SHEPTON MONTAGUE
The principal part of the ancient parish of Shepton Montague lies at the northern edge of Norton Ferris hundred adjoining Bruton parish. (Footnote 50) It is shaped like an irregular crescent c. 5.5 km. from west to east and no more than c. 1.5 km. deep, and comprises the hamlets of Higher and Lower Shepton in the west, Knowle in the centre, and Stoney Stoke, formerly Stoke Holloway, in the east. Two detached areas of the parish further east were formerly within the bounds of Selwood forest. (Footnote 51) Interlocking boundaries in the south with Charlton Musgrove and Wincanton, and in the north with Bruton (Footnote 52) suggest the existence of a large royal manor based on Bruton before the Conquest. (Footnote 53) Some detached fields in the north were surrounded by Bruton parish, and their precise boundaries were agreed only in 1811. (Footnote 54) They were not considered part of Shepton in 1839. (Footnote 55) The area of the parish was given in 1839 as 2,428 a. (Footnote 56) The two detached areas were transferred, with Folly Cottages (2 houses, 10 persons), to Charlton Musgrove in 1884–5, leaving a total of 2,168 a. in 1891. (Footnote 57) A further transfer to Charlton Musgrove in 1982 left a total of 867 ha. (2,142 a.) in 1991. (Footnote 58)
Much of the northern and part of the southern boundaries of the main part of the parish follow streams which flow into the river Brue. From the main stream and its feeders in the centre of the parish below the 70-m. contour the land rises to just over 400 m. on the boundary with Bratton to the south-west and to more than 450 m. in the west above Hadspen, all on limestone and clay with Fuller's Earth. In the centre of the main part of the parish is a small ridge of Forest Marble clay just over 120 m. above O.D. The clay ridge continues north-east to Stoney Stoke, where at a height of 114 m. it merges into Cornbrash limestone. The detached areas further east lie first on undulating ground over Oxford Clay and then on clay and greensand rising sharply to 793 m. on the Selwood ridge. (Footnote 59)
The principal route through the parish seems to have been that from Bruton through Stoney Stoke to Wincanton and Gillingham (Dors.). That part within the parish was turnpiked by the Bruton trust in 1831 when Stoney Stoke was by-passed. (Footnote 60) An ancient east-west route, presumably linking Stoney Stoke with Knowle and Lower and Higher Shepton, was diverted south in the earlier 18th century when Redlynch park was being planted. (Footnote 61) Its route west from Higher Shepton has been traced to Yarlington. (Footnote 62) A second westward route, from Redlynch, crossed into the parish at Lower Shepton and, bypassing Higher Shepton, followed the parish boundary towards Hadspen in Pitcombe. (Footnote 63) There is some doubt when it was taken over by the Bruton trust, but certainly before 1831 when the improved route from Castle Cary to Bruton avoiding Pitcombe was adopted, which included a stretch of road in the extreme north of Shepton parish built after 1770. (Footnote 64) The Bruton trust in 1818 also adopted a stretch of road in the west part of the parish, providing a route to Wincanton from Castle Cary. The same trust c. 1830 took over a route south-west from Higher Shepton and extended it to Bratton. (Footnote 65)
In 1861 the Dorset Central Railway built a standard-gauge track from Cole in Pitcombe to Wincanton and Templecombe, largely in a cutting across the parish east of Lower Shepton. The track, taken over by the Somerset and Dorset Railway in 1862, was doubled in 1887. The line was closed in 1966. (Footnote 66)
The eastern boundary of the most easterly of the detached parts of the parish, on the flat top of the Selwood ridge, ran through a univallate Iron Age hillfort. It was known in the 13th century as Penne berwe, Penburi, (Footnote 67) or Pennebury. In the 19th century it was locally called Kennewilkins or Kenwalk's castle. (Footnote 68) The site was ploughed in 1780. (Footnote 69)
Shepton Montague in 1840
Shepton, Knowle, and Stoke had been established by the mid 11th century (Footnote 70) and by the late 15th century Shepton had become two distinct elements, known then and in the 16th century as West and East Shepton, (Footnote 71) and later as Higher, Upper, or Over and Lower Shepton. (Footnote 72) An alternative name for Higher Shepton in the late 14th century seems to have been West Street. (Footnote 73) Higher Shepton may have included the site of the manor house, (Footnote 74) Lower Shepton the church. A tenement known as Southtown was mentioned in 1589. (Footnote 75) In the 1780s Lower Shepton comprised 10 houses, Upper Shepton 22 houses. At the same date there were 10 houses at Knowle and 14 at Stoney Stoke. (Footnote 76) Stoke Farmhouse, Stoney Stoke, dates from the 17th century and the former smithy from the later 18th century. Higher Shepton includes several farmhouses and cottages rebuilt by the Phelips family between 1897 and 1907.
The four arable fields of Shepton, named east, west, north, and south because of their positions around Higher and Lower Shepton, survived into the 17th century. (Footnote 77) A single open arable field is mentioned at Stoney Stoke in the mid 16th century, and one at Knowle in 1638. (Footnote 78) There was common meadow in the late 16th century on Shepton moor, at the southern edge of the parish, south-east of Lower Shepton, (Footnote 79) and also on Knowle moor, which was shared with Charlton Musgrove. The rights on Knowle moor were by 1839 represented by two detached fields in Charlton parish. (Footnote 80)
There was a park at Knowle in 1397, (Footnote 81) perhaps deriving from grants of free warren made in 1314 and 1317. (Footnote 82) In 1569 the park was a mile in compass. (Footnote 83) Redlynch park, north of Stoney Stoke, was named in 1617. (Footnote 84) New park was formed out of land called Barnardscombe after the disafforestation of Selwood forest in 1627– 9. (Footnote 85)
The parish was well wooded in the later 11th century (Footnote 86) but woodland called Shortwood at its western end, still in existence in the later Middle Ages, (Footnote 87) had long ago disappeared by 1840. (Footnote 88) Woodland at the eastern end of the parish comprised by 1681 a wood known as Stoke wood, the southern part of Moorwood in Bruton, and a small coppice, both later incorporated into Redlynch park. (Footnote 89)
There was an inn at Stoney Stoke, later named the Swan, by 1718, (Footnote 90) one of two in the hamlet licensed between 1742 and 1765. Only the Swan remained in business there in 1788. A house in Shepton village was licensed between 1742 and 1755. (Footnote 91) There was an inn at Higher Shepton in 1866, probably the house called the Montague inn by 1875. (Footnote 92) It was still in business in 1994.
