c.-" A Brief History of the Bishoprick of Somerset from its foundation to the year 1174," - drawn up, it is supposed, by a Canon of Wells whose name has not been handed down. It is particularly valuable on account of its containing a long quotation from a treatise by the Bishop Giso mentioned in the extract just given. Giso was nominated to the Bishoprick of Wells by Edward the Confessor, and held it nearly the end of the reign of William the Conqueror.Bishop Giso tells his story thus: -" ln the year of the Incarnation, of our Lord, one thousand and thirty, Cnuth, King of the Danes and Norwegians, being then sovereign of the whole Britain, Brithcri, whose surname was Merechyyt, Bishop of Church of Wells, died on the second of the ides of April, was buried in the Monastery of Glaston, in which be abbot before he became bishop. To him succeeded Duduco, a Saxon by birth, consecrated on the third of the ides of June, who, in the time of Edward, the most pious king, gave to God and St. Andrew the possessions which he had obtained from the king before he was bishop, to be his by hereditary right, to wit, the monastery of St. Peter, in the city of Gloucester, with all pertaining to it, the town which is called Congresbury, and another town called Banwell, and they were confirmed by choreographs of royal authority and donation. He gave also sacerdotal vestments, various reliques of saints, beautiful vessels for the altar, very many books, and, just before he became bishop, everything which he possessed. Having sat as bishop twenty-six years and seven months, and seven days, he slept in the Lord on the fifteenth of the Kalends of February, and was buried in church of his see. But Harold, at that time Duke of the West Saxons, did not only hesitate to invade the lands belonging to the see, but spoiled the bishop's seat itself of all these gifts. Moreover, Stigand, the Archbishop of Canterbury, afterwards, in the time of William the King, degraded, in a council of bishops, by the legates of Pope Alexander, in the city of Winchester, with unjust solicitation, besought the King that the aforesaid monastery should be given to him, and obtained his request. "To this said Dudico, the bishop, I succeeded, Giso, an Hasbanian from the town of St. Trudo, in the year of our Lord's Incarnation, one thousand and sixty, I Edward, though by any merit of my own, unworthy of the honor, sent to Rome, and there I was consecrated Pope Nicholas on Easter day, the seventeenth of the Kalends of May, and the king received me in an honorable manner on return, bringing with me the mark of apostolic authority . . . Then, taking a survey of my cathedral church.- perceiving it to be small, and the four or five clerks to be without a cloister or refectory, I set myself voluntarily to preparation of these. I mentioned this our poverty to him, who was inferior to no one in piety, and obtained from him the possession which is called Wedmore for the remuneration of an eternal recompense, for the increase and sustenation of the brethren there serving God. Queen Edith, also, by whose assistance and suggestion this was effected, increased this gift, with faithful benevolence,' by giving the part of the said lands belonging to herself which was called by the inhabitants Merken and Modesley. Then the town which is called Wynesham (Winsham), which had been granted for a term by some one of my predecessors, but for many years kept from his successors without any service. I understood to recover from Alsie, who at that time held it. Him, having been frequently canonically admonished, and resisting by force after there had been a sentence of the Provincials by which he was deprived, and it was declared that I ought to be put into possession, I did not hesitate to anathematize. I even meditated to strike by the same kind of sentence Harold the duke, whom I sometimes privately and sometimes openly rebuked for the attacks which he made on the church committed to my charge. But King Edward having died in the year of the Incarnation of our Lord one thousand and sixty-five, on taking the reins of government, he promised not only to restore what be had taken away but also to give fresh donations. But the judgment of Divine vengeance overtaking him on the twenty-first day after the victory which he had obtained over his namesake the King of the Norwegians, he, having recruited his army, engaged in battle with William Duke of Normandy, invaded the southern part of his land, and then, in the tenth month of his reign, with his two brothers aid a great slaughter of his people, fell in battle. Moreover, the Duke, after he had obtained the victory and had take up on him the government of the kingdom, and had heard from me my complaint of the injury which had been done to me, surrendered Winesham to the Church, and confirmed it by a solemn charter, to the effect that the brethren offering in the Church the sacrifice of praise to God, should pray for the safety of himself, his ancestors, and successors, and so possess it inviolably as by hereditary right.”
The Conqueror presented the manors of Street and Leigh to his countryman, William de Mohun, or Moion, who had accompanied him from Normandy and distinguished himself greatly at the battle of Hastings. These manors have long been in the possession of the Henley family, present owner being, Henry Cornish Henley, Esq. Leigh House, the residence of this gentleman and his mother, widow of the late Cornish Henley, Esq., is about a mile from Ford Abbey, on the opposite or western side of the river, delightfully situated on the hill-side, in grounds nicely laid out, and overlooking a considerable portion of the valley. At one time the principal seat of the family was upon their property at Colway, close to Lyme Regis, which was battered in the Civil Wars, when the family removed to the more secluded retreat of Leigh, and the mansion at Colway fell into decay.
