Somerset Part 10

_Halse_, a pleasant village, 2 m. N.W. of Milverton. It has a small but very interesting church, standing in a beautifully kept churchyard, which commands a fine view of the Quantocks. Its choicest possession is a very fine rood-screen: note the old beam above, and window. Other features deserving attention are (1) gla.s.s in E. window, (2) curious font, probably early Norm., (3) medallions in spandrels of arcade, (4) piscina on window-sill of sanctuary, (5) painted mural device on S.

wall of nave, (6) fragments of carving in porch, (7) squint. The large windows in the porch are somewhat unusual.

_Ham, High_, a village occupying a fine breezy situation on the top of High Ham Hill, 4 m. N. from Langport. The church in its centre is a handsome building, typically and consistently Perp. It contains a fair roof, some panelled bench-ends, and a curious lectern, but its princ.i.p.al ornament is a fine Perp. chancel-screen. Note (1) stoup in porch, (2) the vigorously executed gargoyles, especially the pair over the porch, a mediaeval presentation of Darby and Joan.

_Ham, Low_, a village 2 m. N. of Langport. The church, which stands in the middle of a field, is something of a curiosity (call for keys at farm opposite). It is an excellent example of 17th-cent. imitative Gothic. Its builder was Sir R. Hext, whose political sentiments may be inferred from the motto with which he has adorned the chancel-screen, "My son, fear the Lord, and meddle not with them that are given to change." At the end of the N. aisle are effigies of the founder and his wife, and at the corresponding end of the S. aisle is a marble tablet to the memory of Lord Stawell, who has, however, left his own memorial outside. The perplexing series of terraces overlooking the church are all that remains of a fantastic scheme of his to build a mansion which, like his wife and horse, should be the most beautiful thing of its kind in the world. But _L'homme propose_...; Lord Stawell never got any further than these embankments.

_Hambridge_, a village equidistant from Langport and Ilminster (5 m.).

The church is modern.

_Hamdon Hill_. See _Stoke, East_.

_Hardington_, a hamlet 5 m. N.W. of Frome. The church is a small building with a W. tower. In the neighbourhood is Hardington Park.

_Hardington-Mandeville_, a village 4-1/2 m. S.W. of Yeovil. The church was rebuilt in 1864, but retains some ancient features, including a good Norm. arch and font, and a Jacobean pulpit.

_Harptree, East_, a village on a spur of the Mendips, 6 m. N. from Wells. It possesses the attractions of a castle, a cavern, and a combe.

The last is a thickly wooded glen near the top end of the village. On an inaccessible tongue of land at the far end of the gorge are the remains of _Richmont Castle_, one of those lawless strongholds which in the days of Stephen were a terror to the country side. In 1138 it was strongly garrisoned by its owner, William de Harptree, on behalf of the Empress Matilda, but was taken by Stephen by the ruse of a feigned repulse. Now, only a fragment of the keep overlooks the glen. Half a mile beyond is a remarkable cavern, the _Lamb's Lair_, entered by a vertical shaft of some 70 fathoms. The chamber is of very considerable dimensions, and is said by those who have seen it to be quite the finest cave in the Mendips. The church is not particularly noteworthy except for the odd device of avoiding a squint by an extension of the arcading. The walls, font, and S. doorway are Norm. The S. porch is of unusual size and contains a monument which must be a standing reproach to a declining birthrate. Under a large Elizabethan canopy is an effigy of Sir J. Newton (1568), attended by twenty children. At the other end of the village are two mansions, _Harptree Court_ and _Eastwood_.

_Harptree, West_, about 1 m. N. of East Harptree. The church has a Norman tower with an ugly slated spire. The rest of the building has been reconstructed, but contains a Norman chancel arch, a large Norman font, and a good piscina. In the churchyard are seven large conical yew trees. Opposite the church is _Gournay Manor_, a fine Jacobean house, and near it is _Tilley Manor_, a 17th-cent. building, deprived of its top storey. They are now farmhouses.

_Haselbury Plucknett_, a village 2-1/2 m. N.E. of Crewkerne. It has a Perp. church with an E.E. N. chapel, which is a.s.sociated with the memory of St Wulfric, who, born at Compton Martin, resided here, and died in 1154. The body of the Church has an old font. A priory of Austin canons, dating from the 12th cent., once existed here.