A friendly society was founded in 1853 and was still in existence in 1886. (Footnote 93)
In 1801 the population was 365. Between 1821 and 1831 it rose from 367 to 452 and remained roughly at that level until after 1871. Then followed a rapid decline, to 249 by 1901. (Footnote 94) There were further falls in the decade before 1921 and since 1931; in 1981 the total was 164 and in 1991 184. (Footnote 95)
About 1648 Alexander Randal, a minister, was shot dead by soldiers at Shepton Montague. (Footnote 96)
MANORS
In 1066 Shepton was held by Toli and Stoney Stoke by Robert son of Wimarc. In 1086 they were both owned by Robert, count of Mortain, and were then considered a single manor, held of him by Drew. (Footnote 97) Richard de Montagu, son of another Drew and probably a grandson of the Domesday tenant, died in or before 1166 and his son, known as Drew the younger, succeeded to the fee. His tenant was William de Montagu, probably his brother, who held SHEPTON for a little Mortain fee in 1212. (Footnote 98) William died in 1217, having survived his son Drew, and he was followed by his grandson William de Montagu, who inherited as a minor. (Footnote 99) William de Montagu died in 1270 and his son Simon attained his majority in 1280. (Footnote 1) Simon held a fee until his death in 1317. (Footnote 2) The fee descended like Chedzoy manor in the Montagu family until the death in 1415 of Elizabeth, widow of William de Montagu, earl of Salisbury (d. 1397). (Footnote 3) It then passed to her great-nephew Thomas Montagu, earl of Salisbury (d. 1428), and from him to his daughter Alice (d. 1462), wife of Richard Neville, earl of Salisbury (d. 1460). (Footnote 4) By 1431 the estate was assessed at ½ fee, possibly after the separation of Knowle. (Footnote 5)
Richard Neville, earl of Warwick (d. 1471), inherited the fee from his mother and it descended to his daughter Isabel (d. 1476), wife of George Plantagenet, duke of Clarence (d. 1478). Their son and heir Edward Plantagenet, earl of Warwick, was attainted and executed in 1499, and the manor reverted to the Crown. (Footnote 6) Edward's sister Margaret, widow of Sir William Pole, successfully petitioned for the restoration of her estates in 1513–14 and became countess of Salis bury. She retained Shepton manor until her attainder in 1539, when it again reverted to the Crown. (Footnote 7)
In 1553 William Herbert, earl of Pembroke, bought the manor from the Crown and sold it in the same year to (Sir) James FitzJames. (Footnote 8) He died in 1579 leaving as his heir his niece Thomasine, wife of Thomas Turbervile. (Footnote 9) Three years later Richard FitzJames, brother of Sir James, sold the manor to Henry Bossevile. (Footnote 10) In 1589 Bossevile sold it to Sir Henry Berkeley. (Footnote 11) Sir Henry died in 1601 and was followed in succession by his son Sir Maurice (d. 1617) and by Maurice's son (Sir) Charles. (Footnote 12) Sir Charles in 1651 conveyed the manor to Hugh Wyndham, to whom a mortgage on the property had recently been assigned, (Footnote 13) and ownership descended like that of Stoke Trister manor to the Napier and Phelips families. (Footnote 14)
A site at the west end of Higher Shepton may be that of the manor house, abandoned by 1344. (Footnote 15)
KNOWLE was owned in the later 12th century by Walter of Ashley (d. 1195) in right of his wife Felice. (Footnote 16) It evidently descended like Stoke Trister manor to Henry Lorty (d. 1321) who in 1284–5 held it in chief as part of his barony. (Footnote 17) His widow Sibyl was still alive in 1324, (Footnote 18) but no further trace of the family interest has been found.
Simon de Montagu held the estate of Henry Lorty in the later 13th century of Cucklington or Stoke Trister barony (Footnote 19) and his grandson William de Montagu, earl of Salisbury (d. 1344), held it in chief as of Stoke Trister manor. (Footnote 20) It was assigned to his widow for dower. (Footnote 21) In 1397, on the death of William's son, also William, earl of Salisbury, the manor passed to John de Montagu, the latter's nephew. (Footnote 22) It was forfeit to the Crown on John's attainder in 1400, (Footnote 23) but in 1409 passed to his heir Thomas Montagu, earl of Salisbury (d. 1428). (Footnote 24) Thomas's daughter Alice and her husband Richard Neville, earl of Salisbury (d. 1460), settled the manor in 1458 on their younger son John (cr. Marquess Montagu 1470, d. 1471) and his wife Isabel. (Footnote 25) Isabel died in 1476 and her heir was her son George, duke of Bedford (d. 1483), then a minor. (Footnote 26) Sir William Norris, second husband of Isabel, was given custody during the minority. (Footnote 27) In 1487 the heirs of Isabel were declared to be her four daughters, (Footnote 28) but no further trace of the lordship has been found.
Robert of Draycott was the terre tenant of Knowle in 1284–5. (Footnote 29) He is said to have leased it to Humphrey de Waldene for life and to have been succeeded by his son John, (Footnote 30) but John Champflower was holding Knowle and the hamlet of Stoke in 1316. (Footnote 31) John of Draycott was alive in 1351 and was followed by his son Simon, and Simon by his daughter Eleanor, wife of James FitzJames (d. c. 1391). (Footnote 32) Knowle then descended like Redlynch manor in Bruton until the death of Sir James FitzJames in 1579 (Footnote 33) when his heir to Knowle, Shepton Montague manor and rectory, and half Stoney Stoke manor was his niece Thomasine, wife of Thomas Turbervile. (Footnote 34) She was evidently dead by 1590 when her uncle, Richard FitzJames (d. 1595), was in possession. (Footnote 35) From Richard, Knowle manor passed to his son John, who in 1618 settled it on his own son, also John. (Footnote 36) In 1650 the estate belonged to George Grubham Howe (cr. Bt. 1660, d. 1676). Sir James Howe, son and heir of the last, died in 1736 and was succeeded by his nephew Henry Lee-Warner (d. 1760). (Footnote 37) Henry's son, also Henry, died unmarried in 1804 and his heir was his cousin Daniel Henry Woodward (d. 1835), who assumed the name Lee-Warner in 1805. His son of the same name, a clergyman, was in possession in 1807 but by 1812 the manor had passed to Henry Stephen Fox-Strangways, earl of Ilchester (d. 1858). (Footnote 38) The land, divided between Knowle Rock and Knowle Park farms and absorbed into the Redlynch estate, descended to successive earls until 1912 when it was sold. (Footnote 39)
Robert son of Wimarc held Stoke in 1066 but by 1086 it seems to have been absorbed into Shepton manor. (Footnote 40) It may be identified with the North Stoke mentioned in the later 13th century (Footnote 41) and with an estate called Stoke Chavent, held by John Chauvente in 1335–8 as a fee of Shepton Montague manor. (Footnote 42)
Hugh Lovel was holding North Stoke in 1271–80 (Footnote 43) and it passed to his widow on his death in 1291. (Footnote 44) His son Sir Richard (cr. Baron Lovel 1348) died in 1351 and was succeeded by Richard's daughter Muriel, wife of Nicholas Seymour, Baron Seymour. (Footnote 45) Nicholas died in 1361 leaving his son a minor, and the estate, known as STOKE HOLLOWAY, was granted to Isabel, the king's daughter, from that date until 1376. (Footnote 46) Nicholas, son of Nicholas Seymour, died under age later in 1361 when his heir was his brother (Sir) Richard. (Footnote 47) (Sir) Richard Seymour, who came of age in 1376, and was summoned to Parliament from 1380, (Footnote 48) held STOKE LANE or STOKE HOLLOWAY manor at his death in 1401 (Footnote 49) and his widow held it in dower until her death in 1410, when her heir was her infant grand-daughter Alice. (Footnote 50) The manor descended like Wincanton manor from Alice's husband William, Lord Zouche (d. 1462), to John, Lord Zouche. John was attainted in 1485 and the manor was granted in the following year to Sir William Willoughby (d. 1513). (Footnote 51) Richard, Lord Zouche (d. 1552), had evidently recovered the estate by 1551 (Footnote 52) and seems to have settled it like Wincanton on his younger sons Richard and Charles. The younger Richard held half the manor in 1555, (Footnote 53) and in 1558 conveyed it to Sir James FitzJames (d. 1579). (Footnote 54) In 1570 Charles conveyed his half to William Mogg alias Kyne. (Footnote 55)
That half conveyed to William Mogg, known as STOKE HOLLOWAY or STONEY STOKE, descended on his death in 1597 to his heir John. (Footnote 56) John, or another of the same name, conveyed it to John Keene in 1682, and John Keene to Charles Brawne in 1701. (Footnote 57) Charles Brawne by will dated 1702 gave the half share to his son, also Charles, who in 1723 leased it to his brother Stephen. From Stephen's wife Mary, daughter of Robert Baker, ownership passed to various members of the Baker family from whom the earl of Ilchester bought it in 1768 to add to the other half he had acquired before 1756. (Footnote 58)