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"'Twas
merry in the hall
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An idea of Leigh House may be formed from the little view of it contained in the initial letter to this chapter at page 341. It is a genuine old-English-looking country residence, and therefore, in our age of that lath and plaster which is characterized by unbroken lines, by stuccoed walls, by colonnades, Italian porches, and no end of other incongruities, is indeed refreshing to stumble upon in its hoary suggestiveness and historical associations. The very name is redolent of country life. Leigh is the modern form of the Anglo-Saxon Leah, the pasture land - the house erected upon for the convenience of the neighbouring Abbey, of which it was originally one of the granges or farms. The Leigh grange itself was no doubt pulled down soon after the Reformation, and a residence suitable for its new owner was built upon the site-an excellent specimen of the picturesque Elizabethan style of domestic architecture.2 The present building bears evidence of alterations and additions at subsequent periods, but the greater part of the original remains, and throughout the entire range of the valley there is no other house of the kind to be compared with it. So suggestive always, so powerful, is association that no great stretch of fancy is needed for mentally revivifying the Past and almost realising many of the scenes of ordinary ancestral life and occupation ere the days of sham and artificiality.The old mansion, doubtless was the frequent scene of the hilarities and profuse hospitalities of which those days were so prolific. All the country sports and rural festivals, we may be sure, were heartily enjoyed. The yule log, the boar's head, and the morris dancers, came as regularly as the Christmas-tide itself. |
And roof and rafter echoed with the revelry. The Maypole was annually upreared upon the lawn, and the floral sacrifice was duly offered so long as a purer social atmosphere sustained the growth of "May-blowth" in the human heart. The devotees to falconry - both "brave and fair," no records need aver - “oft sallied forth at rosy morn," and the ancestors of the herons by which the stream to-day is ornamented became the object of a healthful and exciting sport. The chase, too, had its fascinations. The twang of the crossbow was daily heard in the woods, and anon the boom of the rude fowling piece reverberated among the hills. The Black Jack, we may be sure, was never empty in the hall. "My lady's bower" was, of course, the cynosure of rival devotees. The stream of welcome, of hospitality, of friendly intercourse, of healthful and innocent recreation, never ceased its onward ripple. Save when the nation was so convulsed with civil war that even the most secluded districts were brought within its influence.
And of one of those civil wars many tangible mementos have from time to time been brought to light at Leigh. Mr. Bonfield, the obliging host of the Knap Inn, upon whose larder you and 3 Piscator have arranged to make an attack, by and by, can relate the story of his finding in the garden, at the roots of a laburnum tree, now fifty years ago, nearly three hundred gold pieces of the reign of Charles I, and also the discovery, in the same garden, of a silver coin of one of the Edwards.
An imperfect pedigree of the Henley family is given at page 93 of Sir Thomas Phillips's "Visitation of Somerset" AD1623, preserved among the MSS in the British Museum, and there are fragments among the Heralds' Visitations in the Harleian Manuscripts from Nos. 1445 to 1476. I have already, at page 345, when speaking of Henley estate, in Crewkerne, referred to the influential family to which it gives its name, the Henleys of Henley, of Leigh, and of Chardstock having a common origin. The pedigrees referred to all start with "George Henleigh, of Taunton" 4 whose son "Robert of Leigh" was sheriff in 1612-13. Robert was twice married - first to Elizabeth, daughter of Freake, Esq, and secondly to Anne, daughter of Trubody of Exeter. From Anne descended the families described at page 345. Henry, son of Robert and Elizabeth, married Susan, daughter of Robert Bragge, Esq., of Sadborough, and died in 1638, at the age of 70. Their son Henry married first "Susan, daughter of Morridge, of Devon" and secondly Elizabeth, daughter of Sir John Banfield, of Poltimore. Susan was the mother of Henry Henley, of Colway, 5 became sheriff of Dorset in the time of Charles I. Henry Henley married “Mary daughter of - Bulkeley, of Hants." Their son, Henry of Colway,"married Catherine, daughter of Richard Holt, of Narsted, Hants, Esq., and was mayor of Lyme in 1722. This Henry was succeeded by his son Henry Holt, who married Sarah, daughter of Henry Cornish, of London, Esq. He was Recorder of Lyme, and, like other members of his family, represented that borough in Parliament. His son, Henry Cornish, was Sheriff of Dorset, and married Susan, daughter of James Hoste, of Sandringham, Esq. 6 Their son, Henry Hoste, of Sandringham, was Sheriff of Norfolk in 1814, and died in 1833, aged 67 or 68. His son, Captain Henley, died unmarried, and was succeeded by his brother Cornish, of Avishayes and Leigh, who married Sarah Frances, daughter of Benjamin Coles, Esq., of Parrock's Lodge, Somerset, and died at Sherborne on the 14th of August, 1855. His widow still survives, and with their son, Henry Cornish Henley, Esq., who was born in 1835, resides at the interesting old family mansion, as already stated.
