PARISH
Other Settlements
The early town and later borough occupied only a small
part of the total acreage of the parish. Outside its boundaries lay an extensive rural area comprising agricultural
land, parks and woodland, in the midst of which were a
number of early settlements. Glastonbury Tor, the site of
the earliest structures on the promontory as a whole,
seems to have been in more or less continuous occupation by a religious community from the 5th or 6th
century. By the 12th, it was the site of a chapel, a famous
landmark which was the scene of a fair in the middle ages
and of the execution of Richard Whiting, the last abbot
of Glastonbury, and two of his monks in 1539. (fn. 1) At the
westernmost end of the promontory, Beckery 'island'
was also probably part of the core estate from a very early
period. It bears an Irish place-name, Becc-Ériu, rendered
Parva Hibernia in Latin sources of the 12th century and
meaning 'Little Ireland'. (fn. 2) Another early medieval religious site, it had an important mill by the 13th century. (fn. 3)
Nearby, at the southern edge of the parish, Northover,
mentioned in 1451, was briefly the site of a mill in the
early 16th century, and of five farms by the mid 19th. (fn. 4)
In the east, Edgarley, a hamlet which gave its name to a
medieval tithing, included a chapel in the middle ages
and later a group of farms. (fn. 5) In the far east and west of
the parish, at their parks at Norwood and Sharpham, the
late medieval abbots had modest lodges, both later
farms, while from a relatively early date there were also
farms in the east at Havyatt and Wick. (fn. 6)
MANOR AND OTHER ESTATES
In 1086 that part of Glastonbury abbey's estate centred
on the town (vill) of Glastonbury comprised an area of
12 hides with which were associated the islands of
Meare, Panborough, and Andersey lying in the marshes
some distance to the north or north-west. (fn. 7) Meare island
subsequently became the centre of a separate estate and
parish, and Panborough, later in Wedmore, was part of
Meare manor in the 14th century. (fn. 8) Andersey, later
known as Nyland, was a pre-Conquest addition to the
original estate. (fn. 9) Its history in the Middle Ages is
obscure, but its manor and rectory were administered as
a separate estate in 1538–9 (fn. 10) and the claim that it was part
of the parish of Glastonbury in 1630 was refuted on the
grounds that it formerly had a chapel with baptism and
burial rights. (fn. 11) It was regarded, with its adjoining tithing
of Batcombe, as an independent parish in Glastonbury
Twelve Hides hundred in 1841, (fn. 12) and in 1933 was added
to Cheddar parish. (fn. 13)
Glastonbury manor, evidently coterminous with the
parish, came during the Middle Ages to be divided for
administrative reasons and later for reasons of ownership. By 1189 its core was the town and that land immediately surrounding it including its arable fields on the
hills to the east. Further east was that part known as extra
hagietam, beyond Havyatt, which had its own manorial
courts by the later 14th century and came to form the
chapelry and later parish of West Pennard. (fn. 14) Two smaller
estates were formed for particular administrative
reasons. Beckery manor, west of the town, was that part
of the abbey demesne in Glastonbury exclusively
supporting the office of prior of the monastery; it was
re-absorbed into the general abbey lands after the Dissolution. Similarly, the rectory estate had been assigned
to the abbey sacrist by 1291 and after the Dissolution
was given to the bishops of Bath and Wells. The three
parks of Norwood, beyond the hills to the east,
Sharpham in the far west, and Wirral, immediately to
the south-west of the town, were created during the
Middle Ages, the first two becoming separate holdings
after the Dissolution while the third continued to be part
of the abbey demesnes. Glastonbury Tor was part of that
same demesne estate until the late 18th century.
Glastonbury Manor
In 1086 the core estate of Glastonbury was the abbey's
12-hide holding. (fn. 15) By 1189 some of that estate was in the
hands of tenants in fee who held both within the town
and also outside; (fn. 16) other tenements in the manor were
occupied by hereditary servants of the abbey, holding by
charter so long as their duties were carried out. The
servants, numbering between 17 and 23 in the period
1189–1203, included porters, butler, baker, goldsmith,
and cooks, the office of one of the last dating from the
10th century. The hereditary holdings were extinguished
during the 13th and 14th centuries, (fn. 17) and were subsumed
into the abbey estate, part of which belonged to the
community as a whole and part to departments within it.
