KNOWLE ST. GILES
The parish of Knowle St. Giles lies on the
northern scarp of Windwhistle ridge 2½ miles NE.
of Chard and 2¼ miles SW. of Ilminster, and had an
area estimated at 540 a. in 1842. (fn. 1) Bere Mills farm,
a detached portion of Dowlish Wake, was added to
the parish in 1885, increasing the area to 765 a. (fn. 2) It
is irregular in shape, extending 1½ mile from E. to
W. and a maximum of 1 mile from N. to S. It is
bounded on the N. by Ilminster and Dowlish
Wake, on the E. by Cricket Malherbie, on the S.
by Chaffcombe and Chard, and on the W. by Combe
St. Nicholas. In 1933 the parish was amalgamated
with Cricket Malherbie in Abdick and Bulstone to
form the civil parish of Knowle St. Giles, giving
a total extent of 1,226 a. (fn. 3)
The parish is divided by the young river Isle and
its tributaries, one of which forms part of the
southern boundary at Woodhouse farm. From the
gravel of their valley, which has signs of former
mill-leats, the land rises gently, in the west to over
275 ft. at Clayhanger, and in the E. to over 400 ft.,
but sloping gently northwards. Like most of the
Windwhistle ridge the soil is over Upper and Middle
lias. (fn. 4)
The principal route through the parish, linking it
with Ilminster and Dowlish Wake, runs across
Knowle green (Middle Knowle green in 1787), (fn. 5)
and at its NE. end is known as Wooley Lane. From
Knowle green a second road runs eastwards over
Upper Knowle green (fn. 6) at Churchills to Cricket
Malherbie and Cudworth. The Chard—Ilminster
road, turnpiked in 1759, formerly followed the
western parish boundary, but in 1836 was diverted
further east on a more direct route. (fn. 7) In 1787 a lane
ran north from Knowle green to Bere Mills farm in
Dowlish Wake, and another followed the northern
parish boundary running from Ilminster to a crossroads called Four Lanes on the turnpike road. (fn. 8)
Both these lanes had been 'long thrown into' the
adjacent fields by 1820. (fn. 9) Harford Lane (Harput
Lane by 1751) has not been located but linked
Knowle and Dowlish Wake and was declared to be
a private road in 1676. (fn. 10)
There is no village of Knowle, but settlement was
formerly greater around Upper and Middle Knowle
greens. Knowle Green Dairy and Woodhouse Dairy
(in 1973 the Firs) are both at Middle Knowle green,
which was also the site of the manor pound. (fn. 11) The
parish church appears isolated at the end of a path on
the high ground in the east, where the former St.
Giles's well (mentioned 1620, 1673) was sited. (fn. 12)
Other settlement is in isolated farms at Illeigh,
Woodhouse, and Pinkham. Widgery farm occurs in
1444 as the field-name Wygellysworthe. (fn. 13)
Chard canal, cut through the parish beside and
east of the river Isle, was opened in 1842 and closed
in 1867. It was succeeded by the railway to Chard
via Ilminster, opened in 1866, which followed
a similar course through the parish. (fn. 14)
In 1563 and 1601 Knowle had a mere ten households. (fn. 15) No further figure for its population is
available until 1801, when it stood at 61. It rose to 91
in 1821, thereafter fluctuating between 90 and 110.
It again rose in 1871, to 118, but, despite the extension of the civil parish in 1885, had fallen to 92 by
1891. After a brief rise to 100 in 1901 (fn. 16) it fell
gradually to 81 in 1931. The amalgamation with
Cricket Malherbie gave a population of 127 in
1951 and 118 in 1971. (fn. 17)
Sir Amias Preston (d. ? 1617), the naval commander, leased and probably occupied Woodhouse
between 1590 and 1600. (fn. 18)
In September 1644, while Charles I was at Chard,
royalist forces were quartered at Knowle before
moving to South Petherton. (fn. 19) Ten parishioners
were accused of participating in the Monmouth
rebellion of 1685. (fn. 20)
MANORS AND OTHER ESTATES.
In 1066
Godric and Alvric held the manor of KNOWLE,
but by 1086 had been dispossessed and their lands
granted to Roger de Courcelles. (fn. 21) The overlordship
of the manor is seldom mentioned but was claimed
in 1286 by Hugh Pointz (fn. 22) and in 1312 by Nicholas
Pointz, when he was succeeded by his son Hugh. (fn. 23)
The Domesday tenant was William de Almereio, (fn. 24)
but no occupier has been traced thereafter until c.