Sir James FitzJames was succeeded in the other half in 1579 by his niece Thomasine, wife of Thomas Turbervile. (Footnote 59) Richard FitzJames, her uncle, was in possession by 1590 and his son John sold it in 1617 to Sir Robert Gorges. (Footnote 60) The half descended with Redlynch, (Footnote 61) although no reference has been found to lordship after 1812. (Footnote 62)
Probably between 1166 and 1169 Alice de Piro gave the church to the canons of Bruton and Richard de Montagu added 40 a. of land. (Footnote 63) The second grant was confirmed between c. 1174 and 1184 (Footnote 64) but may not have been permanent since c. 1216 William de Montagu confirmed to the canons 'so much as belongs to the patron', and in 1235 Master Adam de St. Edmund, archdeacon of Oxford, was evidently compensated for loss of the rectorial estate. (Footnote 65) The rectory, which was almost entirely tithes and which had been farmed by the FitzJames family before the dissolution of Bruton abbey, passed to the Crown and continued to be let. (Footnote 66) In 1553 it was sold to William Herbert, earl of Pembroke, and was by him assigned in the same year to (Sir) James FitzJames. (Footnote 67) Sir James died in 1579 and in 1582 his brother Richard sold the rectory 'for a great sum' to Silvestra Cottington, later the wife of
Robert Daccombe. (Footnote 68) Daccombe and his wife sold it to William Horton in 1592. (Footnote 69)
In 1601 Horton sold the rectory to John Farewell (d. 1616) of Holbrook in Charlton Musgrove, (Footnote 70) and it descended like Holbrook to Christopher Farewell. (Footnote 71) In 1714 Sir Stephen Fox bought the rectory from Farewell in order both to increase the salary of the minister and also to support a charity school at Redlynch. (Footnote 72) Ownership descended to successive owners of the Redlynch estate. (Footnote 73) In 1839 Henry Stephen FoxStrangways, earl of Ilchester (d. 1858), received most of the tithes in the parish. (Footnote 74)
Land called Barnardscombe in Selwood forest, said to measure 300 a., (Footnote 75) was owned by Richard FitzJames in 1582 and by 1648, after disafforestation and the construction of a house there, had come to be known as New Park. (Footnote 76) Ownership of the park descended like Bruton manor through the Berkeley family to the Hoares, and by 1839 it was held with Lower Stavordale farm in Wincanton. (Footnote 77) New Park farm in the later 18th century measured 282 a. and later 243 a. (Footnote 78) In 1892, when it passed from the Hoares to the Revd. L. R. M. Leir, it measured 194 a. and included some woodland. It was sold by R. M. Leir in 1920. (Footnote 79)
A 'newly erected' house at Barnardscombe was mentioned in 1623, (Footnote 80) and was said to be 'very fair'. (Footnote 81) In 1664–5 the house was taxed for 16 hearths and was later described as of brick with stables, barns, and several large fishponds. (Footnote 82) Some building was carried out there in the 1770s and 1780s, in part using materials from Bruton Abbey. (Footnote 83) In 1793 the contents of the house were sold on the death of Hugh Clifford, Baron Clifford, the lessee. (Footnote 84) The house was demolished after 1840 (Footnote 85) and by 1863 the stables were converted to cottages. (Footnote 86) The park was uninhabited in 1881. (Footnote 87)
In 1505 the preceptory of Temple Combe had two small holdings in Stoney Stoke. (Footnote 88) In 1545 they were granted by the Crown in fee to John Broxolme and John Bellowe. (Footnote 89)
ECONOMIC HISTORY
The three Domesday estates of Shepton, Stoney Stoke, and Knowle, all held by Drew of Montacute, comprised together land for 12 ploughs. There were 11 teams, of which 5 were on the demesne of nearly 5 hides. There were in total 50 a. of meadow, mostly at Shepton, 19 villani, 13 bordars, 1 cottar, and 14 servi. Stock comprised 2 riding horses, 4 cows, 7 beasts, 60 swine, and 260 sheep. There was woodland on each of the estates, measuring 10 furlongs by 5 furlongs, 4 furlongs by 3, and 2 a. (Footnote 90) Stoke had been added to Shepton before 1086 but both it and Knowle remained separate manors. (Footnote 91)
In 1254 Knowle manor was valued at £13 12s. 8d. of which nearly half came from rents and a quarter from the value of works. Demesne arable was assessed at 1 carucate and there was some underwood. (Footnote 92) In 1270 Shepton manor was said to be worth only £5. (Footnote 93) By 1320 Knowle was estimated at 154 a. of which half that year was fallow and the rest produced wheat, oats, and beans; income from rents and woodland was substantial. (Footnote 94) During the winter of 1320–1 much of the wheat crop was delivered to the sheriff at Bridgwater, 47 a. were sown with oats, more than half bought in, and beans were bought and sown on 5 a. Maslin and small quantities of oats were given to a drover and a harrower. (Footnote 95) By 1344 Knowle manor was extended at £9 2s.; (Footnote 96) receipts were £7 15s. 4d. in 1360–1, £4 6s. in 1397–8, and £5 17s. in 1398–1400. (Footnote 97)
In the 1330s there appears to have been a sheep flock on Shepton manor and in 1339 searchers of carcasses found 18 dead of murrain. (Footnote 98) In 1355 there were 21 such deaths. (Footnote 99) In 1354–5 the decay of 14 or 15 tenements and the sale of plots for short-term sowing or winter pasture suggests emergency measures to raise cash in face of lack of labour or vacant holdings. (Footnote 1)
A freeholding called Botevylestenement in Shepton manor, named after William de Bettevill, clerk, tenant in 1344, (Footnote 2) in 1401 comprised 80 a. of arable, 5 a. of meadow, and 16½ a. of pasture with some woodland. (Footnote 3) A similar freehold was occupied by John de Chauvente by 1335; (Footnote 4) by 1400 it was held with Stoke Holloway manor and comprised 3 messuages with a virgate of land, 360 a. of arable and 8 a. of meadow, all let to a single tenant on a 20-year lease. (Footnote 5) From 1453 a man leased 30 a. of arable at Stoke for the lives of himself and his wife. (Footnote 6) In 1397, also at Stoke, a man and his seven children were manumitted. (Footnote 7)
By 1484–5 Shepton and Yarlington manors were being administered as one. Rents from Shepton amounted to £16 17s. and new rents and leaseholds produced a further £7 10s. (Footnote 8) In 1509–10 net income and court perquisites were reduced, (Footnote 9) but in 1529–30 the total income had risen to just over £30 although arrears on the two estates were increasing. (Footnote 10)
By the later Middle Ages the considerable amount of woodland recorded in the later 11th century (Footnote 11) was concentrated in the eastern part of the parish, where some was considered to be part of Selwood forest. (Footnote 12) By 1472 part of that woodland, called Montagu's leaze, was let for pasture while birch and alders in neighbouring Barnardscombe were sold. (Footnote 13)
In 1589 much of Shepton manor, comprising the western third of the parish, was occupied by 15 copyhold arable farms ranging in size between 22 a. and 67 a. scattered across four open fields. (Footnote 14) There were also 19 leaseholds. Some represented half the former demesne estate, called Cattle Land and Pen Hill, amounting to 200 a. and let to 4 tenants. The rest, also mostly former demesne, included wood pasture. (Footnote 15) That half of Stoney Stoke manor conveyed to Sir Robert Gorges, by contrast, in 1617 was largely under grass; one farm was reckoned at 52 a., the four next in size at no more than 19 a. each. (Footnote 16) By 1674 the estate there comprised 6 tenements paying cash rents of £3 2s. 8d., 7 harvest days worth 6d. or 1s., and 6 eggs payable on St. Thomas's day. One further tenant held a substantial farm at rack rent on an annual lease. (Footnote 17)
In 1638 two closes were said to have been 'lately' inclosed out of Knowle common field. (Footnote 18) In the 1660s Hugh Wyndham continued the process of inclosure on Shepton manor by arranging exchanges and by dividing and letting his share of the former Cattle Land and Pen Hill. Thus in 1668 he conveyed to Thomas Farewell 40 a. of arable 'now butted and bounded out' in exchange for land in the common arable fields. The process was probably completed c. 1674, but open field names were still in use in the 1690s. (Footnote 19)