At the Dissolution the lordship or manor of
Glastonbury was retained by the Crown although much
of the land was at first leased and subsequently sold,
subject to Crown rent. The manor and the abbey site
formed the largest holdings in the parish. (fn. 18) In 1617 the
manor was granted to Sir Francis Bacon and other
trustees for the benefit of Charles, prince of Wales. (fn. 19) In
1628 the fee farm was purchased by trustees who in 1651
were authorized to sell to Roger Hill. It then comprised
rents totalling £240 0s. 0¼d. (fn. 20) Hill was still in possession
in 1656 but by 1713 it was owned by John Morris, by
1753 until 1763 or later by Humphrey Sturt, by
1799–1800 by Richard Messiter, in the earlier 19th
century by Edmund Batten, and in 1837 by Richard
Bevington and Devereux Bowly. (fn. 21)
In 1634 the manor lands, until then nominally in
Crown possession but subject to long leases, were
divided, 2/7 each being assigned to Sir James Cambell and
Thomas Some, and 1/7 each to William Strode, Basil
Nichol, and John Childe. In 1647 Strode acquired the
Childe share and in 1650 Cambell and Strode apparently
the Nichol share although Thomas Nicholls (d. c. 1755)
claimed a share which he devised to his three daughters. (fn. 22) In 1652 Cambell and Strode were described as fee
farmers of Glastonbury and Edgarley manors. (fn. 23)
Sir James Cambell was granting leases of his half share
of the manor between 1653 and 1656, each tenement
being arbitrarily divided into two equal parts, (fn. 24) but in
1657 he and William Strode arranged a more rational
partition of the whole estate. (fn. 25) Cambell's share was
settled on two of his three daughters, thus creating the
interests of the Corbett and Owen families which
continued until 1699. (fn. 26) Cambell himself died in 1659
and was followed successively by his sons James (d.
1660) and John (cr. Bt. 1661, d. 1662). John was
followed by his uncle Thomas (cr. Bt. 1664, d. 1665) and
by Thomas's sons Thomas (d. 1668) and Henry (d.
1699). (fn. 27) Henry's mortgaged estate was put up for sale in
1696 (fn. 28) and by 1701 the Cambell 4/7 and the Corbet and
Owen 3/7 of half the manor had passed to a relative by
marriage, William Coward, sergeant at law and recorder
of Wells. (fn. 29) Coward died in 1705 and was succeeded by
his son, also William, (fn. 30) and he by 1730 by his only
daughter Bridget, wife of the Hon. George Hamilton of
Wells. (fn. 31) Hamilton's heavily-mortgaged estate was twice
put up for sale in 1759 (fn. 32) and was evidently divided
between creditors, among whom was Sir Abraham Elton
whose grandfather and namesake had advanced money
on part of the estate in 1708. (fn. 33)
The Strode share, sometimes described as half the
manor, presumably passed on the death of William
Strode in 1666 to his son William (d. 1695) and to his
grandson, also William. (fn. 34) In 1713 the last sold to Peter
Berry (d. 1727), of Wilton, Taunton, half the manor or
reputed manor of Glaston alias Glastonbury with certain
exceptions. (fn. 35) Berry's son, also Peter, a maltster, sold in
1749 to William Reeve of Bristol. (fn. 36) Reeve was declared
bankrupt in 1773 and his estate, described as half the
manor, was bought in 1775 by Henry Burgum of
Bristol. (fn. 37) Burgum in the same year mortgaged it to
William Miller (fn. 38) who in 1783 was himself declared bankrupt. George Miller, brother of William and by then the
mortgagee, seems to have sold in 1785 to John Brooke. (fn. 39)
John Brown of Edgarley, probably successor to Joseph
Brown who held a substantial part of the Strode estate by
1766, (fn. 40) had acquired the lordship by 1789 and was
followed by his son Charles. Lordship passed, probably
by way of mortgage, to Thomas Hunt (d. 1797) and
Mary Flower Watts (d. 1810). Thomas's son Henry,
known as the Orator and eventual heir of both, died in
1835. Two years later the estate was divided and offered
for sale by Hunt's executor and heir, his son Henry.