A large estate in Winsham, valued in 1293, at £22 11s 8d, belonged to the Abbey of Ford. But the rest of the manor formed part of the endowment of the provostship of Wells, and when that office was abolished it was annexed to the deanery, and has so continued to the present day.7 A charter of free warren was granted to it by King Edward the Third. 8
The
church stands half way down the Principal street. It is an interesting
old building, bearing abundant traces of repairs at different periods,
some of the modern ones being, as usual of the worst and meanest
character possible. It is built of flint, with Ham Hill-stone dressings,
and consists of a nave and chance, with a tower rising between them. Its
total length is ninety-four feet. The breadth of the chancel is
seventeen feet six inches, and that of the nave twenty-three feet six
inches. It has a porch on the south side within which is an antique box
for alms, placed upon a pedestal also of wood. The earliest part of the
church, as usual, is the chancel, in which two of its five windows are
lancets, which, together with other indications of the Early English
style, point to the thirteenth century as the date of its-erection. A
miserable proof of the poverty of modern architecture is furnished by
the east window, a description of which may be advantageously omitted.
The nave is lighted by two principal windows on each side. They resemble
the nave-windows of Axminster church, and, like them, their cusps and
foliations have been chopped away. Some of the other windows are
Perpendicular, and the, rest, including a small square one in the
dairy-house style, need not be more particularly referred to, with the
exception of the west window, which is a chaste little specimen of the
Decorated style. What was originally a doorway, underneath this window
has been metamorphosed, by some versatile genius, into a Perpendicular
windows, with spandrels.
The rood screen, of which a considerable portion remains, forms a very interesting feature of the interior of this church. It is of oak, beautifully carved in the Perpendicular style. 'The remains of the rood itself (or rather of a painting which answered to the rood) may also still be seen in what is now a room in the under part of the tower and in which the bells are rung. This room was formed some years ago, by the erection a floor across the tower at the spring of the arches by, which is supported-thus entirely cutting off the view of the arches selves from the floor of the church, where the bells were originally rung. The rood painting is on panel, and without slightest pretensions to artistic merit. It comprises five figures: -the crucified Christ in the centre, the two Maries (or perhaps St. Mary and St. John), and the two thieves. The colours are still fresh and brilliant, notwithstanding that picture was for years embedded in whitewash. 9
What appears to have been the doorway of the staircase leading to the ancient rood-loft may still be seen in the southwestern pier of the tower arches, and in the same pier is a small hagioscope. The seats in the body of the church are of very old carved oak, exhibiting the linen pattern so prevalent during the reign of Henry VIII. The font is octagonal, and very ancient it is made of Ham stone, painted to represent marble. The church is much deformed by an immense gallery, which stretches more than halfway up the Nave, with a second gallery of smaller size above it. The front of the lower gallery is of carved oak, ornamented in the centre with a rude painting, between sham organ pipes, of David playing upon the harp. A real organ has lately been placed in the gallery itself.
The Pulpit and reading desk are at the eastern end of the nave. A curious old black letter copy of the first edition of Fox's Book of Martyrs is chained to a pedestal in the nave. It is beautifully illustrated, for the time, and is bound, literally in boards, which are half an inch thick. In all probability it has occupied its present position since the time of Queen Elizabeth, when parish churches were furnished by royal order with an orthodox book or two chained for safety and to be read on the spot by the parishioners. Entries with reference to this literary “furniture” are frequently met with in parish records. In the churchwardens' account book at Colyton is the following :- “1612. Paid for Mr. (afterwards Bishop) Jewell's works, xxxijs. Also paid for an iron chain for chaining the same, and fastening, is. iij d.”10 The tower, which has a turret at the southwest corner, is square, embattled, and furnished with gargoyles. It is lighted in the bell-storey with four windows of two lights, cusped, and surmounted with a quatrefoil. It contains a clock and five bells. Upon one of the bells is the date 1583,and the great bell 11 bears the inscription so common in this part of the Country: -
“I to the church the living call,
And to the grave I summon all.”