1186–8 when Alan de Furneaux included Knowle
chapel in his grant of Cudworth church to Wells
cathedral. (fn. 25) This grant was confirmed by Richard of
Knowle (fn. 26) who may have had some interest in the
manor or advowson. The manor was held by another
Alan de Furneaux in 1286 (fn. 27) and it evidently
descended with Cudworth manor. Lands at Illeigh
in Knowle were in 1498 held of John Speke as of
his manor of Cudworth. (fn. 28)
In 1303 Hugh de Beauchamp and Ralph of Stocklinch held lands in South Illeigh and Knowle
under Matthew de Esse and Humphrey de Kail. (fn. 29)
This indicates an earlier subinfeudation of
Knowle with Chaffcombe manor by Alan de
Furneaux or Geoffrey his son to Oliver Avenel
(d. c. 1226), and a subsequent descent with the
halves of Chaffcombe manor through Avenel's
daughters. The estate was subdivided, the Beauchamp half ultimately becoming the manor of
KNOWLE ST. GILES, and the Stocklinch half
comprising the farm or manor and mills of Illeigh.
By 1386 two thirds of the Beauchamp lands in
Knowle had been granted to John Dillington,
probably in right of Elizabeth his wife, for life
together with the reversion of the remaining third
on Nicholas Buller's death. Thereafter the lands
were to pass to Thomas and Joan Buller and their
descendants. (fn. 30) When James Goodwin purchased
John (VI) Buller's moiety of Chaffcombe manor in
1612 he was also offered Knowle manor for £800,
but refused it. (fn. 31) In the same year Buller sold Knowle
to William Powell, archdeacon of Bath (d. 1614), (fn. 32)
who was succeeded by his son Samuel (I) Powell
(d. 1656–7). (fn. 33) The manor then passed by successive
sons to Marmaduke (d. 1682), Samuel (II) (d. 1722),
Samuel (III) (d. 1738), and Samuel (IV) (d. 1739). (fn. 34)
Sarah Powell (d. 1783), mother of the last, executed
leases in Knowle until her second son Henry
(d. 1769) came of age, and on his death she and her
daughter Mary acted as joint lords. (fn. 35) Mary Powell
(d. 1787) succeeded her mother and, on her death,
the manor passed to her cousin the Revd. Thomas
Alford (d. 1805) of Ashill, grandson of Samuel (III)
Powell's sister Frances. (fn. 36) Alford agreed to sell the
estate to Lord Poulett in 1797, although the sale
was completed by Alford's widow Sarah, and son
Edward in 1811. (fn. 37) Thereafter the manor descended
through successive Earls Poulett, the lordship being
omitted from the sale of the estate in 1912. (fn. 38) William
John Norton was described as lord between 1927
and 1931, (fn. 39) but no subsequent reference to the
manor has been traced, nor any mention of a manorhouse.
The manor of ILLEIGH was held T.R.E. by
Bruning but by 1086 had been added to Knowle
manor and was held by William de Almereio under
Roger de Courcelles. (fn. 40) It descended with Knowle
until the division between the daughters of Oliver
Avenel, when it formed the nucleus of the second
half of the Knowle estate and passed with a half of
Chaffcombe manor to the Noneton family and their
successors. In 1303 it was held by Ralph of Stocklinch and included a carucate of land, 40 a. of
meadow, 15 a. pasture, and 5 a. woodland. (fn. 41) The
manorial administration was combined, like its
ownership, with the Poulett moiety of Chaffcombe
in the mid 16th century. (fn. 42) In 1918 Illeigh, then called
Knowle farm, was sold by Lord Poulett to the
tenant, E. R. Mead. (fn. 43) It passed to John Bale between
1919 and 1923 (fn. 44) and under its present name, Manor
farm, was sold by him in 1941 to Mr. L. Maidment,
owner in 1973. (fn. 45)
The house was first mentioned in 1303 (fn. 46) and was
probably occupied by the Burre family, originally of
Essex, who moved to Knowle from Cricket Malherbie between 1573 and 1581. (fn. 47) John Burre (d. c. 1585)
was succeeded at Knowle by his son Simpson, the
wealthiest inhabitant of the parish in 1628. (fn. 48) The
present Manor Farm, of flint and brick with Ham
stone dressings and tiled roof, has been totally
modernized and has no early internal features.
