DODINGTON
The ancient parish of Dodington, probably so
named after the Domesday occupier, Dodo, (fn. 1) lies on
the north-eastern slope of the Quantocks west of
Nether Stowey, almost entirely surrounded by detached parts of the parishes of Holford and Stringston. Irregular in shape, its north-west and south-east
boundaries are marked by streams, its western by a
road. The regularity of the boundaries on the Quantocks probably reflects the relatively modern formation of Dodington common, defined on the west by a
pond called Wilmot's pool and on the south by a copse
beneath Dowsborough hillfort. The ancient parish
was estimated to be c. 585 a. in 1838. (fn. 2) Detached parts
of Holford were added in 1884 and 1886 to give a
total of 1,335 a. in 1891. The civil parish became part
of the civil parish of Holford in 1933. (fn. 3)
From the northern boundary at Barnsworthy farm
to the southern edge of Dowsborough copse 3 km.
away, the land rises gradually at first from below
76 m. to 138 m. on the Bridgwater-Minehead road,
and then steeply to c. 305 m. below Dowsborough.
Most of the northern part is marl and gravel, though
faulting at the foot of the scarp between the village
and the main road revealed sandstone, slate, and
limestone, which yielded copper ore in the 18th and
19th centuries. The higher land on the Quantocks to
the south lies on Hangman Grits. (fn. 4)
Dodington village comprises the church, the former manor house known as Dodington Hall, and the
former rectory house called Dodington House. It lies
away from the Bridgwater-Minehead road, from
which it is almost hidden by a spur of land. The
growing use of the road from the late 17th century,
confirmed by its adoption by the Minehead turnpike
trust in 1765, (fn. 5) seems to have drawn settlement along
the road near the Castle of Comfort inn and beside
the Old Bowling Green; there were more houses
there than in the village by 1791. (fn. 6) Barnsworthy
Farm, mentioned in the late 13th century, (fn. 7) was
probably always an isolated farmstead on the flatter
land north of the village, beside the road linking
Stringston with its land at Dowsborough. (fn. 8) Perry,
probably the site of the Domesday mill, gave its name
to a manor largely in Stogursey by the early 16th
century, but the settlement there may have been
shrinking by 1521 (fn. 9) when several houses were
reported to be ruinous.
There may have been open-field arable in the
northern part of the parish, where a furlong was
recorded c. 1200, (fn. 10) and a small piece of common
pasture between Perry mill and Barnsworthy, called
Furzegrove, survived until the mid 17th century or
later. (fn. 11) Most of the common land lay on the Quantocks. Arable and grazing rights gave way to use only
as a source of fuel by the mid 18th century, and from
1791 remaining common rights were bought out by
the lord of the manor to increase the areas already
used as coppice and plantation. (fn. 12) Inclosure and planting continued in the 19th century. (fn. 13) Duke's plantation and Sir Alick's plantation were named respectively after Richard Grenville (cr. duke of Buckingham and Chandos 1822) and Sir Alexander FullerAcland-Hood (d. 1892). (fn. 14) Some planting involved the
diversion of roads across the commons. (fn. 15)
A victualler was licensed in 1689 and his family
established the Castle of Comfort inn by 1713. (fn. 16) It
continued as an inn until the 1880s, (fn. 17) but was thereafter known as the Castle Coffee Tavern, with refreshment rooms and later a post office. Between the two
world wars it was a boarding house, and was sold as
a guest house by Lord St. Audries in 1952. (fn. 18) In 1980
it was a private house.
The Dodington Rit was a festival held near the
Castle of Comfort on the Sunday before Midsummer
to find the first whortleberry of the season, when
stalls were erected by the roadside. (fn. 19) The local name
Walford's Gibbet records the site where the murderer
John Walford was hanged at Dodington Green in
1789. (fn. 20)
There were 73 taxpayers in 1667. (fn. 21) The population
of the parish was 71 in 1801, and rose to 113 in 1821,
the last year of mining. After fluctuations in the
1830s and 1840s the total fell rapidly in the 1860s,
though by 1881 it had recovered to 91. Thereafter
there was a steady decline, but no separate figures for
the ecclesiastical parish are available after 1911, when
the total was 60. In 1931 the population of the civil
parish was 74. (fn. 22)
Dodington gave its name to the family which held
the manor from the 12th century or earlier and came
to prominence in the 17th. (fn. 23)
MANOR.
