Somerset Part 14

_Pilton_, 1-1/2 m. N.W. of West Pennard Station, lies in pretty country. Its church is s.p.a.cious, and contains much of interest.

Architecturally it belongs to various periods. The S. door is Norm., the porch later. The columns and arches which separate the nave from the aisle are late Norm. or Trans.; the roof was raised at a later date, and a Perp. clerestory was inserted. The chancel is Perp., with a panelled arch and a clerestory. Note (1) the fine wooden roof; (2) the screen that encloses what was once a chapel (it has a piscina); (3) the "Easter sepulchre," under a recess in the N. wall, with a representation of our Lord cut in the stone; (4) the fine bra.s.s chandelier (1749); (5) the curious old chest at the base of the tower, which contains the remains of an old 16th cent. cope, which has been converted into an altar frontal; (6) the Jacobean pulpit (1618). The communion plate includes a paten of about 1500. Near the church is a n.o.ble cruciform barn, once belonging to the abbots of Glas...o...b..ry, with the emblems of the Evangelists at the gables.

_Pitcombe_, a parish 1-1/4 m. S. of Bruton. The church, with the exception of the tower, has been rebuilt, and contains nothing of interest, except an ancient font.

_Pitminster_, a large village, 4-1/2 m. S. of Taunton. The church is noticeable for its octagonal tower, which is surmounted by a spire.

There are two large monuments of the Coles family on either side of the chancel, and a third at the W. end, dating from the 16th and 17th cents. The font is elaborately carved. Note (1) the bench ends; (2) the old gla.s.s in the tracery of the E. window of the N. aisle; (3) the two piscinas.

_Pitney_, a village 2-1/2 m. N.E. of Langport. The church (Perp.) has an interesting stoup in the porch, and a ribbed squint, with a curious little recess beneath. A Roman pavement has been unearthed in the parish; some specimens of the tiles are preserved in the Taunton Museum.

_Podimore_, a village 2 m. N.E. of Ilchester. Its church has an octagonal tower on a square base (cp. Weston Bampfylde), the upper part of which is lighted with small lancets. The way in which the octagon has been superimposed on the square may be observed from the interior.

The windows of the church are partly Dec., partly Perp. The E. window has some fragments of ancient gla.s.s. The chancel arch is unusually narrow. Note (1) the piscina and aumbry; (2) the old font; (3) the stoup in the S. porch. There is the base of an old cross in the churchyard.

[Ill.u.s.tration: OLD BANK, PORLOCK]

PORLOCK, a small town near the Devons.h.i.+re border, 7 m. W. from Minehead, from which it is reached by coach. Its name--"the enclosed harbour"--indicates its former maritime character, but more than a mile of meadow land now separates it from the sea. Its attenuated s.h.i.+pping trade finds what accommodation it can at the _Weir_, 1-1/2 m. to the W.

The village enjoys a reputation second only to Cleveleys' for west-country quaintness. It has certainly much to recommend it to the lovers of the picturesque. It lies snugly ensconced at the bottom of a wooded valley, enclosed on three sides by the heathery slopes of Exmoor, but open in front to the sea. Southey has penned a testimonial to its scenery; and its creeper-clad cottages, with roses and clematis reaching to their round Devons.h.i.+re chimneys, still furnish many a study for the pencil or camera. In Anglo-Saxon times it was much raided by the Danes, and Harold's sons also paid it a visit, which procured for them a rough welcome from the sh.o.r.esmen. The church (ded. to St Dubricius), which stands in a rather cramped position in the centre of the village, is externally much in keeping with the old-fas.h.i.+oned aspect of the surrounding cottages. It consists of a Perp. nave and S.