The capital messuage and farm of WOOD,
later WOODHOUSE, was first mentioned in the
early 13th century, when John of Wood, of Knowle,
held lands in Chaffcombe, (fn. 49) and Andrew of Wood
held a virgate of land at Knowle in 1235. (fn. 50) John
Buller (d. 1485) held Wood in fee under Knowle
manor in 1444 and his family claimed to have held
and occupied it from a much earlier date. (fn. 51) Thereafter it descended with the Buller half of Chaffcombe.
Alexander Buller (d. 1526) occupied the farm under
Lord Daubeney, probably as lord of the hundred,
and when the Bullers moved to Lillesdon they
leased Wood to George Poulett in 1573. (fn. 52) There
followed successive assignments of this lease to
occupiers: to John Andrews alias Fry in 1582, to
Amias Preston in 1590, and to Simon Courte in
1600. (fn. 53) John (VI) Buller bought the lease from
Courte in 1604 and sold it with his half of Chaffcombe to James Goodwin and others in 1612, with
which it passed to John Poulett, later Lord Poulett,
in 1613. (fn. 54) The farm continued in the Poulett family,
being occupied by John Bluet in 1701, until its sale
in 1913 to J. W. Davison. (fn. 55) In 1920 he sold it to
Holliday Hartley, and Hartley conveyed it in 1924 to
Mr. J. G. Vincent, the owner and occupier in 1973. (fn. 56)
The medieval house was burnt down in 1806. It
was thatched and included 'a spacious room open to
the roof' with 'a wide fireplace, spanned over with
an arched stone chimney piece'. After the fire
a female skeleton was found under a paving stone
and, within the wall near the oven, an infant's
remains. (fn. 57) The present Ham stone house was built to
the south of the original house after the fire. (fn. 58)
In 1624 Matthew Pitt of Cricket Malherbie died
holding under Knowle St. Giles manor 2 houses, a
cottage, 2 gardens, 3 orchards, and 145 a. of land in
Knowle and Dowlish. (fn. 59) It is not known when these
lands were enfranchised, but Matthew's son Benjamin
(d. c. 1650) of Standerwick left leases of the property to
trustees. (fn. 60) The freehold was sold in 1735 by Robert
Pitt, probably grandson of Benjamin, to Nathaniel
Hartley of London, under whose ownership it
became known as Knowle farm. (fn. 61) Hartley died
intestate without heirs in 1762 and the estate, then
containing 84 a., passed to the Crown. The lands
lay principally in the NE. of the parish with some
12 a. in Dowlish Wake. The farm was leased to John
Vincent for 31 years in 1788 and was purchased by
Lord Poulett in 1819. (fn. 62) The lands subsequently
descended with the Poulett estate and were taken
to form part of Pinkham farm in the early 19th
century. (fn. 63) The farm-house lay at Middle Knowle
green, although the lands were in a detached part
of Dowlish Wake parish. (fn. 64) It had 'fallen to decay'
by 1820 and was demolished soon after. (fn. 65)
ECONOMIC HISTORY.
In 1086 Knowle paid
geld for 1¼ hide and there was land for 2 ploughs.
Three virgates and one plough were held in demesne
and the remaining half hide with only a ½ plough
was worked by 5 villeins and 4 bordars. Stock
included 6 head of cattle and 48 sheep. Woodland
measuring 4 by 2 furlongs probably represented the
area later cleared to form the estate of Wood. To
Knowle had been added Illeigh, evidently then
a single farm, which gelded for 3 virgates and had
land for 2 ploughs tilled by a single demesne plough.
There were one villein, one bordar, and one serf,
and no stock was recorded. The values of both
estates before and after the Conquest remained
unchanged at 60s. and 15s. respectively. (fn. 66)
The early medieval estates were divided by the
river Isle, Illeigh on the west and Knowle on the
east with Knowle's woodland lying in the south.