An estate known as Stawe, held in 1086
by Dodo in succession to Siwold, is identified as the
later manor of DODINGTON. (fn. 24) The early name
suggests a connexion with at least one of the other
neighbouring estates called Stowey. (fn. 25) The name
Dodington was used in the later 12th century when
Henry II confirmed to Baldwin son of Harding 3 virgates of land which his father and his ancestors had
held in Dodington of the order of St. John of Jerusalem. (fn. 26) The prior of the order of St. John was the
overlord in 1444, (fn. 27) and the manor continued to be so
held until the order was dissolved in 1540. (fn. 28) Thereafter Dodington was held as of the Hospitallers'
former manor of Halse, in 1559 of William Hawley,
and in 1620 of Sir Henry Hawley. (fn. 29)
Frodo of Preston, said to have been lord in Henry
II's reign, may have held other land in the later parish.
The terre tenant under him was Adam de Cunteville. (fn. 30) Adam's son William, succeeding to land at
Dodington and Perry, became thereafter known as
William of Dodington. (fn. 31) A Roger of Dodington was
owner of land in Dodington in the late 12th century, (fn. 32)
and was followed by another William. (fn. 33) By 1225
William had been succeeded by Roger of Dodington, (fn. 34)
who was followed probably by his son William.
Roger of Dodington, son of William and recorded in
1285–6, (fn. 35) was perhaps followed by Philip of Dodington. (fn. 36) Thomas of Dodington, son of Philip, is said to
have died before 1361, and to have been followed by
another Thomas. (fn. 37) A Thomas Dodington occurs in
1380 and survived until after 1415. (fn. 38) He was succeeded by his son John (d. 1444), and then by his
grandson, also John. (fn. 39) A third John Dodington,
married c. 1485, (fn. 40) may be the man who was knighted
in 1505 (fn. 41) and died in 1514. (fn. 42)
Sir John's son Richard (d. 1559) was followed by
Richard's son John. (fn. 43) Under an agreement made in
1568 the manor passed on John's death in 1573 to his
second son, George, who survived until 1620. (fn. 44)
George's heir was his young grandson Francis Dodington, knighted by 1627, who for his ardent support
of the royalist cause in the Civil War lost his estates in
1649. (fn. 45) The manor, with other family property,
passed from the Treason Trustees to the Committee
for Compounding, but in 1652 was formally conveyed
to trustees for the benefit of John Dodington, Sir
Francis's heir, himself a parliamentary sympathizer. (fn. 46)
John was in control of the manor by 1653. (fn. 47) From
1660 the property was under a group of trustees led
by Sir Richard Temple (d. 1697) of Stowe (Bucks.),
John Dodington's brother-in-law. (fn. 48) John died c.
1673, and was succeeded by his son George. (fn. 49)
George Dodington, later of Eastbury (Dors.), (fn. 50)
amassed a fortune in government service, but died
childless in 1720, leaving as his heir his nephew, also
George, son of his sister Alicia Bubb. (fn. 51) George Bubb,
the politician and wit, who took the additional name
Dodington in 1717, was created Lord Melcombe in
1761 and died without children in the following
year. (fn. 52) Under his uncle's will his property, including
Dodington, passed to Richard Grenville, Earl
Temple, grandson of Sir Richard Temple and greatnephew of John Dodington. Richard, Earl Temple,
was succeeded in 1779 by his nephew George Grenville (cr. marquess of Buckingham 1784) and in
1813 by George's son Richard, from 1822 duke of
Buckingham and Chandos. (fn. 53) The duke sold the
heavily mortgaged manor and adjoining properties to Sir Peregrine Fuller-Palmer-Acland in
1837. (fn. 54)
Sir Peregrine (d. 1871) was succeeded by his
daughter Isabel (d. 1903), wife of Sir Alexander
Fuller-Acland-Hood (d. 1892), and then by his
grandson Alexander Acland-Hood (cr. Baron St.