aisle, with a truncated s.h.i.+ngled spire at the W. end. Internally it is comely and of interest. Its chief curiosities are a small sacristy at the E. end (cp. Langport and N. Petherton), and a richly canopied tomb, uncomfortably crowded under the E. bay of the arcade. The rec.u.mbent effigies are finished in much detail, but a certain mystery hangs about their ident.i.ty. They are now regarded as those of Baron John Harington of Aldingham (d. 1418) and his wife, Lady Elizabeth, _nee_ Courtney (1472). The lady's head-dress, in the shape of a mitre, is particularly noteworthy. On the N. side of the sanctuary is an altar tomb panelled with devices of the Five Wounds. It is supposed to have served as an Easter sepulchre. An earlier model of the same tomb stands in the N.

porch. In the S. aisle is a round-headed founder's recess, containing the mail-clad figure of a knight, supposed to be Simon Fitz-Roger (_temp._ Richard I.); close by is a smaller recess. The rood-loft has disappeared, but a stairway and window mark its former position. Note the indications of the earlier character of the sanctuary in the E.

window and double-drained piscina. In the churchyard is a restored cross. The "s.h.i.+p" at the fork of the Lynton road is a venerable hostelry, once patronised by Southey; and there is another quaint house on the road to Minehead. Specimens of an oak jug peculiar to Porlock may be obtained in the village. The nearest approach to the sea is by the road to the _Weir_. Here a pebble ridge encloses the tide and forms a natural pill, which a pair of dock gates transforms into a rude harbour. The view across the bay to Hurlstone Point and Bossington is delightful. Pretty views may also be obtained from Park Road, a long zigzag ascent which finally joins the Lynton road. Another pleasant walk can be taken in Hawkcombe valley (past W. end of church); whilst a third, pa.s.sing "Doverhay," may terminate at the Horner Valley (L.), or at Stoke Pero (R.). A visit should be paid to _Allerford_, where there is an ancient pack-horse bridge of two arches, and whence the summit of Bossington Beacon may be reached by some charming zigzag paths through the woods.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ALLERFORD]

_Portbury_, a village 8 m. N.W. of Bristol (nearest stat. Pill). It is a place where many Roman remains have been found. It possesses a s.p.a.cious church, which has a fine Norm. recessed S. door. The chancel arch is also of Norm. origin, but has undergone alteration. There is a good E. window and a sanctuary bell-cot. The triple sedilia (E.E. or Dec.) and the 17th-cent. bra.s.s in the N. aisle should be noticed. At the junction of the roads to Portishead and Clapton are the remains of a priory, which are now used as a school. It is said to have belonged to an Augustinian Abbey at Bristol.

PORTISHEAD, a small town with a population of 2544, situated on the Bristol Channel, 11-1/2 m. W. from Bristol and 8 from Clifton Suspension Bridge. It is connected with the city by a G.W.R. branch line, of which it is the terminus. Portishead makes a successful attempt to combine business with pleasure. It has a biggish dock and some large grain warehouses, and is a flouris.h.i.+ng little port. It is now awaking to its possibilities as a watering-place. Its chief attraction is a wooded promontory rising behind the docks. Round this is cut an excellent road, which finally ends in a queer little attempt at a promenade. The "Point" has figured in history, for the possession of a fort upon it was contested by the Royalist and Roundhead forces in the Civil War. The church is in the middle of the old village, which lies back from the sea. It has a stately Perp. tower crowned with a spirelet. The interior is unreformed and disappointing. Note (1) music gallery above S. porch, (2) Norm. font, (3) curious arch in N. aisle, (4) sculptured heads built into chancel wall, perhaps removed from original position as suspenders of Lenten veil (cp. Orchardleigh), (5) pulpit reached through S. wall. Near the church is an ancient manor house with an Elizabethan turret. Portishead possesses a fine new Naval College, built to replace the old training-s.h.i.+p _Formidable.

Nightingale Valley_ is a favourite walk.