In 1641 14 men in Shepton parish had goods or land worth £20, among them members of the Greenway and Mogg families. (Footnote 20) A Mogg had held land in the parish by 1543 and a Greenway at least since 1589, (Footnote 21) and probably before 1540. (Footnote 22) In 1661 John Mogg, then owner of half Stoney Stoke manor, headed the parish list of gifts to the king, and was followed by William Greenway. (Footnote 23) By 1701 William Mogg held 3 farms with a total of 144 a., part of Shepton manor which then measured 1,016 a. with a rental of £19 17s. from 11 farms. The land was still principally arable. (Footnote 24) The same estate in the 1780s was still occupied by 11 farmers and smallholders among a total of 37 tenants including cottagers. Mrs. Barbara Wilmington held 111 a., the earl of Ilchester 97 a., and Mrs. Barbara Kingston 83 a., the earl and Mrs. Kingston holding partly by lease, partly freehold. (Footnote 25) Rack renting had been introduced by 1784–5, and improvements included a new orchard of 98 trees in 1771, repairs to farmhouses in 1784–5, and planting hedges in 1795. (Footnote 26)
In the eastern part of the parish, land use was affected by the expansion of the Fox-Strangways estate and specifically by the creation of Redlynch park. By 1681 the former deer park comprised 30 a. of pasture north of Stoney Stoke. (Footnote 27) It still remained largely pasture in 1762, but by that date land to the west had become ornamental woodland and a new deer park whose southern bounds, erected in 1748–50, took in land formerly cultivated by farmers from Stoney Stoke and Knowle. (Footnote 28) Much of the woodland had been planted c. 1740, (Footnote 29) and by the later 18th century that part of the park within Shepton parish was heavily wooded. (Footnote 30)
By 1779 the total rental of the Fox-Strangways estate in the parish, which included the tithes, was over £336, and a few years later the estate included three dairy farms in Stoke measuring 165 a., 82 a., and 57 a. In 1797 all three tenants were prepared to accept substantially increased rents in return for repairs. The tenants of the two largest, John and Thomas Moger, with Charles Moger of a neighbouring farm in Brewham, also requested a limekiln. (Footnote 31)
After the disafforestation of Selwood forest in 1627–9 attempts were made to keep it uninclosed, (Footnote 32) but it became a private estate (Footnote 33) and in the early 18th century supported some 20 a. of oak, ash, elm, and a few sycamores. Sir Richard Hoare's improvements at New Park after 1779 included grubbing up furze and planting hazel nuts, oats, and grass. Welsh steers were kept there in 1780. (Footnote 34) By 1803 woodland there covered 155 a., but much of it had been felled by 1840. (Footnote 35) In the western end of the parish c. 1782 there were over 4,300 trees in the hedges on the Phelips estate but no woodland. (Footnote 36)
In the 1780s farming was thought to be better practised on the rich arable land in the parish than in some other places, for example by the hoeing of turnips. (Footnote 37) The grassland at Knowle was found to be full of weeds and needed sunk fences before it could become part of Redlynch park. (Footnote 38) In 1801 arable crops, grown on fewer than 400 a., were principally grain and all crops were said to be 'very abundant'. (Footnote 39) In the 1830s turnips were said to do well in the west of the parish and large flocks of sheep were kept. (Footnote 40) By 1839 there was twice as much grassland as arable, and over 140 a. of woodland, more than half belonging to the earl of Ilchester. (Footnote 41) By 1857 the earl's woodland holding had increased to 108 a. (Footnote 42) By 1905 there was only 413 a. of arable as compared with 1,498 a. of grass, and woodland amounted to 154 a. (Footnote 43) By 1912 a large wood had been felled on the Redlynch estate and only 38 a. remained in the parish. (Footnote 44) In 1988 the proportion of arable to grassland was roughly the same as in 1905. (Footnote 45)
In 1839 the earl of Ilchester (1,066 a.) and William Phelips (763 a.) were the principal landowners, followed by Sir Henry Hugh Hoare owning 235 a. at New Park in the east and Henry Hobhouse with 63 a. in the extreme west forming part of the Hadspen estate. (Footnote 46) The Hobhouse holding in the parish had begun with a reversionary purchase in 1824 and continued throughout the century. (Footnote 47) The tenant farms remained largely stable in size, four of them measuring 200 a. or more until after 1871 and four more over 100 a. Welham farm had increased to 430 a. by 1881 (Footnote 48) and by 1885, as a result of exchanges with the Phelips estate, Welham had become a substantial consolidated holding employing 12 men. Among its stock in 1885 were 38 shorthorn cattle. (Footnote 49) The five farms on the Phelips estate, held until the 1850s mostly on leases for lives, were re-arranged for better working in 1873 (Footnote 50) and by 1914, when the estate was sold, there were seven farms. (Footnote 51) By 1857 there were five farms on the Redlynch estate; they survived in 1912. (Footnote 52) In 1939 there were 13 farms in the whole parish (Footnote 53) and in 1988 15 holdings, half concentrating on dairying. Wheat, winter barley, maize, and fodder crops were grown on 225 ha. (Footnote 54)
A glover was living in the parish in the period 1636–8 (Footnote 55) and a linen weaver in 1704. (Footnote 56) In the 1780s there were a soaphouse, three barkhouses, and a tanyard at Stoke. (Footnote 57) In 1834 14 families were said to be engaged in trade (Footnote 58) but in 1867 most women were said to work in the fields when needed although most girls were employed either in service or in gloving for manufacturers in Milborne Port. (Footnote 59) In the 1870s there were shops at both Shepton and Stoney Stoke and blacksmiths in both villages. (Footnote 60) There were still two blacksmiths in 1939. (Footnote 61)
Stone for tiles and paving was quarried north of Stoney Stoke in the 17th century and near Lushes Farm in Stoke in the 18th, and there were limekilns at Knowle and near Stoke, both of which were out of use before 1790. Clay was dug and bricks made north of Stoke from the 1680s, and marl was dug in the western part of the parish from the 17th to the 19th century. (Footnote 62)
Mills
There were two mills on Shepton manor in 1086, one of which paid no rent, the other presumably working for the lord alone. (Footnote 63) A mill was said to be in decay in 1354 (Footnote 64) and 1484–5, (Footnote 65) but was working in 1353 and 1405 (Footnote 66) and may have been in use in 1623 when it was conveyed to Richard Adams. (Footnote 67) In the late 18th century a millhouse at Stoke was associated with tanning. (Footnote 68) Fields called Millhams and Mill Pitch or Pits north-west of Shepton church and Millhams west of Stoney Stoke survived in 1839. (Footnote 69)
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
William de Montagu (d. 1270) withdrew suit to the sheriff's tourn and refused to pay an annual rent, but his son Simon restored both suit and rent. (Footnote 70) The tithing of Shepton continued to attend the hundred court until 1627 or later. (Footnote 71) Knowle and Wyke Champflower formed a tithing in Bruton hundred in 1327, possibly because John Champflower was tenant of Knowle in 1316. (Footnote 72) Knowle was in Hadspen and Honeywick tithing in Bruton hundred in 1569. (Footnote 73)
Courts leet for Shepton Montague manor were held four times a year in the 14th and 15th centuries, at or near the quarter days, and rolls survive for the years 1335–6, 1338–9, (Footnote 74) 1353–5, 1404–5, and 1471–2. (Footnote 75) By 1484–5 courts were held only twice a year. (Footnote 76) There are also rolls for 1542–3 and 1547, (Footnote 77) a copy from a manor court for 1719, rolls for courts baron for 1760 and 1762, and a reference to a court in 1765. (Footnote 78) In 1405 a halimote court was held on the same day as the Easter leet. (Footnote 79) By 1335 and until 1398 or later a court for tenants of Montagu fees outside the manor and parish was held after the manor court. (Footnote 80)
Officers of the court in the 14th century were a reeve, a hayward, a shepherd, and inspectors of carcasses, and in the later 15th century woodwards. The court was concerned with maintenance of buildings, hedges, and ditches, control of strays, and offences against statutes. In the 1330s its records included losses from the sheep flock and in the 1350s sales of pasture, licensing of nativi, and the levy of chevage.