The church is dedicated to St. Stephen. The living is a vicarage, valued in the King’s Books at £14 13s 4d. The vicarial tithes are commuted for £340, and those of the impropriator or his lessee (H. C. Henley, Esq.), at £142. The vicarage house is situated on the south side of the church, and a large schoolroom, erected about twenty years ago, is on the opposite side.
Among the monuments within the church are the following: There are some fine old yews in the churchyard, adding greatly to its ornamentation, as depicted in my little wood engraving. The following is a list of the decipherable inscriptions upon the tombs and headstones : -
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Abraham Adam, of Purtington, M.A., of Wadham College, September 12, 1709
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Abraham Atkins, 1764 ; Mary, wife of the Rev. W. Palmer, late of Purtington, April 6, 1780.
Baker family. Several members, from 1805.
Bradford Richard, 1855 ; wife, and daughter.
Bickell Mary, widow of William, September 3, 1851 W. Henry Phelps, son-in-law, February 21, 1846.
Bulford David, March 20, 1834.
Cook Richard, 1846 ; wife, and daughter.
Cooper Robert Willy, August 2, 1853, and other members.
Dunn John, June 3, 1793; wife, 1775 ; son, daughter, and other members.
Gapper William, 1806; Mary, wife, 1827 ; and several children.
Good Reuben, January 11, 1840; Dinah, daughter, wife of John Fraunceis Gwyn, Esq.of Ford Abbey, June 22, 1831, aged 44.
Green Robert, i840.
Henley Lieut. George, R.N., died at Leigh House, January 19, 1666, aged 27. This officer served in the bombardment of Bomersund, 1854, and received the Baltic medal.
Hardyman John, October 6, 1844; wife, and children.
Holbrook Thomas, September 4, 1842 ; wife, 1854 sons and daughters.
Hodder Anthony, 1864; wife, and children.
Hull William, November 27, 1803; wife, 1794.
Meech family. Several members, from 1820.
Milverton William, February 7, 1786.
Moore Thomas, 1834; wife, and several other members of the family.
Otton --, born at Seaton, died at Amerham, February 7, 1838, aged 45.
Plyer Samuel, May 21, 1796, aged 64.
Prowse Thomas (altar tomb), 1694 ; and other members of the family.
Pysing Rev. Benedict (altar tomb), 1750.
Raisen family, from 1835 to 1866.
Rowe John, September 13, 1788 ; wife, son, and two daughters.
Poyse Rev. W. G., 1832, aged 42.
Royse Rev. Nathaniel (altar tomb), vicar of the parish ; Elizabeth, his wife; and Frances,
daughter, wife of Rev. James Draper, of Crewkerne.
Snell Ellen Elizabeth, wife of William Follett Snell, of Midnell, and daughter of the lateMr. Joseph Taylor, of West Coker, July 17, 1860, aged 26 Sarah, daughter.
Stubbs Anne, July 1, 1872, aged 30.
Trent Robert, 1793, and members of his family.
Tacker family, from 1785.
A small income arising from the rent of a meadow called Kingsfield, abutting on the river in the parish of Thorncombe, is appropriated to the education of poor children of Winsham. The Rev. William Ball, who was vicar in 1662, and, along with two thousand other Church of England clergymen, refused to comply with the Act of Uniformity, which was passed in that year.12 Mr. Ball soon afterwards founded an Independent congregation at Winsham. In conjunction with the ejected vicar of Beaminster, Mr. Crabbe, who afterwards recanted and became vicar of Axminster, Mr. Ball contributed to a volume of sermons, and, after twenty years' quiet labor, died in 1670. After the Toleration Act, the Winsham congregation chose the Rev. S. Bolster as their minister, took a house on a lease dated 1703, and fitted it up for service. Mr. Grinstead succeeded till 1726, when " the pulpit was supplied for ten years by four neighboring ministers-the Revds. Robert Batten of Colyton, James Strong of Ilminster, Robert Knight of Crewkerne, and Aaron Pitts of Chard. Four pastors followed in the next twenty years. While Mr. Henley was minister, 13 a new chapel was built in 1760. In it Messrs. Phelps, Bryant, Hatch, and Davis preached till 1780. The Rev.John Hemsworth collected the records in 1791, and so useful were his labors, and those of the Rev.William Durnford, that a larger chapel was required and erected in 1810, when a house and garden were given by Mr. Hugh Trenchard, of Maudlin. Mr. Durnford's death, in 1829, was much lamented. Mr. Wells left in 1836, when the Rev. David Evans succeeded him till 1859. Mr. Westbrook did much good for two years. During the valued residence of the Rev.W. Gooby, a school room was built by friends of education in 1863.14 The Rev Thomas Prentice succeeded in 1865, and is the minister at the present time (1873).