Lordship was offered with an orchard and the site of the
former manor house. (fn. 41) In 1838 'all those or that manor
or manors or reputed manor or manors or lordship or
lordships of Glaston: otherwise Glastonbury and
Edgarley otherwise Edgarly', together with the hundred
of Glastonbury Twelve Hides were conveyed to William
Benjamin Naish, a local solicitor. In 1861 Naish sold the
same estate to his partner James John Rocke (d. 1869)
from whom it passed jointly to Rocke's daughters Emily
Susannah and Eliza Mary, later wife of Douglas
Hamilton McLean. Miss Rocke died in 1946 leaving her
estate to her sister; Mrs. McLean died in 1963 leaving the
lordship, with the exception of fishing rights, to her
solicitor G. H. Harland. (fn. 42) Mr. Harland died in 1987 and
his widow held the lordship in 1998. (fn. 43)
In 1775 the conveyance of the former Strode share of
the manor included the capital messuage, then standing
on the east side of Northload Street at its northern end. (fn. 44)
It was demolished in 1836. (fn. 45) It was a symmetrical threebay building, of two storeys with attics, probably of the
17th century. (fn. 46) A house at Edgarley was described in
1836 as having been a manor house but had been pulled
down fifty years earlier. It had included a large hall called
King Edgar's Kitchen. (fn. 47)
Abbey Site And Demesnes
The site and demesnes of the abbey were leased in separate units after the Dissolution but subsequently came
together first in the hands of Edward Seymour, duke of
Somerset, and later under Sir Peter Carew, the earls of
Sussex, and the Cavendishes. (fn. 48) In 1541 Thomas Aleyn
and his wife Elizabeth, already assignees of a lease from
the abbey of some 160 a., received a 21-year Crown lease
of the same. (fn. 49) In 1544 Nicholas Speke was granted a
21-year lease of some 440 a. of land, a small amount of
which was already let. (fn. 50) In 1547 Edward Seymour, duke
of Somerset, acquired the reversion of the two leases and
in addition a lease of the abbey precinct. (fn. 51) After his temporary disgrace Somerset returned to power in 1550 and
his reversionary lease was converted to a grant in fee of
all former abbey lands in Glastonbury, although in practice only Speke lost his lease. (fn. 52) Somerset granted leases of
the abbey site, Wirral park, and demesne lands (fn. 53) which
survived his own attainder and death in 1552 although
the Crown resumed administration of the estate (fn. 54) and
granted a lease of part of the precinct. (fn. 55) In 1559 Sir Peter
Carew was granted a reversionary 12-year lease of what
Somerset had held, (fn. 56) part of which, the site of the abbey
and Wirral park with unspecified land, was in 1572
granted, again in reversion, to Thomas Radcliffe, earl of
Sussex, in tail male. (fn. 57) In 1582 the grant was made in fee
simple for 1/50 fee. (fn. 58) On the same day the grantee was
licensed to alienate some of the land; most was still held
by the earl on his death in 1583, (fn. 59) and passed successively to his brother Henry (d. 1593) and to Henry's son
Robert. In 1596 Robert sold the estate to William Stone,
a London cloth merchant, and in 1599 Stone sold to
William Cavendish (cr. Baron Cavendish 1605, earl of
Devonshire 1618, d. 1626). (fn. 60)
FIG. 29. Glastonbury,
abbey barn, now part of
Somerset Rural Life
Museum
Ownership descended through successive earls of
Devonshire to William Cavendish, great grandson of the
first earl, who was created duke of Devonshire in 1694.
In 1733 his grandson, the third duke, (fn. 61) conveyed the
estate to Thomas Bladen, it is said after losing to him at
dice. Bladen died in 1779 and his wife Barbara, who had
a life interest, in 1783. The heirs were their daughters
Barbara, wife of Henry St. John, and Harriet, wife of
William Capel, earl of Essex. They sold the whole estate
in 1799 to George Cox and Richard Hart Davis, the latter
becoming the sole owner. After negociations from 1806
for Cox to re-purchase, the estate was divided in 1808–9,
most of the abbey site passing to John Down, that part
including the Abbot's Kitchen to J. J. Rocke, and farms
to Aaron Moody. (fn. 62) Down (d. 1829) (fn. 63) sold the site to John
Fry Reeves in 1825 and Reeves in 1852 to Henry Danby
Seymour. In 1862 Seymour sold to James Austin (d.
1896) whose son Stanley in 1907 sold to (Sir) Ernest
Jardine, acting on behalf of the Church of England.
Trustees continued to administer the estate, with other
property, in 2000. (fn. 64)
The demesne farm buildings on the southern edge of
the abbey precinct comprised in the earlier 14th century
a thatched barn, a granary, an oxshed, and a gatehouse
with a chamber for the bailiff over the entry. (fn. 65) In the
earlier 16th century there were also a pigstye, dovecot,
and slaughterhouse. (fn. 66) The barn and its immediate site
had become part of the rectory estate by 1623 (fn. 67) and since
the later 18th century formed part of Actis, later Abbey,
farm, part of the rectory which had passed from the Prat
family to John Fry Reeves by 1850, when it was offered
for sale for conversion to a place of worship. (fn. 68) It was
bought with the abbey estate in 1853 by Henry Danby
Seymour. (fn. 69) Ownership thereafter descended with the
abbey site but it was retained by (Sir) Ernest Jardine in
1908. He held it until 1940 when it was sold to the
tenants, Mr. and Mrs. H. R. Mapstone. In 1974 Mrs.