Courts were held for Knowle manor in the 13th and earlier 14th centuries (Footnote 81) and rolls survive for sessions in August, September, and October 1397, the last described as a court leet. Business included fines for trespass, damage to the park, and tree felling, and there were pleas between tenants. (Footnote 82)
There was a common pound for the whole parish in Over or Higher Shepton by 1628. (Footnote 83) By 1764 a cottage in Stoney Stoke was let to the overseers. (Footnote 84) In 1857 a building there was used as the parish coal house. (Footnote 85) In 1835 the parish became part of the Wincanton poor-law union, in 1894 Wincanton rural district, and in 1974 Yeovil, later South Somerset, district. (Footnote 86)
CHURCH
Probably between 1166 and 1169 Alice de Piro granted the church to the canons of Bruton. (Footnote 87) The grant of 'so much as belongs to the patron' was confirmed c. 1216 and the patronage was confirmed to the canons of Bruton in 1236. (Footnote 88) The church was presumably appropriated and a vicarage had been ordained by 1317. (Footnote 89) The living remained in the patronage of the canons until the Dissolution, but after 1498 no formal institutions were made and from 1519 the living was effectively a perpetual curacy. (Footnote 90) Successive owners of the rectory usually appointed curates, although Edward Burton is said to have presented in 1671. (Footnote 91) Curates were regularly appointed from 1715. (Footnote 92) In 1912 Giles Stephen Holland, earl of Ilchester, transferred the patronage to his trustees, the Cavendish Land Co. They conveyed it in 1913 to W. F. Pepper, and in 1914 Pepper conveyed it to the bishop of Bath and Wells. (Footnote 93) The living was united with Pitcombe in 1929 (Footnote 94) and in 1976 also with Bratton Seymour. In 1985 it became part of the Bruton and District team ministry. (Footnote 95)
The living was valued in 1291 at £5 6s. 8d. (Footnote 96) In 1519, on the grounds of its poverty, the canons of Bruton took over the vicarial tithes and glebe and awarded the vicar a house and a pension of £8 1s. (Footnote 97) to which a small piece of glebe had been added by 1535 to give a total income assessed at £8 15s. (Footnote 98) In 1636 the pension of £8 was still evidently paid. (Footnote 99) In 1707 the net income of the living was £26 2s. 8d. comprising glebe worth £20, tithes worth £5, and Easter dues of £2 10s. (Footnote 1) In 1715 Sir Stephen Fox agreed to pay the incumbent £30 and to repair the chancel. (Footnote 2) About 1796 the curate received £31 10s. (Footnote 3) The living was augmented by Queen Anne's Bounty in 1803, 1820, and 1825 (Footnote 4) and was worth £46 in 1815, (Footnote 5) £62 net in 1829–31, (Footnote 6) and £60 8s. 8d. in 1851. (Footnote 7) The living was further augmented in 1863–4, (Footnote 8) and the net value in 1889 was £88. (Footnote 9)
In 1636 the only glebe comprised 4 a. of meadow. (Footnote 10) The chaplain of Shepton had a house in 1242–3. (Footnote 11) In 1519 the vicar was confirmed in possession of a house on the south side of the church by the graveyard or offered another suitable dwelling, the house to be maintained at the cost of the patrons. (Footnote 12) Vicars were resident until c. 1560 or later. (Footnote 13) In 1715 the patron undertook to rent a house if a cheap one could be found. (Footnote 14) A house was rented from that date until 1751 (Footnote 15) but by 1765 curates were living outside the parish and the house was sublet. (Footnote 16) There was no benefice house in 1815. (Footnote 17) A house was built between 1861 and 1866. (Footnote 18) It was sold when the living was united with Pitcombe and became a private dwelling.
Osbert the chaplain was murdered by burglars in 1242–3. (Footnote 19) Two canons of Bruton served successively as vicars up to 1498. (Footnote 20) From c. 1560 to c. 1576 the chaplain of Redlynch served the cure 'of good will'. (Footnote 21) Matthew Bulgin (d. 1669), both priest and surgeon, was curate from 1645 until his death. (Footnote 22) During the later 18th century the church was served with Redlynch (Footnote 23) and in 1815 the perpetual curate lived at Bruton and also served Brewham; services at Shepton were then held each Sunday, alternately morning and afternoon. (Footnote 24) In 1827 the curate was resident rector of Charlton Musgrove and held services each Sunday at Shepton. (Footnote 25) H. C. Leaver, vicar by 1851, was resident rector at Penselwood. (Footnote 26) By 1866 and until 1929 vicars were resident (Footnote 27) and by 1870 services were held twice each Sunday and communion was celebrated monthly. (Footnote 28) The former schoolroom at Stoney Stoke was used for services between 1894 and 1927 or later. (Footnote 29)
The church of ST. PETER, destroyed by fire on 27 November 1964, (Footnote 30) comprised a chancel, and a nave with a south porch tower. After the fire only the walls and the tower were left standing, and it was subsequently decided not to rebuild the chancel, but to lower the height of its walls and form a garden on its site. Demolition revealed fragments of 12th-century carved stone embedded in the walls of the 13th-century chancel. The 13th-century capitals and columns of the chancel arch and the contemporary font were destroyed in the fire. The present building, re-ordered and furnished in 1965–6 to the designs of Kenneth Wiltshire, (Footnote 31) now comprises the nave of the original church, refenestrated in the later Middle Ages, with the original Perpendicular south tower. In the 18th century the nave roof was coved and the chancel roof ceiled, and a singers' gallery had a painted panelled front. (Footnote 32) The north wall was also said to have been rebuilt 'in the Italian style'. (Footnote 33) The building was restored in 1854 and 1893. (Footnote 34) Over the entrance door is an inscription perhaps referring to St. Thomas of Canterbury. (Footnote 35)
There are three bells, the first of 1661 by Robert Austen II, the second from the medieval Salisbury foundry, the third of 1620 by Robert Austen I. (Footnote 36) The plate includes a cup and cover of 1573 by 'I.P.', and a paten made in 1684 and renovated in 1848. (Footnote 37) The registers, which date from 1560, were extensively damaged in the fire of 1964. (Footnote 38)
NONCONFORMITY
Recusants were reported in the parish in the late 16th century and 1629. (Footnote 39) A licence was issued for an unspecified congregation in 1704. (Footnote 40) Wesleyan Methodists were meeting in 1824 and a house was licensed, probably for their use, in 1829. (Footnote 41) Hope Congregational chapel was opened in 1869 as a mission station from Wincanton. It was rebuilt in 1904 and was closed between 1965 and 1971. (Footnote 42)
EDUCATION
In 1818 there were two small day schools each with 12 children and a Sunday school with c. 30 children. (Footnote 43) One of the day schools seems to have been run by the church by 1825, (Footnote 44) and presumably became the National school, built beside the churchyard in 1846, which in 1846–7 had 25 children attending on weekdays and Sundays. There was also a school at Stoney Stoke for 30 children which was held on weekdays and Sundays. (Footnote 45) By 1851 it was supported by the earl of Ilchester, and continued until soon after 1872. (Footnote 46) In 1867 it was reported that an evening school for boys was held in the winter months at the vicarage house. (Footnote 47) The National school was enlarged in 1895 and had 48 children on the books in 1903. By 1915 it had 21 and in 1919, when it closed, only 11. The children were transferred to Pitcombe. (Footnote 48) The former school was used in 1993 as a village hall.