Audries 1911, d. 1917). (fn. 55) Alexander Peregrine, the
2nd baron, died in 1971, leaving as his heir his niece
Elizabeth, later wife of Sir Michael D. I. Gass,
K.C.M.G., (fn. 56) lady of the manor in 1980.
The manor house, known in the 20th century as
Dodington Hall, stands close beside the church.
Although let as a farmhouse probably from the mid
17th century, much of the late medieval house is
preserved, notably the open hall with a richly decorated roof, the archway into the oriel, and the plan of
the screens passage and the parlour wing, where at
least one of the beamed ceilings may be contemporary
with the hall. Heraldic glass in the parlour wing dates
from c. 1485. (fn. 57) Reconstruction took place in 1581,
when the parlour wing was extended westward, the
oriel was rebuilt to provide rooms on two floors, and
most of the windows, including those in the hall, were
renewed. (fn. 58) A large carved stone overmantel dated
1581 was put into the west wall of the hall. Alterations
were made in the mid 18th century. (fn. 59) In the later 19th
century the house was extensively restored, the service end to the east of the screen being completely
rebuilt and extended. The mechanism of a waterdriven spit is preserved in the cellar below the
kitchen.
ECONOMIC HISTORY.
There were 3 ploughteams on the 3-virgate holding at Dodington in 1086.
The demesne virgate had a team and there were 3 a.
of meadow, 30 a. of pasture, and 3 a. of woodland.
There were 3 serfs on the demesne, and 6 villeins and
2 bordars worked the rest of the land. (fn. 60) By the end of
the 12th century open-field arable had evidently been
established at Barnsworthy, (fn. 61) which was a tenant
farm in the 13th century, and by 1380 included some
manorial demesne. (fn. 62) By 1635 Barnsworthy's land
extended into Stringston and amounted to some
60 a., (fn. 63) though from 1654 the farm was divided. (fn. 64) It
was reconstituted and extended early in the 18th
century and by 1713 amounted to 163 a. The demesne
farm at Dodington, occupied by successive lords of
the manor until the mid 17th century, amounted to
158 a. in 1713. The two other main holdings in the
manor in that year were Dodington Barton (223 a.)
and Dyche farm (73 a.), both including land outside
the parish. All were let at rack rents. (fn. 65)
Common rights in the parish included areas of
pasture at Furzegrove, near Barnsworthy, and on the
Quantocks, where the Barnsworthy tenant in 1654
could plough or graze cattle and cut heath and furze. (fn. 66)
The tenant of Dodington farm in the 1750s could cut
heath, furze, and fern for brewing and baking. (fn. 67) Wheat
and barley seem to have been the principal crops in
the late 17th century, with farmers owning only a few
cows and sheep. (fn. 68) The parish, however, included a
shop selling fabrics, haberdashery, tobacco, soap,
candles, sugar, figs, and spice, the owner presumably
taking advantage of the traffic on the developing
route between Bridgwater and Minehead. (fn. 69) Farming
covenants in the mid 18th century included the use
of lime on all Bubb Dodington's property in the area
and the stipulation that no more than 70 a. of Dodington farm were to be ploughed, half for wheat and
peas, half for barley and oats. (fn. 70) There was already
some consolidation of fields and holdings, and by
1774 Barnsworthy farm included part of the former
Furzegrove common. (fn. 71)
Dodington (393 a.) and Barnsworthy (196 a.) farms
were the two largest holdings on the marquess of
Buckingham's estate by 1812, the latter 'greatly improved' by its first 'respectable' tenant. (fn. 72) Further improvements had already taken place on the Quantocks,
where in 1791 Buckingham bought out the common
right of Durborough (fn. 73) and Dodington tenants, excluding rights in existing woods and coppices (fn. 74) and
the 'most distant' commons. (fn. 75) For some time before
1812 more than 100,000 trees were planted annually;
in 1812 the whole of Buckingham's estate, including
Holford commons, had 90 a. of coppice, 74 a. of forest
trees, 106 a. of other plantations, and 40 a. in course
of inclosure. (fn. 76) By 1838 nearly a fifth of the parish was
under plantations. Arable land, amounting to 264 a.,
took nearly half the parish. (fn. 77)
Some reorganization of farms included the addition
of land in Holford to Perry Mill farm in 1830. (fn. 78) By
1851 Dodington farm measured 350 a. and the tenant
employed 25 labourers; Barnsworthy and Perry Mill
farms were 205 a. and 135 a. respectively. (fn. 79) A gradual
increase in the amount of grassland from the later
19th century continued in the 20th, accompanied by
a contraction in population.