Clearance of the woodland had probably begun by
the early 13th century when the existence of Wood
as a farm and freehold within Knowle manor may
be inferred. The parish thus comprised two large
farms and one manorial estate. Knowle manor was
described in 1382 as 2 messuages, 2 mills, one
carucate of land, 12 a. of meadow, 12 a. pasture, and
10s. rent, (fn. 67) and in 1386 as 2 messuages, one carucate
of land, 16 a. of meadow, 20 a. pasture, 2 a. wood,
12 a. moor, and 14s. 1d. rent. (fn. 68)
In 1444 there were three freeholders paying rents
of 25s. 9½d., the foremost of whom was John Buller
holding Wood, a water-mill, the pasture of Old Lea
(c. 40 a.), (fn. 69) and a close called 'Sherpeham'. Edward,
Lord Cobham (d. 1464), held a meadow called
'Aysshilyete', and Thomas Wattes (d. 1460) owned
a messuage and 40 a. in Knowle with a further 20 a.
in West Dowlish, (fn. 70) apart from further customary
lands in Knowle. The largest of the four customary
holdings was occupied by John Fouler: a tenement,
the only two cottages, 1½ a. arable, and 2 closes, and
the total rental of the manor was then £4 0s. 2½d. (fn. 71)
No reference has been found to the manor-house
or demesne of Knowle, but the demesne of Wood
is sometimes mentioned, (fn. 72) suggesting that Wood
served as the manor-house and was occupied as such
by the Bullers.
The value of Knowle manor had risen to £5 by
1486 (fn. 73) which may be compared with an identical
income from the Poulett lands at Illeigh in 1498. (fn. 74)
The latter estate then comprised 100 a. of pasture,
40 a. meadow, and 2 mills. (fn. 75) In 1542 Illeigh was
leased with Chaffcombe Poulett manor-house and
a further 122 a. of land. (fn. 76) The demesnes attached
to Wood totalled 98 a. in 1573, including a wood
near the house and a green, probably Middle Knowle
green. (fn. 77) The property was then let with Chaffcombe
Park (40 a.) in Chaffcombe and Marl Pit fields
(50 a.) in Cudworth. (fn. 78) Leases of other lands described
as former demesne of Wood were executed from
1569, including Pearse moor and Old Lea, both
lying in the east of the parish. (fn. 79)
By the 15th century most of the parish seems to
have been inclosed grassland (fn. 80) and there is no direct
evidence for any former open field system.
Unauthorized felling of ash trees in 'Knowle moor'
took place after the lord's death c. 1420 (fn. 81) and
common of unspecified pasture occurs in the 17th
century, (fn. 82) but no large tracts of open land can be
located. Most of the cottages lying within the manor,
which are first mentioned in the late 17th and earlier
18th century, are described as being built on the
waste, (fn. 83) and settlement throughout the parish seems
to have been generally by encroachments on the
roadsides made during that period.
Tenure from the 16th century was mostly on
leases for 99 years or 3 lives and few copyholds
survived into the 17th century. The sizes of manorial
holdings were small, none, apart from Old Lea of
38 a., being over 15 a. (fn. 84) In contrast Illeigh contained in 1707 141 a., all pasture and meadow, and
Woodhouse had 105 a., of which 35 a. were arable. (fn. 85)
In the 18th century leases for 99 years or 3 lives of
these two properties were granted to members of
the Poulett family, who then sublet for short terms
at much higher rents. (fn. 86) The extent of Illeigh was
subsequently increased by the addition of a tucking
mill and 9½ a. in Knowle, and 16 a. in Chaffcombe,
the whole being rented in 1786 for £162 10s. (fn. 87) With
the purchases by Lord Poulett of Knowle manor
from the Alfords in 1811 (fn. 88) and Knowle farm from
the Crown in 1819, (fn. 89) almost the whole parish, with
the exception of the glebe, passed into the hands of
a single owner. In 1819 Illeigh farm, the former
Alford lands, and Knowle farm, totalling 296 a.,
were amalgamated and leased to a single tenant for
£570 a year, and Woodhouse with 140 a., partly in
Chaffcombe, was let for £310. (fn. 90) By 1842 the Poulett
holdings of 471 a. covered 87 per cent of the parish.
A new farm had been created in the east of the
parish, Pinkham with 188 a., Illeigh totalled 158 a.,
and Woodhouse 111 a. Apart from the glebe of 36 a.
there were no other tenements over 12 a. in extent. (fn. 91)
The agricultural life of the parish during the late
18th and 19th centuries was dominated by the
Vincents, a large family of tenant farmers. Anthony
Vincent, initially from Chard but originally from
Ilminster, arrived in Knowle c. 1730. (fn. 92) His son
James (d. 1801), a butcher, leased Woodhouse farm
and other lands by 1771, (fn. 93) and the latter's son John
(I) (d. 1830) rented Illeigh from 1786. (fn. 94) Of John's
sons, William (d. 1856) held Woodhouse, John (II)
(d. 1854) held Pinkham, and Joseph Soper (d.