CHARITY FOR THE POOR
Hugh Wyndham (d. 1684) by will gave a rent charge of 10s. on his manor of Shepton Montague to be paid to the poor at Christmas. (Footnote 49) Twenty people were said to be recipients in 1787–8, (Footnote 50) but by 1824 the charity had been lost. (Footnote 51)
Footnotes
50 This article was completed in 1993.
51 O.S. Map 6", Som. LXV. NW., NE., SW, SE., LXVI. NW. (1885 edn.); Collinson, Hist. Som. iii. 56 n.
52 S.R.O., tithe award; below.
53 Above, Bruton, Charlton Musgrove; below, Wincanton.
54 Dors. R.O., D/FSI, map of Redlynch estate, 1800 and added note.
55 S.R.O., tithe award.
56 Ibid.
57 Census, 1891.
58 The Yeovil (Parishes) Order 1982; Census, 1991.
59 Geol. Surv. Map. 1/50,000, solid and drift, sheet 297 (1972 edn.).
60 J. B. Bentley and B. J. Murless, Som. Roads, ii. 67–8.
61 S.R.S. lxxvi, map 1782; above, Bruton (Redlynch).
62 Proc. Som. Arch. Soc. cxx. 111–13.
63 S.R.S. lxxvi, map 1782.
64 Ibid. maps 1782, 1822; S.R.O., DD/PH 308; ibid. tithe award; Bentley and Murless, Som. Roads, ii. 27–8.
65 S.R.S. lxxvi, map 1822; Bentley and Murless, Som. Roads, ii. 26, 30, 67–8.
66 D. S. Barrie and C. R. Clinker, Som. and Dorset Railway (1959), 16–17, 75; R. Atthill, Som. and Dorset Railway (1985), 182.
67 Collinson, Hist. Som. iii. 56 n.
68 M. McGarvie, The Bounds of Selwood (Frome, 1978), 14.
69 Wilts. R.O. 383/144.
70 V.C.H. Som. i. 480, 526.
71 P.R.O., SC 2/200/26; S.R.O., DD/PH 151.
72 e.g. S.R.O., DD/PH 80.
73 P.R.O., SC 2/198/55.
74 Below, manors (Shepton).
75 S.R.O., DD/PH 151.
76 Ibid. A/AQP 25. For a plan of Stoney Stoke in 1764 see Dors. R.O., D/FSI.
77 S.R.O., DD/S/SBY 11; DD/PH 80–1, 83, 151.
78 S.R.S. li, p. 63; S.R.O., DD/SOG 47/4.
79 S.R.O., DD/PH 36, 151.
80 Ibid. DD/SE 7; ibid. tithe award.
81 P.R.O., SC 2/198/55.
82 Cal. Chart. R. 1300–26, 241, 366.
83 S.R.S. xx. 20.
84 S.D.N.Q. xiii. 60.
85 Cal. Cttee. for Compounding, ii. 1339; below, manors.
86 Below, econ. hist.
87 P.R.O., SC 6/974/6; S.R.O., T/PH/dst 4/1.
88 S.R.O., tithe award.
89 Dors. R.O., D/FSI, box 18, particular; below, econ. hist.
90 S.R.O., D/D/Cd 114, f. 12.
91 Ibid. Q/RLa 23.
92 P.O. Dir. Som. (1866); P.R.O., RG 10/2427; S.R.O., DD/PH 92, 306.
93 S.R.O., DD/SAS SW 10, p. 119; ibid. Q/RSf 1; A. J. Coombes, Catalogue (1982), balance sheet 1885–6 offered for sale; M. Fuller, West-Country Friendly Soc. 145.
94 V.C.H. Som. ii. 347.
95 Census.
96 Walker Revised, ed. A. G. Matthews, 318.
97 V.C.H. Som. i. 480; Dom. Bk. ed. Thorn, 19.57.
98 Complete Peerage, ix. 75–8; Red Bk. Exch. (Rolls Ser.), i. 228–9; Bk. of Fees, i. 81.
99 Bk. of Fees, i. 262.
1 Rot. Litt. Claus. (Rec. Com.), i. 313, 336; Cal. Pat. 1272–81, 282; Cal. Inq. p.m. i, p. 273.
2 Feud. Aids, iv. 287, 327; Cal. Chart. R. 1257–1300, 346; Cal. Inq. p.m. vi, p. 75. The date 1316 given in Complete Peerage, ix. 80 is incorrect.
3 V.C.H. Som. vi. 246 and nn.; Feud. Aids, vi. 505.
4 P.R.O., E 149/901, no. 23; Complete Peerage, xi. 393–8.
5 Feud. Aids, iv. 424; below.
6 P.R.O., C 142/28, no. 22.
7 Complete Peerage, ix. 83; xi. 399–402; xii (2), 394–7; B.L. Harl. Ch. 43 F 8.
8 Cal. Pat. 1553, 169; S.R.O., DD/PH 39.
9 S.R.O., DD/SG 1.
10 Ibid. DD/PH 36; Cal. Pat. 1580–2, no. 1351.
11 P.R.O., CP 25/2/206/31 & 32 Eliz. I Mich.
12 Ibid. C 142/270, no. 148; S.R.S. lxvii, pp. 85–6.
13 S.R.O., DD/PH 36.
14 Below, Stoke Trister.
15 Proc. Som. Arch. Soc. cxx. 111–13.
16 S.R.S. viii, p. 65.
17 Feud. Aids, iv. 287.
18 Cal. Inq. Misc. ii. pp. 187–8.
19 Feud. Aids, iv, p. 287; Bk. of Fees, ii. 1295.
20 Cal. Pat. 1345–8, 154.
21 Cal. Close, 1343–6, 307.
22 Cal. Inq. p.m. xvii, p. 314.
23 Cal. Inq. Misc. vii, pp. 62–4; Cal. Fine R. 1399–1405, 53.
24 Cal. Close, 1405–9, 444; P.R.O., C 139/56, no. 35.
25 Cal. Close, 1422–9, 441; S.R.S. xxii. 205.
26 Cal. Inq. p.m. Hen. VII, i, pp. 95, 106.
27 Cal. Pat. 1476–85, 63.
28 Cal. Fine R. 1485–1509, pp. 58–9; Cal. Inq. p.m. Hen. VII, i, p. 483.
29 Feud. Aids, iv. 327.
30 P.R.O., C 140/56, no. 35/1.
31 Feud. Aids, iv. 327.
32 P.R.O., C 140/56, no. 35/1; S.R.S. extra ser. 375.
33 Above, Bruton, manors; S.R.O., DD/SG 1.
34 S.D.N.Q. xvi. 130.
35 P.R.O., CP 43/28, rot. 73; S.D.N.Q. xvi. 132.
36 S.D.N.Q. xvi. 135.
37 Phelps, Hist. Som. ii. 219.
38 P.R.O., CP 25/2/1402/47 Geo. III East.; CP 43/887, rot. 352; 917, rot. 251; Dors. R.O., D/FSI, box 167A, letter 1806; Burke, Land Gent. (1914), 1966–8.