Mining for copper began in the parish before
1712, (fn. 80) and miners from Cornwall and Derbyshire
were employed at various times in the early 18th
century. (fn. 81) The lease of Dodington farm in 1755 reserved mining and quarrying on 'the downs' and
elsewhere, (fn. 82) and an exploration lease of 1757 involved
a copper-mine agent from Over Stowey and a Taunton tobacconist. (fn. 83) From the 1780s until 1802 ore was
regularly mined and some was shipped through
Combwich. (fn. 84) Work was abandoned by 1812 because
the rector refused to come to terms for building a
steam pumping engine on the glebe. (fn. 85) Miners were
again employed regularly from 1817 under a scheme
sponsored largely by Thomas Poole of Nether
Stowey. (fn. 86) Work ceased in 1821 after heavy losses,
though the prospect of success had been 'certain'. (fn. 87)
Equipment was offered for sale in 1822, and the assay
office, the counting house, and the house of the captain of the mines were among properties unsold in
1827. (fn. 88) The counting house and the remains of the
engine house remained in 1980.
The mill on the estate in 1086 (fn. 89) was probably at
Perry where a fulling and a ruined grist mill stood in
1518. (fn. 90) A new fulling mill was built on a diversion of
the mill stream before 1666. (fn. 91) By 1732 the property
had been incorporated into Perry Mill Farm. (fn. 92)
LOCAL GOVERNMENT.
Dodington and Halse,
though widely separated geographically, formed a
single tithing in 1569 (fn. 93) and 1642, (fn. 94) presumably
because they had been associated, as they were in the
14th century, (fn. 95) as manors belonging to the Hospitallers. (fn. 96) By c. 1730 Preston Bowyer was considered
part of Dodington, (fn. 97) and later in the century Barnsworthy was part of Durborough tithing in Stogursey
and Perry Mill was in Holford tithing. (fn. 98)
By the early 16th century the two manors called
Durborough Dodington and Perry Mill had jurisdiction within the parish. (fn. 99) The jurisdiction of
Dodington manor, which in the 17th century included Dodington family holdings in St. Decumans,
Holford, Fiddington, and Nether Stowey, (fn. 100) survived until 1819 or later, (fn. 101) and there are court papers
for the period 1813–17. (fn. 102) A tithingman, two constables, and a hayward were appointed annually. (fn. 103)
The manor of Durborough, probably a division of
Durborough Dodington, survived until the early
19th century and included land on the Quantocks.
Some land in the parish may also have been within
the manor of Newhall in Holford. (fn. 104)
In 1840 it was reported that no vestry meetings
had ever been held and that none were required. The
sole churchwarden had then been in office for 'many'
years. (fn. 105) The parish became part of the Williton poorlaw union in 1836, the Williton rural district in 1894,
and the West Somerset district in 1974. (fn. 106)
CHURCH.