1855) held Illeigh and a small farm on the western
boundary, mostly in Chard. (fn. 95) The Vincents also
rented lands in Chaffcombe. Robert Vincent (d.
1834), brother of John (I), and his son Robert held
Chaffcombe Gate farm and another branch settled
at Kingston Well. (fn. 96) Woodhouse was occupied
successively by William Vincent's son and grandson,
J. G. Vincent (d. 1898) and J. W. H. Vincent (d.
1929). It was held in 1973 by the son of the last,
Mr. J. G. Vincent, who purchased it in 1924. In
1973 the family also held the Firs (formerly Woodhouse Dairy) in Knowle, Chaffcombe Gate,
Chaffcombe Lodge, and the former glebe in Chaffcombe, and Wallscombe in Chard. (fn. 97)
When the Poulett estate was sold in 1912 Pinkham
had 151 a., Illeigh (then Knowle farm) 142 a.,
Woodhouse 114 a. (of which 44 a. lay in Chaffcombe),
Knowle Green Dairy (formerly held with Pinkham) 47 a., and Woodhouse Dairy (held with
Woodhouse) 47 a. (fn. 98) The agriculture was mixed
with a predominance of dairy farming. In 1905
there were 453 a. of grassland and only 155 a. of
arable. (fn. 99) Only Manor farm (formerly Illeigh) had
over 150 a. in 1939, and this had fallen to 113 a. by
1941. (fn. 100) By 1973 Woodhouse had increased to 126 a.,
while Manor farm covered 88 a. The acquisition of
Pinkham farm and other lands in the eastern half of
the parish by Cricket Malherbie Dairies c. 1942
had resulted in a division of the parish between
them and the Vincent family. (fn. 101)
The economy of the parish has always been largely
agrarian, although fulling-mills indicate links with
the clothing trade, reinforced by references to two
clothiers between 1682 and 1703. (fn. 102) In 1851, apart
from six female glovers, the entire parish was
employed in agriculture. (fn. 103)
Mills.
Gilbert atte Mulle is recorded in Knowle
or Chaffcombe, probably the former, in 1327. (fn. 104)
A water- and fulling-mill at Illeigh were held by
Thomas Denebaud (d. 1362) under the Kail family
and descended with Illeigh manor to the Pouletts. (fn. 105)
In 1498 they were held with lands of 140 a. and
valued at 100s. (fn. 106) In 1532 the fulling-mill, then a copyhold of Chaffcombe manor and formerly occupied
by John Blackaller, was surrendered by Joan and
Dorothy Morren to John Coche. (fn. 107) John Irish diverted
the course of a stream flowing to the lords' mill in
1561, but as Irish held no property under the Pouletts
the manorial homage could not amerce him. (fn. 108) The
fulling-mill had reverted to the Morren family by
1572 when, on the death of Matilda, widow of
William Morren, the mill passed to her son
William. (fn. 109) In 1716 it was occupied as copyhold by
Robert Morren with a mansion house, and it was
leased in 1733 and 1746 to Peregrine Poulett under
the name of Knowle mills. (fn. 110) By 1747 the property
evidently included both the fulling- and the water
grist-mill mentioned in the 14th century. (fn. 111) The mills
occur in 1771 (fn. 112) but cannot definitely be identified
thereafter.
Another fulling-mill, owned by the Pouletts c.