39 Dors. R.O., D/FSI, box 340, sale cat.
40 V.C.H. Som. i. 480.
41 Cal. Close, 1288–92, 183; Bk. of Fees, ii. 1295.
42 San Marino (Calif.), Huntington Libr., Hastings MSS. box 69, 2–3. A John Chevent held a rent from Richard Seymour the younger in 1409 and the name Chevent survived into the 15th century: Cal. Inq. p.m. xix, p. 202; S.R.O., DD/WHh 622, 627.
43 Bk. of Fees, ii. 1295.
44 Cal. Close, 1288–96, 183; H.M.C. Wells, i. 354.
45 Cal. Inq. p.m. ix, p. 447; xi, p. 169; Complete Peerage, viii. 207; xi. 359.
46 Cal. Inq. p.m. xiv, pp. 82, 289–90.
47 Ibid. xi, pp. 168–9. The Richard Lovel recorded as holding the estate in 1397 and described as heir of Nicholas Seymour (Cal. Close, 1396–9, 188; Cal. Inq. p.m. xvii, p. 319) must be an error for Richard Seymour.
48 Cal. Inq. p.m. xiv, pp. 289–90; Complete Peerage, xi. 360–1.
49 Cal. Inq. p.m. xviii, p. 152; P.R.O., C 137/26, no. 55.
50 Cal. Inq. p.m. xix, p. 254; P.R.O., C 137/77, no. 23.
51 Cal. Pat. 1485–94, 127–8; Wedgwood, Hist. Parl., Biogs.; below, Wincanton (manors).
52 P.R.O., CP 25/2/66/548/5 Edw. VI Mich.
53 Ibid. CP 25/2/83/711/2 & 3 Phil. & Mary. Mich.
54 Dors. R.O., D/FSI, box 167A, abs. of title; S.D.N.Q. xvi. 130–1.
55 P.R.O., CP 25/2/204/12 Eliz. I Trin.
56 Ibid. C 142/279, no. 327.
57 Ibid. CP 25/2/718/34 Chas. II Mich.; CP 25/2/870/13 Wm. III East.; Dors. R.O., D/FSI, box 170, memo. bk.
58 Dors. R.O., D/FSI, boxes 170 (memo. bk.), 291 (marr. sett. 1782); S.R.O., DD/X/AR 5; Hadspen Ho., deeds, bdle. 22.
59 S.D.N.Q. xvi. 130–1.
60 Ibid. xiii. 59–66; xvi. 132.
61 Above, Bruton, manors.
62 P.R.O., CP 40/917, rot. 251.
63 S.R.S. viii, pp. 24–5; Eng. Episcopal Acta, x, p. 64; J. A. Robinson, Som. Hist. Essays, 76.
64 S.R.S. viii, p. 25.
65 Ibid. vii (2), p. 22; viii, pp. 26–7.
66 P.R.O., SC 6/Hen. VIII/3137, 3143; SC 6/Edw. VI/406; L. & P. Hen. VIII, xv, p. 561.
67 Cal. Pat. 1553, 175; S.R.O., DD/PH 36.
68 P.R.O., C 3/242/21; ibid. CP 25/2/205/24 Eliz. I Trin.
69 Ibid. CP 25/2/207/34 & 35 Eliz. I Mich.
70 S.R.S. li, pp. 158–9.
71 Dors. R.O., D/FSI, box 175 (2); above, Charlton Musgrove, manors.
72 Dors. R.O., D/FSI, box 175 (2); B.L. Add. MS. 51334, f. 5v.; above, Bruton, educ.
73 Above, Bruton, manors.
74 S.R.O., tithe award.
75 Wilts. R.O. 383/417.
76 S.R.O., DD/PH 36, 80–1; Wilts. R.O. 383/417.
77 S.R.O., tithe awards, Shepton Montague and Wincanton.
78 Wilts. R.O. 383/142, 329.
79 S.R.O., T/PH/vch 88.
80 Ibid. DD/PH 80.
81 P.R.O., LR 2/202, f. 347v.
82 Dwelly, Hearth Tax, i. 91–3; Wilts. R.O. 383/96, f. 86.
83 Wilts. R.O. 383/143–4.
84 S.R.O., DD/SAS SW 6.
85 Wilts. R.O. 383/106; S.R.O., tithe award.
86 S.R.O., DD/SAS SW 4.
87 P.R.O., RG 11/2399.
88 S.D.N.Q. xxxi. 138.
89 L. & P. Hen. VIII, xx, p. 536.
90 V.C.H. Som. i. 480, 526.
91 Above, manors.
92 P.R.O., C 132/16, no. 10; S.R.S. viii, p. 7.
93 B.L. Add. Ch. 26754.
94 P.R.O., C 134/65, no. 3.
95 Ibid. SC 6/1121/18.
96 Cal. Close, 1343–6, 307.
97 P.R.O., SC 6/1121/19, 1123/1–2.
98 San Marino (Calif.), Huntington Libr., Hastings MSS., box 69.
99 P.R.O., SC 2/200/23.
1 Ibid.; V.C.H. Som. ii. 290 and n.
2 P.R.O., E 315/44/58; Cal. Pat. 1343–5, 330, 349.
3 Cal. Inq. p.m. xviii, p. 153; ibid. xix, p. 202.
4 Huntington Libr. Hastings MSS., box 69, no. 2.
5 Cal. Inq. p.m. xviii, p. 152.
6 S.R.O., DD/S/SBY 11.
7 Cal. Pat. 1422–9, 336.
8 P.R.O., SC 6/974/6.
9 Ibid. SC 6/Hen. VIII/3039.
10 S.R.O., T/PH/dst 4/1.
11 Above.
12 Cal. Fine R. 1413–22, 94.
13 P.R.O., SC 2/200/26.
14 S.R.O., DD/PH 151.
15 Ibid. 36, 151; P.R.O., C 3/282/26.
16 S.D.N.Q. xiii. 59–66.
17 Dors. R.O., D/FSI, boxes 18 (particular, 1681), 334 (rents).
18 S.R.O., DD/SOG 47/4.
19 Ibid. DD/PH 39, 84, 151.
20 Som. Protestation Returns, ed. Howard and Stoate, 245.
21 S.R.O., DD/PH 151.
22 Proc. Som. Arch. Soc. lxi. 84.
23 P.R.O., E 179/256/11.
24 S.R.O., DD/PH 151.
25 Ibid. 159, 308.
26 Ibid. 170.
27 Dors. R.O., D/FSI, box 18.
28 Ibid. map of Redlynch park by Samuel Donne, 1762; Dors. R.O., D/FSI, box 189, accts. 1746–54; above, Bruton, manors (Redlynch).
29 Dors. R.O., D/FSI, box 188, day bk. 1735–68.
30 Ibid. box 179, survey.
31 Ibid. boxes 167A, 170.
32 Cal. Cttee. for Compounding, ii. 1339.
33 Above, manors.
34 Wilts. R.O. 383/96, f. 86; ibid. 383/144.
35 Ibid. 383/108; S.R.O., tithe award.
36 S.R.O., DD/PH 159, 308.
37 Ibid. A/AQP 25.
38 Dors. R.O., D/FSI, box 170.
39 List & Index Soc. 190, pp. 206, 225.
40 Phelps, Hist. Som. ii. 213.
41 S.R.O., tithe award.
42 Dors. R.O., D/FSI, box 319, survey.
43 Statistics supplied by the then Bd. of Agric. 1905.
44 Dors. R.O., D/FSI, box 340, sale cat.
45 Min. of Agric., Fisheries, and Food, agric. returns 1988.
46 S.R.O., tithe award.
47 Hadspen Ho., deeds, bdles. 9 and 10.
48 P.R.O., HO 107/1931; ibid. RG 10/2427; RG 11/2399.
49 S.R.O., DD/PH 292; A. J. Coombes, Catalogue (1982). Ambra Books of Bristol (catalogue 91, 1992) offered for sale rent bks. of Welham and Lily fms. 1862–80.