_Hatch Beauchamp_, 6 m. S.E. from Taunton, is a village (with station) situated in very picturesque surroundings. The church (best reached through the deer park) has a good tower, crowned with numerous pinnacles. Note (1) the foliaged bands round the pillars of the arcade; (2) the excellent bench-ends; (3) the fragments of old gla.s.s in the windows of the N. aisle; (4) the large picture, a "Descent from the Cross," by Perriss; (5) the window in the chancel to the memory of Colonel J.R.M. Chard, of Rorke's Drift fame, with a wreath preserved beneath it sent by Queen Victoria. The obelisk near the S. door is said to have once been the churchyard cross.

_Hatch, West_, a village 1-1/2 m. W. of Hatch Beauchamp. The church has been entirely rebuilt (1861).

_Hawkridge_, a parish 5 m. N.W. of Dulverton Station, consisting merely of a cl.u.s.ter of cottages and a tiny church. It is perched on the top of a ridge of high ground separating the Barle from its tributary stream the Danes Brook. The valleys on either side are beautifully wooded, and exhibit some of the most romantic scenery in Somerset. The church has a plain Norm. doorway.

_Heathfield_, a parish 2-1/2 m. E. of Milverton. Its church is small, and the only objects of interest which it contains are (1) a mural monument on the N. of the chancel, with kneeling figures, of the 16th cent.; (2) a carved oak pulpit (said to be reconstructed from ancient materials). There is the shaft of an ancient cross in the graveyard, with a mutilated figure.

_Hemington_, a village lying at the end of a wide vale, 3 m. E.S.E.

from Radstock. The church has a few features in common with the neighbouring church of Buckland Denham, viz., (1) peculiar arrangement of windows in tower, (2) clerestory to nave, though the building possesses only one aisle. The interior shows (_a_) some good Dec. work in windows, some of which have foliated rear arches, with detached shaft; (_b_) plain Norm. chancel arch. Observe also (1) piscina on the respond of the chancel arcade, (2) the central pier of the arcade (it is surrounded by four detached shafts). On the hill above the village, standing by the side of the Trowbridge road, is a square tower of as much beauty as utility, locally known as "Turner's Folly." The "green"

of the neighbouring hamlet of Falkland retains its ancient stocks.

_Henstridge_, a large village 7 m. S. of Wincanton, with a station on the S. & D.J.R. The church has been rebuilt (except the tower and part of the N. and W. walls), but contains some ancient features. There is a 15th-cent. altar-tomb in the chancel under a carved and coloured canopy, with two effigies. These represent William Carent (who inherited the property of two wealthy families, the Carents and the Toomers), and his wife Margaret (_nee_ Stourton). The arms that adorn the tomb are those of Carent and Stourton. The rhyming inscription round the arch of the canopy is, _Sis testis Xte quod non tumulus iacet iste corpus ut ornetur, sed spiritus ut memoretur_. There is also an elaborately carved niche or tabernacle in the N.E. angle of the N. (or Toomer) aisle. Note, too, (1) decorated piscina, (2) remains of figures over the entrance to the N. chapel. The "Virginia Inn" at the cross-road is said to be the spot where Sir Walter Raleigh's servant emptied a stoup of beer over his master, who was smoking, in the belief that he was on fire. At Yeaston, a hamlet between Henstridge and Templecombe, there once existed a Benedictine priory, attached to an abbey of that Order at Coutances (Normandy). A field is still said to bear the name of the Priory Plot.

HIGHBRIDGE, a growing little town on the Brue, 1-1/2 m. S.E. from Burnham. It has two stations, one on the G.W.R. main line to Taunton, the other on the S. & D. Burnham branch. It possesses a town-hall, a cattle market, and other evidences of prosperity. Brick and tile making are carried on in the locality, and a large bacon factory and a timber-yard are amongst its more important commercial undertakings. As the river is navigable up to this point for small craft it also encourages a coasting trade. Of antiquarian interest it has none. The church is as modern as the town.

_Hill Farrance_, 3-1/2 m. N.E. of Wellington, is a village on the Tone.

Its church (ded. to the Holy Cross) has a ma.s.sive-looking tower, with an open-work parapet, bearing the initials I.P. It contains sedilia and a piscina, and some carved bench ends. On the S. of the building is a mortuary chapel (14th cent.) of one of the De Vernais (once lords of the manor), which at the restoration of the church in 1857 was given to the parish.

_Hinton Blewitt_, a small and secluded village, 4 m. S.W. from Clutton.