1665, was then occupied by John Stone, between
1708 and 1731 by Elias Stone, and from 1731 by
Jennings Darby. (fn. 113) It was leased as Willmotts mill
for 42 years to Vile Miller in 1741 and excepted
from a lease of Illeigh farm two years later. (fn. 114) In
1786 a seven-year lease of Illeigh farm included
two water-grist-mills and two tucking-mills (fn. 115) and
these were held with the farm in 1832. (fn. 116)
Two mills held by John and Joan Beauchamp
in 1382 apparently lay in what became the manor of
Knowle. (fn. 117) In 1444 John Buller held a water-mill
in fee for a rent paid to Knowle manor. (fn. 118) A copyhold
tenement with grain- and fulling-mills, occupied by
John Miller, was held under the Powell manor of
Knowle in 1669, the tenant having liberty to erect
a cloth rack in the meadow. (fn. 119) The premises were
converted to leasehold in 1681 and held by John
Miller, clothier, in 1690. (fn. 120) This property may be
identified with a fulling-mill, formerly occupied by
William Robins, then by John Vincent, which
formed part of Knowle manor conveyed to Lord
Poulett in 1811. (fn. 121)
All the mills mentioned probably lay on or near
the river Isle near Illeigh Farm. In 1842 fields
named Millers Dry ground, Millers orchard, and
Millers mead lay immediately south of the farm,
and Tuckers Mill mead to the north-east. (fn. 122) The
opening of Chard canal in 1842 (fn. 123) may have disrupted the flow of water to some or all of these mills.
None is mentioned thereafter. A mill-house and
mill-leat lie at Manor (formerly Illeigh) farm,
immediately west of the farm-house. The iron
overshot mill-wheel was removed c. 1955. (fn. 124) It is
uncertain which of the above mills this represents.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT.
No court rolls have
been traced for the manor of Knowle St. Giles.
The Poulett lands at Illeigh were treated as copyhold under Chaffcombe manor by 1532, (fn. 125) and
courts between 1560 and 1572 were described as
being held for the manors of Chaffcombe and
Knowle. (fn. 126) Suit of court to the former Powell manor
was demanded of a lessee as late as 1853. (fn. 127)
During the 17th and 18th centuries there were
generally a single churchwarden and one assistant
or sidesman, although two churchwardens occur in
1729. (fn. 128) Vestry minutes survive from 1844 and
record the appointments of a churchwarden, overseer of the poor, waywarden, and (from 1857) a guardian of the poor. On occasions two or three of these
offices were held by one person, and a female
overseer was elected in 1874. (fn. 129)
A small cottage at 'Harput Lane' was leased by
the parish in 1751 to house the poor 'in actual
relief', (fn. 130) but no later reference to a poorhouse has
been traced. The parish joined the Chard poor-law
union in 1836. (fn. 131)
CHURCH.
The chapel of Knowle is first mentioned
c. 1186–8 when Alan de Furneaux granted it to
Wells cathedral as part of the endowment of
Cudworth prebend, upon which it was subsequently
dependent. (fn. 132) There is no earlier evidence to show
that it was annexed to Cudworth before that date.
The cure of souls belonged directly to the prebendary and the chapel was served by assistant curates
(called perpetual curates in the early 19th century) (fn. 133)
nominated by him until a vacancy in the prebend in
1844. The chapel was then separated from Cudworth
and the bishop assumed the appointment of perpetual curates, sometimes called vicars, at Knowle.
In an exchange of patronage in 1852 the advowson
was transferred to the bishop of London. (fn. 134) When
a vacancy occurred at Knowle in 1908 vain efforts
were made to restore Knowle to Cudworth prebend. (fn. 135)
The living was united with the benefice of Cricket
Malherbie in 1961 and has been held since that
year in plurality with Chaffcombe. (fn. 136)
No figures for the income of Knowle distinct from
that of Cudworth prebend are available until 1815,
when it was valued at about £90. (fn. 137) This figure had
fallen to £72 between 1831 and 1866, being composed of £60 a year from Queen Anne's Bounty
and £12 10s. from the lessee of the prebendal
glebe. (fn. 138) Customary tithe moduses were paid as at
Cudworth, except that the tithes rendered in 1636
by the tucking-mills were assessed by mutual
agreement. (fn. 139) The tithes of Knowle were commuted
for a rent-charge of £65 in 1842. (fn. 140)
The glebe lands totalled 27 a. of pasture in 1571,
the area of the same ground being estimated at 32 a.