_Preston Plucknett_, a village 1-1/2 m. W. of Yeovil. Its church is not particularly interesting, the ancient features being disguised by recent restorations. The body of the building is thought to be late Dec., the tower Perp. Note (1) piscina in S. transept or chapel, (2) small doorway in N. transept, which probably once led to the rood-loft, but now affords access to the pulpit. Hard by is a fine t.i.the barn with finials on the gables, and a 15th-cent. house with a most picturesque porch and panelled octagonal chimney.

_Priddy_, a lonely village on the top of the W. Mendips, 5 m. N.N.W. of Wells. It enjoys a certain celebrity as one of the bleakest and most remote spots in Somerset. Though some considerable distance from Cheddar, it is generally regarded as part of the Cheddar _entourage_.

Nowhere can the characteristic scenery of the Mendips, with its moors, mines, and swallets, be sampled to better advantage. Priddy, ever since Roman times, has been the centre of the Mendip mining area (cp. p. 11), and wild tales used to be told of the Priddy "groovers." Lead and zinc ores are still worked in the locality. The village surrounds a large, three-cornered green, which was once the scene of a considerable fair.

The church stands about a stone's-throw away on rising ground. It is a Perp. building of irregular design and rough workmans.h.i.+p. It has a good pillared stoup in the porch, a Jacobean screen, and fragments of a stone pulpit. In the neighbourhood are two groups of barrows.

_Priston_, a village in a secluded dale 5-1/4 m. S.W. from Bath (nearest stat. Camerton, 3 m.). The church is something of a deception, for a good Norm. doorway and an exterior corbel table prepares the visitor for the Norm. arches and arcading within; but these are entirely modern. There is, however, some good Dec. work in the chancel; and notice should especially be taken of the priest's doorway, the foliated rear arches of the windows (cp. Frome), and the fine pillar piscina. Observe also (1) old wooden door, (2) the lion serving as a finial to W. gable. The tower, the base of which is perhaps Norm., is incongruously finished with a bal.u.s.trade and urn-like pinnacles.

_Publow_, a village on the Chew (nearest stat. Pensford). One of the prettiest features of the landscape from Pensford Station is the graceful tower of Publow Church. It is a stately structure of four stages, with the customary projecting stone turret and spirelet. The interior is not particularly interesting, but note (1) panelled arch on N. of sanctuary, (2) aumbry in N. aisle, (3) square font. The pulpit has been constructed out of two old pews. Near the church is an old cylindrical "lock-up."

_Puckington_, a small village 3 m. N.E. of Ilminster. The oldest part of the church (Perp.) is the chancel, which has Dec. windows, a piscina, and triple sedilia (E.E.) (cp. Shepton Beauchamp). There is also a Norm, font with cable moulding.

_Puriton_, a parish 3-3/4 m. N.N.E. from Bridgwater, 3/4 m. from Dunball. The church, though old, has lost whatever features of interest it once had. The S. porch seems formerly to have had a gallery or parvise (note the staircase), and there is a small plain oak screen.

The neighbouring large house is _Puriton Manor_.

_Puxton_, a small village 7 m. E. of Weston-super-Mare, with a station 3 m. away. The church is a small building with a leaning tower.

Originally it was E.E. (note one of the windows), but many parts of the fabric are much later. The porch is dated 1557. There is a good oak pulpit, with hourgla.s.s holder, and some heavy 15th-cent. benches.

_Pylle_, a village with station (S. & D.), situated a little off the Fosse Way, 4 m. S. of Shepton Mallet. The church (St Thomas a Becket) has, with the exception of the tower (Perp.), been rebuilt (1868).

Opposite is a farmhouse, which was once a manorial residence of the Berkeleys: part of the original Elizabethan building still remains.

_Quantocks, The_, a range of hills forming the W. boundary of the s.p.a.cious plain which occupies the centre of the county. Geologically, they belong to the Devonian series of rocks. They are not of great extent, being a comparatively narrow ridge, stretching from the neighbourhood of Taunton in a north-westerly direction some 10 or 12 m.

to the sea, whilst their tallest summit (Will's Neck) is only 1270 ft.