The church is Perp., with a fair W. tower. It possesses a stoup and a rather poor piscina. The village, which is on the slope of a hill, commands a pleasant view of the Mendips.

_Hinton Charterhouse_, a small village 6 m. S. of Bath, on the more easterly of the alternative roads from the city to Frome. Its sole attraction consists in a few fragments of a once considerable Carthusian priory. About 1/2 m. N. of the village, in the corner of a field near the main road, is what looks like a low gabled church tower, with a small E.E. chancel and some other out-buildings. These remnants are all that survive of a house founded here in 1232 by the widow of William Longsword, for the accommodation of a settlement of Carthusians; and it is worth noticing that of the Carthusian houses in England, which never numbered more than nine, Somerset had two. The ruins, which are very meagre, consist of two groups of buildings. (1) One is a three-storeyed structure, containing on bas.e.m.e.nt a vaulted, chapel-like chamber, lighted by side lancets and a terminal triplet, and possessing a large piscina and an aumbry. This is generally but quite erroneously described as the "chapter-house." It may have been the fratry. On the first floor is another vaulted chamber, supposed to have been the library. It communicated at the end with a pigeon-cote, and is reached by a good stone staircase, which also gives access to a loft above. On the L. of the pa.s.sage leading to the library will also be noticed a small room lighted by a square-headed window. (2) The second, in the stable-yard of the adjoining manor house, is the refectory, a good, vaulted apartment, with a row of octagonal columns down the centre. At the W. end it opens into the kitchen, in which will be discovered a fireplace. Of the priory church, which ab.u.t.ted on the N. wall of the so-called "chapter house," nothing is left but a single trefoiled piscina and one of the vaulting shafts. The buildings have evidently been freely used as a quarry for the erection of the neighbouring manor house. In a dingle in the adjoining field is a stone-faced, pointed archway, tunnelling the road. The parish church is an unattractive, ivy-clad building near the village. _Hinton House_ (J.C. Foxcroft) is a modern mansion, with a fine open green in front of it.

_Hinton St George_, a clean and attractive village equidistant (4 m.) from Crewkerne and Ilminster. It possesses a very fine cross, having on one face a representation of St John Baptist, which was originally flanked by smaller figures. The shaft has been barbarously crowned with a sundial and large ball. The church has a dignified tower with numerous pinnacles, and a pierced, embattled parapet. The W. front has a single large window which breaks the string course (cp. Shepton Beauchamp and Norton-sub-Hamdon). The S. porch has a ribbed and panelled roof and numerous niches. The interior of the church is not very interesting, apart from the tombs and monuments of the Pouletts, dating from the 16th and 17th centuries. Most are in a large N. chapel, but there is one between the chapel and the chancel, and another in front of the family pew. The font is carved with shields bearing alternately a cross and the Poulett arms. There is a piscina in the chancel. _Hinton House_, the mansion of Countess Poulett, in the neighbouring park, has portions dating from the time of the first Sir Amyas Poulett (d. 1537), but the rest is later. It has a fine collection of pictures.

_Holcombe_, a colliery village 3-1/2 m. S. of Radstock. It has a small modern church; but an old church, now disused, lies in a dingle in some fields a mile away from the village. This possesses a good Norm. S.

doorway, with a curious inverted inscription scratched on one of the capitals. The careless rebuilding of the columns shows that it is not in its original position.

_Holford_, a village 6 m. E. from Williton, at the foot of the Quantocks. Its church is picturesquely situated; in the graveyard is an old cross with a mutilated figure on the shaft. Past the church, two pleasant combes may be reached, Tannery Combe and Hodder's Combe (the latter is perhaps a corruption of the name of Odda, the Earl of Devon who aided Alfred, see p. 201). The hill between them bears the name of _Hare Kanp_, possibly preserving the memory of the Saxon armies that once marched along the trackway that crosses it (M.E. and A.S. _here_, an army). Near Holford is _Alfoxden_, the residence of Wordsworth in 1797, when Coleridge was at Nether Stowey.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ALFOXDEN HOUSE, NEAR HOLFORD]

_Holton_, a village 2-1/2 m. S.W. of Wincanton. Its church is small and contains a stone 15th-cent. pulpit and a Norm. font. On the S. porch is an old sundial, and in the churchyard the base of a cross.

_Holms, The Flat and Steep_, two islands in the Bristol Channel, forming familiar objects to all visitors to the Somerset sea-board.