The name Winsham is no doubt of Anglo-Saxon origin.
Ham is genuine Anglo-Saxon for a dwelling-place, and, in its enlarged
sense, for a collection of dwellings -a village, or a town. It is the
root of the modern words home and hamlet, which help to
explain its original meaning. The prefix Wins -the s betraying the
genitive case-suggests a proper name, and as there is an estate in the
parish called Winards, derived from a proper name, nothing is
more probable than that Winsham is simply a contraction of Wynheardes-ham
-Wynheard being a genuine Anglo-Saxon patronimic.
The hamlet of Purtington lies north from Winsham village, at the distance of about a mile and a half. A brook, which rises in this hamlet out of the range of greensand hills in which Windwhistle, Lady Down, and White Down are included, falls into the Axe at the other hamlet of Winsham, Amerham, in the opposite direction, where, just at its mouth, it drives a flourmill. These hamlet-names, I may remark in passing, like the name of Winsham itself, still further illustrate the strength of local Anglo-Saxon influence and occupation. Purtington is one of a very numerous class of local place-names signifying the settlement of a family or a clan, the Peurtingas, and Amer, in Amerham, is possibly the modern and contracted form of the name of an Anglo-Saxon resident.
Of the extensive range of hills out of which the Cricket Brook rises, I may pause to remark that the turnpike-road, formed partly on the line of the Fosse-way, passes along the crest of the hill from St. Reigne to Whitedown, and leads from Crewkerne to Chard and Axminster. It commands magnificent views, extending entirely across the island, and also over a considerable portion of the County of Somerset northward. In clear weather the English Channel at Seaton on the south, and the Bristol Channel near Burnham on the north, with the well-known Steep and Flat Holms, may be distinctly seen with the naked eye. In the rough winter nights, such is the exposed and elevated situation that the traveller is pretty sure to receive a practical illustration of the propriety of its name, and to wonder not at the local saying that " once upon a time the Devil lost his way upon Windwhistle," although he may derive consolation from the old-time belief that his Satanic Majesty is to 'this day immured in some long-disused and walled-up underground cellar at Windwhistle Inn, into which he had been enticed by a local " White Witch " bargaining for the sale of his Soul. 15 A more likely,-indeed, a well authenticated story is told of the sudden drying up, in a field at the back of the inn, of a well which for ages supplied the inhabitants of the locality with water. On the day of the great earthquake at Lisbon (November 1, 1755,) the spring ceased to flow, and the well has ever since been dry. The water-supply to this day being exclusively obtained from the valley below. An old man named Chick once told me that his grandfather, a boy at the time, was present when the water went away, and that he described it as " sinking through the bottom like cider through a tunnigar."
The Purtington stream flows through a delightful little combe, 16 in which are situated the mansion and charming grounds of Viscount Bridport. These are in the parish of Cricket St. Thomas, which, for a short distance, abuts upon the Axe, near Ford Abbey. Hence its claim for notice--a claim very much enhanced by the respect so generally felt for the noble Viscount and his family. " Cricket " is perhaps derived from the Anglo-Saxon Crecca, a ravine, and received the adjunct of St. Thomas (the saint to whom its church is dedicated) as a distinction from Cricket Malherbie, a parish in the valley on the other side of Windwhistle.
Cricket St. Thomas is a small parish of 875 acres only, and a population in 1871 of 110, showing an increase since 1851 of no less than 41. It is in the hundred of South Petherton and the poor law union of Chard. Anciently it was held of the great barony of Castle Cary by military, service.17 In the nineteenth year of King Edward 1(1290) Richard de Courtevyle held two knights' fees and a half in Cricket of Sir Hugh Lovel, knight, and in the second year of Edward III. (1327- 8). Walter de Rodney was Lord of the Manor. Sir Peter Courney, knight, held it in the sixth year of Henry 1V. (1404), and in the thirteenth year of the same reign it belonged to Margaret, widow of Sir John St. Hoe, who held it, with the advowson, of Lord St. Maur as of his manor of Castle Cary. The subsequent owners were Sir William Botreaux, bart., the Hungerfords, and, in the thirty-first year of Elizabeth (1588), John Preston. More recently the property belonged to the Coxes of Stone Easton, who sold it to the Bridport family, now the sole owners.
The park is delightfully laid out on the hillside facing the south and southeast, and extending into the plain below. It is ornamented with large and luxuriant trees of oak, ash, elm, beech, and fir, tastefully arranged both singly and in groups; -here forming shady avenues over winding pathways, and there disposed into miniature woods in situations which command beautiful views of the surrounding country. These views are chiefly in the direction of the Valley of the Axe, at the distant extremity of which are seen the romantic cliffs of Beer and the beautiful Seaton Bay. The Purtington Brook just referred to meanders through the ornamental grounds and contributes, indeed, very much to their ornamentation, being broken into picturesque little murmuring cascades, and otherwise tastefully directed-imparting to the scene the indescribable charms of running water.