50 S.R.O., DD/PH 92, 310.
51 Ibid. 307; DD/JO 49.
52 Dors. R.O., D/FSI, boxes 319 (survey), 340 (sale cat.).
53 Kelly's Dir. Som. (1939).
54 Min. of Agric., Fisheries, and Food, agric. returns 1988.
55 S.R.O., DD/PH 81.
56 Dors. R.O., D/FSI, box 74, lease, Fox to Cook.
57 Ibid. boxes 170 (memo. bk.), 291 (marr. sett.).
58 Phelps, Hist. Som. ii. 220.
59 Rep. Com. Children and Women in Agric. pp. 494, 496.
60 P.O. Dir. Som. (1875).
61 Kelly's Dir. Som. (1939).
62 Dors. R.O., D/FSI, boxes 170 (survey), 173c (accts.); S.R.O., DD/PH 39, 170; Phelps, Hist. Som. ii. 213.
63 V.C.H. Som. i. 480; Dom. Geog. SW. Eng. 190–1.
64 P.R.O., SC 2/200/23.
65 Ibid. SC 6/974/6.
66 Ibid. SC 2/200/23, 25.
67 Ibid. CP 25/2/347/21 Jas. I Mich.
68 Dors. R.O., D/FSI, box 170, survey.
69 S.R.O., DD/PH 308; ibid. tithe award.
70 Rot. Hund. (Rec. Com.), ii. 120; Plac. de Quo Warr. (Rec. Com.), 693.
71 S.R.O., DD/S/WI 32.
72 S.R.S. iii. 102; Feud. Aids, iv. 327. That part of Knowle taken from the estate before 1086 was in Bruton hundred: Dom. Bk. ed. Thorn, 367.
73 S.R.S. xx. 19–20.
74 San Marino (Calif.), Huntington Libr., Hastings MSS., box 69, nos. 3–4.
75 P.R.O., SC 2/200/23–6.
76 Ibid. SC 6/974/6.
77 Ibid. SC 2/200/60.
78 S.R.O., DD/PH 39, 149, 170.
79 P.R.O., SC 2/200/25.
80 Ibid. SC 2/200/23–4; Huntington Libr., Hastings MSS., box 69, nos. 3–4.
81 P.R.O., C 132/16, no. 10; C 134/65, no. 3.
82 Ibid. SC 2/198/55.
83 S.R.O., DD/PH 80; plot 122B on S.R.O., tithe award.
84 Dors. R.O., D/FSI, boxes 170 (memo. bk.), 208 (accts.).
85 Ibid. box 319, survey.
86 Handlist of Guardians' Rec. (S.R.O.), 112; Youngs, Local Admin. Units, i. 674, 676.
87 S.R.S. viii, p. 25; Eng. Episcopal Acta, x, p. 64; J. A. Robinson, Som. Hist. Essays, 76; above, manors (rectory).
88 S.R.S. vii (2), p. 22; viii. pp. 26–7.
89 Ibid. i. 121.
90 Ibid. lv, pp. 9–10.
91 Dors. R.O., D/FSI, box 175 (2); Locke's Additions to Collinson.
92 Dors. R.O., D/FSI, box 238, bdles. 6, 24.
93 S.R.O., D/D/Ra 3/105, 113; D/P/she. mon 2/9/1.
94 Ibid. D/P/she. mon 2/9/1.
95 Dioc. Dir.
96 Tax. Eccl. (Rec. Com.), 197.
97 S.R.S. lv, pp. 9–10.
98 Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), i. 153.
99 Dors. R.O., D/FSI, box 175 (2).
1 S.R.O., D/D/Rv 1.
2 Dors. R.O., D/FSI, boxes 175 (2); 236, bdle. 3.
3 Ibid. D/FSI, box 167A, valuation of Redlynch.
4 Phelps, Hist. Som. i. 119; ii. 220.
5 S.R.O., D/D/Rb 1815.
6 Rep. Com. Eccl. Revenues, pp. 152–3.
7 P.R.O., HO 129/320.
8 Livings Aug. Queen Anne's Bounty, H.C. 122 (1867), liv.
9 Kelly's Dir. Som. (1889).
10 Dors. R.O., D/FSI, box 175 (2).
11 S.R.S. xi, pp. 267, 272–3.
12 Ibid. lv, pp. 9–10.
13 S.D.N.Q. xiv. 267.
14 Dors. R.O., D/FSI, box 175 (2).
15 Ibid. box 74, accts.
16 Ibid. boxes 167A, 170, 208.
17 S.R.O., D/D/Rb 1815.
18 P.O. Dir. Som. (1861, 1866).
19 S.R.S. xi, pp. 267, 272–3.
20 Ibid. liv, pp. 11–12.
21 S.D.N.Q. xiv. 267.
22 S.R.O., D/D/Vc 41; ibid. D/D/Bs 39; ibid. DD/SAS SW 10, pp. 24, 30, 85.
23 Dors. R.O., D/FSI, boxes 189, 208, 328 (accts.).
24 S.R.O., D/D/Rb 1815; D/D/B reg. 33, ff. 8, 196.
25 Ibid. D/D/Rb 1827.
26 P.R.O., HO 129/320; above, Penselwood.
27 P.O. Dir. Som. (1866).
28 S.R.O., D/D/Va 1870.
29 Kelly's Dir. Som. (1894, 1927).
30 S.R.O., D/P/she. mon 8/4/1.
31 Church Guide, 1967.
32 S.R.O., A/AQP 25.
33 Phelps, Hist. Som. ii. 219.
34 P.O. Dir. Som. (1861); Kelly's Dir. Som. (1894).
35 Phelps, Hist. Som. ii. 219; S.D.N.Q. vi. 99–100.
36 S.R.O., DD/SAS CH 16/2.
37 Proc. Som. Arch. Soc. xliii. 198.
38 Transcript in S.R.O., DD/SAS SW 10.
39 S.D.N.Q. v. 115; S.R.O., D/D/Ca 267.
40 S.R.O., Q/RRw 1.
41 Dors. R.O., NM 6/C1/MS 1/13; S.R.O., D/D/Rm 7; ibid. Q/RRw 1.
42 Rep. Som. Cong. Union. (1896), 57; O.P.C.S. (Birkdale), Worship Reg. no. 44520; Kelly's Dir. Som. (1889, 1906). According to Kelly's Dir. Som. (1889 etc.) it was Wesleyan.
43 Educ. of Poor Digest, p. 798.
44 Ann. Rep. B. & W. Dioc. Assoc. S.P.C.K. (1825–6), 48.
45 S.R.O., C/E 4/380/358; Nat. Soc. Inquiry, 1846–7, Som. 14–15.
46 P.R.O., HO 129/320, note under Redlynch; Morris & Co. Dir. Som. (1872); P.O. Dir. Som. (1875).
47 Rep. Com. Women and Childen in Agric. p. 496.
48 S.R.O., C/E 4/64; 4/160/1–3; 4/380/358; ibid. DD/PH 306.
49 Ibid. DD/X/PHS 1.
50 Char. Don.
51 11th Rep. Com. Char. 436.
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