But their natural attraction of woodland dells, heathy moorlands, and mountain air are great, and are enhanced by interests which appeal both to the lovers of sport and the lovers of literature, for upon them the red deer is hunted (as well as upon Exmoor), and near them Coleridge and Wordsworth made their homes. They are easily accessible on the E.

from Bridgwater, whence good roads lead to Cothelstone Beacon and Nether Stowey (to the latter the G.W.R. runs a motor car), and on the S. from Taunton, whence the railway to Minehead skirts their W. flanks all the way to the coast, with stations at intervals (Bishop's Lydeard, Crowcombe, Stogumber, Williton). On the E. side, they are cut by numerous long and leafy combes (notably _c.o.c.kercombe_ and _Seven Wells'

Combe_), which afford easy ascents; but on the W. the slopes are much steeper and barer. Their tops are covered with bracken, heather, scrub oak, and quant.i.ties of whortle berries, the ripening of the last marking the beginning of the summer holidays for the village children, who then go "whorting." The most conspicuous summits in order from S.E.

to N.W. are _Cothelstone Beacon, Witt's Neck, Danesborough_ (where there is a British camp), and _Longstone Hill_. A track (not fit for cyclists) runs the whole length of the range, starting from where the road from Bridgwater to Bagborough begins to descend to the latter place, and ending where the hills slope towards the sea between E. and W. Quantoxhead. _Tris...o...b.. Stone_, near the head of c.o.c.kercombe, is a famous meet for the staghounds. At Ads...o...b.., near Seven Wells' Combe, are the remains of a chantry which is said to have belonged to the monastery at Athelney. The W. window, with door beneath, still survives.

_Quantoxhead, East_, a parish 4-1/2 m. N.E. from Williton, near the sh.o.r.e. Its church retains a few interesting features, among them being a tomb of Hugh Luttrell (1522), some carved seat ends (one with the Luttrell arms), a Caroline pulpit (1633), and a piscina. In the churchyard is the shaft of a cross. Near the church is Court House, an old manor house, with the remains of a pierced parapet. It formerly belonged to the Luttrell family.

_Quantoxhead, West_, a parish 1-1/2 m. E. of Williton. The church of St Etheldreda (Audrey), which is beautifully situated, has been wholly rebuilt (1856), the only ancient feature being the shaft of the churchyard cross. In the parish is _St Audries_, the seat of Sir A.F.

Acland Hood.

_Queen Charlton_, a small village 2 m. S.W. of Keynsham, with the abbey of which it once had an intimate connection. A fine Norm. doorway, built into a garden wall, was originally the gateway of the abbey court-house. The church has a central Norm, tower, but is otherwise without interest. A Dec. arcade, now blocked, seems at one time to have divided the sanctuary from some demolished chantry. The base and shaft of a cross ornament the village green.

_Raddington_, a village on the border of Devons.h.i.+re, 2 m. N. of Venn Cross Station. The church contains a good panelled oak roof and a fine screen. In the chancel is a mutilated piscina.

RADSTOCK, a small town 8-1/2 m. S.W. from Bath, with two stations close together in the centre of the main street. It possibly derives its name from its proximity to the Fosse Way. It is now the metropolis of the Somerset coalfield. It is a rather disconnected sort of place, lying in a deep valley surrounded by coal-pits, and throwing out long rows of workmen's cottages up the hillsides. The church, originally a small building (as the rood-stair on the S. wall indicates), has been restored and enlarged out of all recognition. A curious _bas-relief_, with the Crucifixion on one side and the Virgin and Child on the other, has been built into the E. wall of the S. porch. Within the church is a heavy Norm. font and a mutilated piscina.

_Redlynch_, a small hamlet 1-1/2 m. S.E. from Bruton. The church is without interest. _Redlynch Park_ is the seat of the Earl of Ilchester.