There was a church at Dodington by the
late 12th century. It was evidently then regarded as
an independent living, (fn. 107) but by 1335 it was described
as a chapelry, and was later dependent on Nether
Stowey, (fn. 108) probably the source of its original foundation. By 1473 it was a rectory, and so remained,
though it was joined with Holford in 1913. (fn. 109) In 1978
the united living of Dodington and Holford became
part of the benefice of Quantoxhead. (fn. 110)
In the late 12th century Roger of Dodington gave
the advowson to the order of St. John of Jerusalem. (fn. 111)
By 1335 the Hospitallers were receiving a pension, (fn. 112)
probably in lieu of rights which they had been
obliged to resign, since before the end of the century
the chaplain of Dodington was appointed by Goldcliff Priory (Mon.), as patron of Nether Stowey. (fn. 113)
The priory's possessions passed to Tewkesbury
Abbey, which was thought to have the rectory in
1463, (fn. 114) but ten years later John Dodington, as lord
of the manor, presented to the living. (fn. 115) The patronage
was held by successive lords of the manor; from 1913
Lord St. Audries was joint patron of the united benefice, (fn. 116) and Lady Gass was a joint patron of the
benefice of Quantoxhead from 1978. (fn. 117)
The rectory was valued at £5 6s. 8d. in 1535 (fn. 118) and
at £30 c. 1668 and 1705. (fn. 119) The net income was £120
in 1831, (fn. 120) about the same in 1851, (fn. 121) and £57 in 1913. (fn. 122)
Tithes, with oblations and other casual receipts, were
worth £4 13s. 2d. in 1535. (fn. 123) By 1705 hay tithes were
payable as a modus of 1d. or 2d. an acre. (fn. 124) Tithes
were commuted in 1838 for a rent charge of £90. (fn. 125)
Glebe was worth 13s. 6d. in 1535, (fn. 126) and amounted to
c. 20 a. in 1633. (fn. 127) By 1838 there were just over 18 a.,
which in 1868 and 1874 were exchanged for other
land, (fn. 128) all of which was sold in 1920. (fn. 129)
The rectory house in 1633 comprised a hall, little
parlour, buttery, and kitchen, with a single room and
a small study above. (fn. 130) By 1815 its successor was a
mere cottage having one room below and one above. (fn. 131)
It was evidently rebuilt between 1831 and 1838 and
was later extended. (fn. 132) The house was sold in 1920. (fn. 133)
In 1980 it was known as Dodington House.
The church was served by curates from the 1560s. (fn. 134)
Most rectors seem to have been resident in the 17th
century; (fn. 135) Michael Pollard, rector 1659–67, was also
rector of Holford. (fn. 136) Henry Castleman, rector 1714–18,
was at the same time resident curate at Wedmore,
and his successor, Benjamin Melliar, rector 1718–27,
was from 1722 also vicar of Kilton and from 1723
rector of Bawdrip. (fn. 137) Curates were employed in the
late 18th century. (fn. 138) In 1776 there were c. 12 regular
communicants. (fn. 139) By 1815 the rector was an absentee
serving Wembdon as curate and leaving Dodington
to the care of a man who lived at Nether Stowey and
who was curate of Holford. Services were then held
every other Sunday. (fn. 140) The vicar of Stockland Bristol
was serving the parish in 1827, (fn. 141) but from the 1830s
there was a resident rector who by 1840 held services
on alternate Sundays with quarterly celebrations of
communion. (fn. 142) On Census Sunday 1851 the general
congregation numbered 50, but the average was
lower. (fn. 143) By 1870 two services, each with a sermon,
were held each Sunday, with monthly celebrations. (fn. 144)
The church of ALL SAINTS, close to the former
manor house, comprises a chancel with south chapel,
nave with north porch, and west tower. The small
nave may retain the 12th-century plan, the porch
and the lower stages of the tower were added in the
15th century when the chancel was rebuilt. The nave
was given new windows and a new roof in the 16th
century. The chapel was built as a Dodington family
pew in 1610. (fn. 145) The top stage of the tower was added
or renewed in 1772. (fn. 146) Fragments of medieval glass
remain in the east window of the chancel. (fn. 147)
There are four bells of 1870. (fn. 148) The plate is modern. (fn. 149) The registers begin in 1538, but pages between
1635 and 1651 have been cut out. (fn. 150)
NONCONFORMITY.
None known.
EDUCATION.
In 1847 a Sunday school for 9 boys
and 6 girls was held in the church, and was supported by subscriptions. (fn. 151) It was still held in 1851, (fn. 152)
but there was no day school, and from 1875 children
attended school at Dyche in Stringston. (fn. 153) There was
a private boarding school for girls in 1810, (fn. 154) and a
school for boys was held at the rectory house in
1866. (fn. 155)
CHARITIES FOR THE POOR.
None known.