Geologically they belong to the county, for they are the last expiring protest of the Mendip chain against its final submergence in the sea.

The Steep Holm, the nearer and more conspicuous of the two islets, 5 m.

from the coast, is little better than a barren rock rearing its huge bulk precipitously, nearly 300 ft. above the waves. It is almost inaccessible, but has perhaps for this reason occasionally afforded an asylum to refugees from the mainland, although the statement that Gildas found security in this retreat appears to be an error. There still remain some fragments of a priory. The Flat Holm, 2 m. farther off, though of about the same circ.u.mference (1-1/2 m.), is a far less imposing object in the sea-scape, but is more amenable to the influences of civilisation. It is occupied by a lighthouse and a farm, and is sometimes made the excuse for a channel trip by visitors from the neighbouring watering-places, as it affords amongst other attractions some facilities for bathing.

_Hornblotton_, a parish 3 m. N.W. of Castle Cary Station. The church, which stands about a mile from the Fosse Way to Ilchester, is modern, but the tower of the old church is left standing, and a piscina has been removed from it to the new building.

[Ill.u.s.tration: HORNER WOODS AND PORLOCK VALE]

_Horner Valley_, one of the many charming walks which abound in the neighbourhood of Porlock. Follow the Minehead road for about a mile and then strike up the banks of the Horner Water by a lane on the R. On the way will be noticed spanning the stream a quaint pack-horse bridge beloved of photographers (cp. Allerford). At Horner village the road winds round to Luccombe, but a broad path follows the course of the Horner and leads up through the woods. The scenery is comparable with that of the E. Lynn. It is a delightful combination of wood, mountain, and rill, and is everywhere full of charm. The Horner Water descends from the moors and babbles its way through the valley to the sea. It receives on the right a contributary rill which flows through a combe that rivals the main valley in romantic beauty. The second plank-bridge across the water will lead up a very steep footpath to Cloutsham.

_Horrington, East and West_, two contiguous villages on the S. slope of the Mendips, 2 m. E. from Wells, and overlooking the city. At E.

Horrington there is a small modern church (1838).

_Horsington_, a largish village 1 m. N. of Templecombe. The church is s.p.a.cious and has been rebuilt (1884-85), with the exception of the tower. It contains a 15th-cent. octagonal font with, rudely carved figures of angels at the angles. Near the church is a cross (said to be 13th cent.) with the canopied figure of an ecclesiastic on the shaft.

_Huish Champflower_, a village 3-1/2 m. N.W. from Wivelis...o...b... The church is one of the few Dec. churches in the county, but not a pure example of the style, as the tower and window tracery are Perp. There is a good arcade of cl.u.s.tered columns with foliated capitals dividing the nave from the N. aisle. The window at the E. end of the aisle should also be observed, as the tracery is particularly good, and it retains some of its original gla.s.s. There is a barrow in the neighbourhood which has recently been excavated.

_Huish Episcopi_ is a parish situated E. of Langport, the two churches being less than half a mile apart. It is famed for its beautiful tower, which, however, is perhaps a little over-praised, for the crown of pinnacles, graceful in itself, does not seem to spring naturally from the summit, but to be super-imposed upon it. The belfry storey has double windows, and each stage is divided from the one below by bands of quatrefoils which produce rather a formal effect. The S. door is late Norm., its red colour being due to fire; in the upper corner of the porch traces of stone stairs are visible. Some Dec. windows remain in the chancel, but the majority are Perp.: the gla.s.s at the E. end of the S. aisle is by Sir E. Burne-Jones. Note (1) the stoup near S. door; (2) the piscina in the chancel; (3) the squint in the S. pier of the chancel; (4) the Jacobean pulpit (dated 1625).

_Huntspill_, a parish 1-1/2 m. S.S.W. from Highbridge, supposed to derive its name from Hun, a Somerset ealdorman in the reign of Egbert.

It has a very handsome church which has been rebuilt since it was destroyed by fire in 1878. The pillars of the arcade still show traces of the flames. The tower is good, with bold b.u.t.tresses. The church contains the effigies of a knight in armour and his lady, within a recess in the S. wall. Note (1) stoup in S. porch; (2) piscina in S.

chapel; (3) fine black oak pulpit.