in 1636. (fn. 141) These fields were still held by the
prebendary in 1842, although most had been
converted to arable. (fn. 142) By 1894 the amount of glebe
had fallen to 22 a., an acreage still held in 1923. (fn. 143)
Knowle was probably served principally by the
curates of Cudworth until the mid 18th century,
although a chaplain or assistant curate was recorded
in 1450, 1526, and 1532. (fn. 144) From 1760 a succession
of perpetual curates was licensed, all having
livings or posts elsewhere. Robert Burnett Patch
(curate 1778–80) was headmaster of Crewkerne
grammar school (fn. 145) and Lewis Evans, F.R.S. (curate
1780–1827), the first mathematics master at the
Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, London, was
a noted astronomer. (fn. 146) John Allen (curate 1839–55)
was headmaster of Ilminster grammar school and
was succeeded in turn at Knowle by his son-in-law,
Edmund Boger, and two of his sons, J. T. W. and
F. E. Allen. (fn. 147) Later the living was held by three
headmasters of Chard grammar school, George
Phillips (curate 1873–88), W. S. Watson (curate
1889–93), and C. E. Lucette (curate 1908–17). (fn. 148)
From 1893 the parish was usually held with the
rectory of Cricket Malherbie, and from 1939 with
that of Chaffcombe. (fn. 149) During the 19th century
assistant curates were regularly employed, although
these too were non-resident. In 1815 Richard
Preston and in 1827 Francis Mules held the post
with the curacy of Ilminster where they resided. (fn. 150)
In 1577 the prebendary was presented for not
repairing the windows of Knowle chancel, (fn. 151) and
his successor was also presented for dilapidations in
the chancel in 1637 and 1640. The north aisle
evidently belonged to the owners of Illeigh for the
earls Poulett were required to mend its windows in
1637 and 1729. The wooden bell tower, in a dangerous state, and the third bell, 'cracked and useless',
were repeatedly presented between 1691 and 1746.
The porch, tower, and pews were out of repair in
1747. (fn. 152) The curate held one service every Sunday
in 1815, for which he received £30, the surplice fees,
and fees of the churchyard. (fn. 153) By 1851 there were two
Sunday services, Census Sunday seeing a congregation of 39 in the morning and 75 in the afternoon,
with 5 Sunday-school pupils at each. (fn. 154) The rebuilding of the chapel in 1840 had provided an additional
105 sittings, and in 1851 of 150 seats, 120 were
free. (fn. 155) By 1870 there were one or two Sunday
services with sermons and Holy Communion was
celebrated about four times a month. (fn. 156)
In 1548 13s. 4d. was held by William Morne for
the maintenance of lights within the chapel. (fn. 157)
The chapel of ST. GILES was totally rebuilt in
1840. (fn. 158) The old church comprised a nave with
north and south porch. The nave and aisle had
east windows in the 15th-century style, that in the
former perhaps reset in the position of the chancel
arch subsequent to the removal of the chancel whose
dilapidation is mentioned above. A wooden bell
tower was replaced in the 18th century by a
western bellcote of stone, decorated with gothic
finials. (fn. 159)
The new church by Lewis Vulliamy has a chancel
with north vestry, and nave with south porch, all in
a 'middle gothic' style. In the churchyard there is
a 15th-century table tomb.
The plate is modern. (fn. 160) There are two bells, the
first dated 1606, probably by Purdue, the second
modern. (fn. 161)
The registers date from 1695 (marriages from
1696), but lack baptisms and burials for 1784–1812
and marriages for 1745–1812. (fn. 162)
NONCONFORMITY.
None known.
EDUCATION.
In 1819 the poor were 'without
means of educating their children', (fn. 163) but by 1835
a Sunday school for 20 pupils had been started,
supported chiefly by the incumbent with some
assistance from three farmers. (fn. 164) A small gothic
schoolroom was erected at the north corner of the
churchyard c. 1840, (fn. 165) probably contemporary with
the rebuilding of the church, and by 1846 the
school, taught by an unpaid master, had been
affiliated to the National Society. There were then
only ten pupils and the school was supported by
subscriptions. (fn. 166) The date at which the day-school
came into being has not been traced, but it was
functioning as a mixed church school in 1883 when
there was an average attendance of 24. (fn. 167) By 1903
the average attendance had risen to 34, housed in
two rooms which were also used for parish meetings.
The children were taught by a mistress and monitress and, apart from subscriptions and grants, the
school received £5 a year from an unspecified
charity. The inspector in that year was particularly
impressed by 'the careful and successful instruction
given in gardening'. (fn. 168) Average attendance figures
remained at about 35 during the early 20th century (fn. 169)
and the school closed in 1920. (fn. 170) The school building
was used for storage in 1973.
CHARITIES FOR THE POOR.
None known.