I need hardly say that the family of Hood is of historical renown, and that it was ennobled in recognition of important national services by two of its members. It sprang immediately from Mosterton, where, among other property in Dorsetshire, it had an estate, and the ancient residence was exactly opposite the church in the centre of the village.The second son of Alexander Hood, Esq., of Mosterton, was a clergyman named Samuel, who was first vicar of Butleigh, Somerset, and afterwards of Thorncombe. He married Mary, daughter of Richard Hoskyns, Esq., of Beaminster by whom he had two sons, who entered the navy at an early age, and both became admirals. The elder Samuel was in 1782 created Baron Hood (Ireland), and in 1796 Viscount, in the peerage of Great Britain. The younger son Alexander, was second in command of the fleet on " the glorious first of June," 1794, and for his distinguished services was created Baron Bridport, of Cricket St. Thomas, in Ireland. A splendid victory over the French fleet in 1795 obtained for him, in the following year, an elevation to the peerage of Great Britain, and in 1801 he was further advanced to the dignity of Viscount. The Viscount was twice married, but died without issue, at the age of 8 7, in 1814, 18 when the English honors ceased, while the Irish barony, devolved, according to the limitation of the patent, upon his great-nephew, Samuel, who was born December 7, 1788, and on July 3, 181.0, married Charlotte Mary, only daughter of the Rev. William Earl Nelson, brother of the hero of Trafalgar and the Nile, and Duchess of Bronte. That lady died on January 29, 1873. His lordship had died on January 6, 1868, leaving a numerous family.
He was succeeded by his eldest son, Alexander Nelson Hood, who was born December 23, 1814, entered the Scots Fusilier Guards in 1831, and became Major General in 1862. In 1868 his Lordship was created Viscount Bridport, of Cricket St.Thomas, and of Bronte, Italy, in the peerage of the United Kingdom. His Lordship has been attached to the Court since 1847,and his long enjoyed the confidence of the Queen, as he also enjoyed that of the late Prince Consort, to whom he was clerk-marshal. His Lordship is greatly respected by his tenantry and neighbours, and beloved by his laborers, to whom he is a true friend, as are also the Viscountess and their numerous family. The hospitality of Cricket is proverbial in the neighbourhood, for the establishment is kept up in the good old English style so rapidly becoming a thing of the past. The living of Cricket is a rectory, in the Archdeaconry of Taunton. The patron is Viscount Bridport, and the present rector is the Rev. C. J. Shawe, of Seaborough. In 1292, the living was valued at three marks and ten shillings, and at the same time an estate in the parish belonging to the Abbey of Ford was declared to be worth twenty-one shillings. The living is valued in the King's Books at £9 17s 6d, and the tithes are commuted for £87 10s. The church is a neat little structure, a few yards north of the mansion-house. It is surrounded by luxuriant laurels, which effectually conceal it from the gaze of the passer-by and impart a peculiar degree of solemnity and retirement to the building and its little grave-yard. The church consists of a nave and chancel, with a south transept appropriated to the use of the Bridport family, 19 and a turret at the west end containing three bells. It has been so greatly and so frequently altered as to render unsatisfactory any attempt to fix the date of its erection from its architectural characteristics, the earliest of which, however, appear to belong to the Second-pointed or Decorated style of the fourteenth century. Tradition says that it was originally only a domestic chapel, and that the parish church, at Whitedown, was accidentally burned. There is some show of probability in this account, for an annual fair is still held at Whitedown, on the hill near Windwhistle, about a mile from the present church, and fairs were originally held only in churchyards.
Besides the monuments already described, there is a very interesting and beautifully executed one of white marble, against the north wall of the chancel, to the memory of the Rev. William Earl Nelson, Duke of Bronte and father of the late Lady Bridport, and of two children of the late Lord Bridport. It consists of a full length reclining figure of the Earl, in canonicals, holding in one band an open book and contemplating an angel ascending with two children in his arms. The countenance is remarkably fine. An inscription sets forth that the Earl was born on April 20th, 1757, and died February 28th, 1835, and that his remains are deposited in St. Paul's Cathedral by the side of those of his brother, the celebrated Admiral. On the same monument is also recorded the decease of Horatio Nelson, son of Samuel Lord Bridport; of Charlotte Mary, his wife; and of his brother, Horatio Nelson, who was born April 27, 1826, and died January 2, 1832. The monument was erected by the late Lady Bridport.