_Rimpton_, a village 3/4 m. S.E. of Marston Magna Station. It has a pretty church, cruciform in plan, with a chancel of E.E. or Dec.

origin. There is a niche for a stoup inside the S. door, and piscinas in the chancel and S. transept. The pulpit is Jacobean, whilst some of the carved bench-ends date from the 15th or 16th cent., and bear the Tudor rose. Note the squint and ancient font.

_Road_, a village on the borders of Wilts.h.i.+re, 4 m. N.N.E. from Frome.

The church has a heavy embattled tower, from the top of which Charles II. is said to have reconnoitred the surrounding country after his hurried flight from Worcester. The interior is disappointing. There is an empty canopied recess in the S. aisle, and a piscina in the chancel.

_Rodden_, a small parish 1-1/2 m. E. from Frome. There is no village.

The church stands in a farmyard, and has to be reached by crossing the fields. It is a quaint little pseudo-Perp. structure with a toy tower, built 1640.

_Rowberrow_, 2-1/2 m. E. from Wins...o...b.. or Sandford Stations, is a parish which was once the centre of a mining district, but the mines are now disused. Its little church lies under Dolbury Camp. Above the S. porch is a stone with interlaced carving.

_Ruborough Camp_. See _Broomfield_.

_Ruishton_, a village 3 m. E. of Taunton. Its church has a ma.s.sive tower, with double belfry windows and prominent b.u.t.tresses, but the absence of parapet and pinnacles gives it an unfinished appearance.

Traces of Norm. architecture remain in the S. porch, and there is some Dec. work, in the S. chapel, but the nave is Perp. The font is richly carved. A poor painting--the Adoration of the Magi--which is supposed to be Flemish, forms an altarpiece. In the churchyard is the base of a large cross.

_Runnington_, a village 1 m. N.W. of Wellington. Its church is a characterless little building at the bottom of a lane. It retains its rood stairway.

_St Catherine_, a parish 4 m. N.E. of Bath. It is reached by a road from Batheaston (2 m.), through a very pretty valley (where the road forks, turn to the L.), and has much that is interesting. Portions of the church are late Norm. or E.E. (note the tower and chancel arches, and the fine font, with its variety of mouldings); but it was rebuilt by Prior Cantlow of Bath in the 15th cent. The beautiful E. window, with its stained gla.s.s, bearing a Latin inscription, is of that date, and so is the carved pulpit, the colours of which are believed to reproduce the original. There is a monument, with figures, to William Blanchard and his wife (1631), N. of the chancel. Note, too, the roof of the choir, and the ancient gla.s.s in the S. windows. Near the church is a cruciform t.i.the barn. The Grange, close by, is also the work of Prior Cantlow; but the porch is a later addition, of Jacobean times.

_St Dec.u.man's_. See _Watchet_.

_St Michael Church_, a small parish 1 m. N. of Durston. Its church is correspondingly small, with a low N. tower surmounted by a pyramidal roof. It contains one or two monuments of the Slade family.

_Saltford_, a large village (with station) 6 m. W.N.W. of Bath, situated on the Avon. Its church, restored in 1851, is without interest, though it has a good Norm. font, with roughly carved heads below the bowl.

_Sampford Arundel_, a small village 2-3/4 m. S.W. of Wellington. Its church, in which nave and aisles are covered by a single roof, has a curious bit of sculpture (hands holding a heart) inserted in the N.

wall.

_Sampford Brett_, 1 m. S.E. of Williton, a village deriving its name from the family of Brett, one of whose members took part in the murder of Thomas a Becket. The church is cruciform, but the plan is obscured by the position of the tower and a chapel on the S. side. The only objects of interest are (1) the carved seat ends, one of which has the figure of a lady (supposed to be Florence Windham, of whom it is related that she was buried when in a trance, from which she was awakened by the s.e.xton, who opened her coffin in order to steal her rings), (2) the effigy of a mailed warrior (in the vestry), presumably one of the Bretts.