_Hutton_, a small village 3-1/2 m. S.E. of Weston-super-Mare. It lies at the base of Bleadon Hill, and may be approached from Weston either through Uphill or by a path that leaves the Worle road. Its small but picturesque church has a good tower of three stages and preserves an excellent stone pulpit, reached by a recess in the wall (which once led to the rood loft), and two bra.s.ses to members of the Payne family (one will be found immediately in front of the altar, the other in a recess in the N. wall of the chancel). _Hutton Court_, which is close by, is a 15th-cent. building much altered.

ILCHESTER, a small, decayed town on the Ivel, 4-1/2 m. N.E. of Martock, which was formerly of considerable importance. Its name recalls the fact that it was a Roman station, and upon it several Roman roads converge. It was besieged in the strife between William Rufus and his brother Robert; and it was fortified in the Great Civil War. It once had a nunnery, and it was the birthplace of Roger Bacon, who was born here in 1214. But apart from its historic a.s.sociations it has little now to attract attention, its only noteworthy building being its church (the last remaining of five). This has a short tower which is octagonal throughout and does not rest, like others elsewhere, upon a square base. Some Roman bricks seem to be among the materials of which it is constructed, and there are a few old pieces of carving built into the walls. The oldest parts of the building appear to date from E.E. times, but it has undergone a good deal of restoration. Note (1) the E. window (three lancets under a hood moulding); (2) niches; (3) squint. There is a market cross, consisting of a cylindrical pillar supporting a sundial (cp. Martock). Though Ilchester is not now a borough, it was so once, and a very curious macehead (13th cent.) is still preserved.

_Ile (or Isle) Abbots_, a village 3-1/2 m. E. of Hatch Station. It gets its name from its position on the little river Ile (or Isle) and its former connection with Muchelney Abbey. It possesses an interesting church with a fine tower, having double windows in the belfry and numerous niches, which for the most part retain their statuary. The S.

porch has fair groining with a central pendant, and there are some beautiful pierced parapets. The windows are of various dates--E.E., Dec., and Perp. Note in the chancel (1) low side-window (cp. Bleadon, Othery), (2) piscina, surrounded by panelling, (3) triple sedilia. The font, rudely carved, is Norm. The arcade piers are encircled with the "Devonshire" foliage.

_Ile (or Isle) Brewers_ (the latter half of the name a corruption of _De Bruyere_, the family that once owned the manor) is a parish 5 m. E.

of Hatch Station. The church has been rebuilt (1861), and the tower (on the S.) is surmounted by a spire. Within is a Norm. font.

_Ilminster_, a small market town (with station) on the Ile, is a place of great antiquity but of little present importance, though it has some lace, shirt, and collar manufactories. It was attached to the Abbey of Muchelney until the dissolution of the monasteries. It possesses a n.o.ble church, the fine central tower having triple windows in double tier (cp. Mells and Leigh), and being surmounted by cl.u.s.tered pinnacles, whilst the vault is beautifully groined. The S. porch and the transepts are also excellently designed, these parts of the structure having been built by Sir William Wadham (15th cent.). The nave (rebuilt in 1824) is much inferior. Note (1) large ribbed squints; (2) font (probably once attached to a pillar); (3) vestry behind the E.

window (cp. N. Petherton, Kingsbury, Langport, and Porlock); (4) piscinas in transepts; (5) grotesque corbels. In the N. transept are the tombs and bra.s.ses of (1) Sir William Wadham (d. 1425) and his wife; (2) Nicholas and Dorothy Wadham (1609 and 1618), the founders of Wadham College, Oxford. In the S. transept is a monument to Humfrey Walrond (d. 1580). The communion plate includes two Elizabethan chalices. The only other building in the town of any interest is the Grammar School, N. of the church. It bears a motto and the date 1586, and owes its origin to Humfrey Walrond. It is now a girls' school, the boys having been transferred to new buildings (reached from the street S. of the church).

_Ilton_, a village on the Ile, 2 m. N. of Ilminster. It has a church of some interest. The windows are partly Dec. and partly Perp., and the tower is on the S. Note (1) piscinas in chancel and chapel; (2) bra.s.s of Nicholas Wadham (d. 1508); (3) effigy of "Joan," wife of another Nicholas Wadham (d. 1557).

_Keinton-Mandeville_, a large village 4 m. E.N.E. of Somerton, lying for the most part along the Castle Cary road, with a station on the Castle Cary and Langport loop-line. The church is in a field at the S.

extremity of the village. The nave was rebuilt in 1800, but the chancel retains some indication of its E.E. origin, and the old Norm. font is still preserved. The village was the birthplace of Sir Henry Irving, whose real name was Brodribb.