The following is the most complete list of the incumbents of Cricket which I am able to obtain from the archives of Wells Cathedral:-
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1315. April 4. Johes. de Golynghop, on the resignation of Thome. de Cruket, of whose institution there is no record.
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1325. April 4. Robtus. de Upton, on the resignation of Waltri de Hull, of whose institution there is no record. On the presentation of Walti Rodeneye.
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1327. February 8. Exchange-Johnes. Porch, Vicar of Thorncombe, Dios. Exon,
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and Robts.de Upp4on, Rector of Criket Thomas.
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1327. March 11. Johem. North. Presentation of Walt. de Rodeneye.
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1342. October 12. Ricum Moigne. Presentation of Elizabeth de Clyvedon.
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1348. February 2. Thoma Syrman. Presentation of Elizabeth de Clyvedon.
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1352. February 6. Waltum de Uprenhose. Presentation of Elizabeth de Clyvedon.
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1360. October 14. Willi. Whyte.
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1414. March II. WiRm. Hurdeley, by the death of Johes. Hunte, of whose institution there is no record. Presentation of Willm. Dmi. de Botreaux.
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1417. December 4. Ecclie de Cryket, pmutacio cum Vica de Chareltan Adm. Willm. Hurdelegh, Rectorae de Cryket Thoms., and Thom. Newton, Vicar of Charleton Adm.
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October 9. Ecclie de Cryket Thoms. pmutacio cum Vicaria de Murlyncb. Thoma Newton, Recorem de Cryket Thoms., and Johnem. Tanner, Vicaria de Murl nche.
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1426. September 16. Eccia. de Cryket Thoms. pmutacio Vicaria de Housborne.
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Johannem Tavener, Recorem de Creket Thomas, and JohnenL Moydekyn, Vicarium de
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Housbome, Prioris Wynton dioc.
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December 14. Ecclesie. de North Peret cu. permutacio Ecclesia de Cryket Thoms. Willm. Wyllyng de North Peret, and Johannem Maydekyn de Criket Thomas.
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February 3. Johanueiia Brokehampton. Presentation of Willm. de Botreaux.
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1458. May 29. Johnem. Hucker. Presentation of Margaretam Dnam. Hungerford and de Botreaux.
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1470. August 21. Johnem. Dene. Presentation of Stephm. Preston.
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1482. March 6. Johanne Imberley. Presentation of Matilda Bidik vidua relicta Stephani Preston defuncti.
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1507. June. Thoma. Pleynemor. Presentation of Johem. Preston.
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1522. October 6. Willmu Haybald, by the death of Thomas Lucock, of whose institution there is no record. Presentation of Johem. Preston.
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September 11. Christoferum Collan;te. Presentation of Johnem. Preston.
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1565. July 13. Amitium Metforde, on the deprivation of Willmi. Squier, of whose institution there is no record. Presentation of Johanne Preston.
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1598. June 7. N;cholaum Hardie. Presentation of Christoferum Preston
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1614. No record.
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1644. April 12. Timotheus Hayte. Presentation of Johis. Preston.
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1644. December 6. Johannes Langdale. Presentation of Johannes Preston.
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1662. December 30. Edmundus Saunders. Presentation of Johaniais Preston.
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1689. October 25. Thomas Smith. Presentation of Caroli York, guardian of Preston Hippesley, a minor.
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1691. May 28. Henricus Dodd. Presentation of Preston Hippesley.
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1731. June 25. Alexander Mallett. Presentation of Johannis Hippesley Cox.
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1732. August 17. Samuel Yard. Presentation of Johannis Hippesley Cox.
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1734. April 20. Richard Hippesley. Presentation of John Hippesley Cox.
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1742. August 19. William Roper. Presentation of John Hippesley Cox.
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1757. October 3. Thomas Seecombe. Presentation of John Wippisley Coxe.
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1759. December 24. John Hippisley. Presentation of John Hippisley Coxe.
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1765. July 9. John Golden. Presentation of John Hippisley Coxe.
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September 25. John Templeman. Presentation of the Right Hon. Alexander Lord Bridport.
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October 10. Robert Pearse Clarke. Presentation of the Right Ron. Samuel Baron Bridport.
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1846. June 2. Charles James Shaw.Presentation of the Right Hon. Samuel Baron Bridport.
But we have now fished our way, Piscator, to Winsham Bridge, 20 I and must there reel up awhile. A walk through the principal street to the church, across the churchyard, and over three or four fields, commanding lovely valley-views, will bring us to Knap Inn, about which a few words have been already said, and yet a few remain for saying.
How lovely is the walk upon the velvet greensward The perfume of a thousand flowers-more grateful than the spices of Arabia, is borne upon "the breath of the sweet south" which the hummings of a thousand insect things combine to make melodious. Every lovely hue, and every graceful form, compose the picture. The starry daisy, the fast-fading but still moon-like primrose, the clustering bluebell, the golden buttercup, the pendulous cowslip-these bedeck the meads in myriads. And the hedgerows are all redolent of May-bloom, scattered wantonly by bounteous Nature as she hastens on to beautify the Spring !
The river from Winsham to Broadbridge - about a mile below the Knap and close to Chard Road Station, near which the second five-miles’ section of our Valley-journey ends 21 Is the perfection of a trout-stream and abounds in fish. It flows, however, through the private preserves of Leigh and Ford Abbey, and therefore is not open ground, although the present proprietors are not niggardly in the matter of a carte blanche. Below Broadbridge there are also restrictions, the river thence to Axminster-at least five miles, not reckoning the windings being at present in the hands of an "Association". But the open sesame is not a ruinous subscription. From Axminster throughout, the remaining course of the stream, there is yet another "Association" - of more pretentious character, seeing that the lower section is frequented by the migratory Salmondoe. Nearly all the Coly, too, is now " Associationed" and a considerable portion of the Yarty and the Coly are claimed as private rights. Thus the character of the Axe and its tributaries in this respect has undergone a thorough change since the publication of the last edition of this book. The streams were then open to all, almost from rise to mouth-a tacit permission to angle unrestrictedly being, as a rule, accorded. Their banks are now principally trodden by visitors whom the' railway brings in shoals, and the old local angling fraternity has become almost a thing of the past. Increase of population and of the facilities for travelling, with newer notions as to the extension of the game-law spirit to the gentle craft; have led to the change referred to. But all the while this fact remains, that in spite of keepers, policemen, and the strong arm against poaching, both trout and. salmon are every year becoming scarcer. I believe this to be attributable, in a great degree, to the persistent capturing of small unsizeable fish by the well-dressed poachers who pass under a very different name.22 And here, Piscator, is the Knap - our welcome halting-place. Sitting as we do, friend, in its little parlour - neat and clean as any “palace” - what a treat it is to contemplate the glimpse of valley scenery, and to muse and moralize upon the Past! Prominent below is the venerable Abbey, peeping out among the trees in all its picturesqueness and solemnity, with the Deer Park stretching up the slope behind, and the river rippling at its very walls. The woods and groves around are suggestive links between the Present and the Past. The name of Hartsbath, under which the spot was known, tells, as plainly as a printed record, how in ancient times the " antlered herd " roamed unmolested in the dense old woods where also roamed the fox, the badger, and the wolf; while what are now the well-trimmed meads " were often dotted with the " daynteous denizens," basking after their refreshing bath. And so the reverie may run to later times, when Cultivation made its way and men selected for their dwelling-places a spot so fertile and so charming that the primal woods “ soon fell beneath their sturdy stroke," and the trout was rudely snared. And on, again, until the spot was hallowed, and the song of praise was raised for centuries, and then was hushed for ever, as the new order of things succeeded;-all the while, age after age, the river running on the same, rejoicing and anon lamenting-the eternal witness of Time's relentless changes, its unceasing burden being:-
Men may come, and men may go,
But I flow on for ever."
And verily here comes our feast, - and is it not a feast indeed? A brace of fried trout-pounders - lead the way. A capon, boiled, with tongue, for second course. Choice vegetables, you may be sworn-our host being great at gardening. Moreover, there is pastry, we are confidentially informed, to follow, and preparations are advancing for the concoction of a favourite beverage, " christened," out of compliment to, its inventor, " Akerman” 23. The stock of cigars, too, it is satisfactory to be assured, is beyond even our united capability of exhausting.
Let me first, however, while these tempting viands are in the course of being displayed for our especial demolition, take a momentary survey of our morning's sport:- Since leaving Bere Chapel, and during our chat about Winsham and Cricket -which, by the by, was often very agreeably interrupted by the landing of sundry glorious fish-we have jointly managed to secure a dozen unexceptionables, besides the six already mentioned. Four of them are hard upon three pounds, and the rest will average six ounces apiece, the morning has been excellent. The clouds came on, as I anticipated. A shower fell, which made " the face of nature gay " and brought the trout " upon the feed " voraciously. We were both in deadly mood-in striking order. Behold, then, the successful issue. Come, join us, landlord; come,-begin at once,-no more apologies, an' we beseech thee. We have an hour only to indulge in these thy fascinations, and must employ it, as well as the time, which it will take us to reach Tytherleigh Bridge, -another hour nearly, if we walked straight on, -in our historical discoursings about this interesting neighbourhood.