Mapstone, having sold most of the farm land for
housing, gave the 19th-century farmhouse and associated buildings, together with the medieval barn, to
Somerset County Council (fn. 70) to house a rural life
museum. (fn. 71)
The seven-bay barn, 93 ft. long and 33 ft. 9 in. wide
with opposing porches, is not especially large but is of
very high architectural quality. It is built of freestone,
incorporating traceried openings and figurative carved
panels. The roof, covered in stone slates, is related to
roofs of other buildings belonging to Glastonbury
abbey. It has two tiers of crucks; each cruck has a lower,
raised base cruck, reinforced by arched braces, carrying a
tie beam which supports an upper cruck. (fn. 72) The oak
timbers were apparently felled in 1334–42. (fn. 73) The style of
the decorative elements, which includes panels with
symbols of the Evangelists, accord with that date.
Beckery Manor
A manor of Beckery was included among the demesne
lands of the abbey in 1322–3. (fn. 74) The site of Brides or
Beckery alias Brides manor was mentioned among the
abbey demesne lands in 1539 (fn. 75) and before that date it had
formed part of the lands assigned to the prior of the
monastery. (fn. 76) The site was leased by the Crown to Nicholas Speke in 1544 (fn. 77) and it passed like other demesnes
and the abbey site. (fn. 78) The name survived into the 19th
century. (fn. 79)
Glastonbury Tor
The hill on which the tower of the chapel of St. Michael (fn. 80)
stands forms the centre of one of the open arable fields of
Glastonbury manor. (fn. 81) In 1786 a substantial part of the
hill, including the tower, which until that date had been
part of the share of the manor belonging to the Strodes
and their immediate successors, (fn. 82) was bought by Richard
Hoare and was conveyed in 1801 by his son Sir Richard
Colt Hoare to Lt. Gen. Richard Grenville (d. 1823). (fn. 83) It
passed on the death of the general's brother and heir,
James, Baron Glastonbury (d. 1825), to their kinsman
the Revd. George Neville, who took the additional name
of Grenville. (fn. 84) Thereafter ownership descended with
Butleigh manor until it was bought as a memorial to T.
W. Jex-Blake (d. 1910), former dean of Wells. It was
conveyed to the National Trust in 1937. Additional land
on the lower slopes of the Tor has been added to the
trust's holding. (fn. 85)
Norwood Park
Norwood park had been created from inclosed woodland by 1305–6 and had formed a significant part of
Glastonbury manor throughout the Middle Ages. (fn. 86) In
1563 Sir Maurice Berkeley acquired a 40-year lease of
Norwood or Northwood park in consideration of the
surrender of the office of keeper of the park which he had
held since 1541. (fn. 87) In 1576 a reversionary lease for 80
years granted by the Crown to William Fisher was subsequently assigned by Fisher to Sir Henry Berkeley, Sir
Maurice's son, and by him to his wife. Sir Maurice
Berkeley, son of Sir Henry, died in absolute possession in
1617 and was followed by his son (Sir) Charles, then a
minor. (fn. 88) Charles (cr. Vct. Fitzhardinge 1665, d. 1668) (fn. 89)
granted leases of parts of the estate in 1648 and subsequent years, including 97 a. to Bruton grammar school
and 147 a. to William Cradocke (fn. 90) and in 1654 sold 157 a.
of land, including some already leased, together with the
house known as Norwood Lodge, to Robert Smith, a
clothier. John Smith, of Shaw (Wilts.), son of Robert,
had a daughter who married Robert Neale. Neale's
daughter took the estate in 1795 to her husband Sir
Henry Burrard, Bt., later Burrard-Neale. Sir Henry sold
part of the land in 1836 to Alexander Baring, Lord
Ashburton (d. 1848). (fn. 91) Other parts of the former estate
had been sold earlier, including a share held at her death
c. 1717 by Meriel Symes which she bequeathed to Exeter
college, Oxford, for a scholarship. (fn. 92) Some 50 a. had come
c. 1804 into the possession of the Mildmay family of
Hazlegrove. (fn. 93) Norwood Park farm by 1747 was owned
by Zachary Bayley (d. 1773) of Bowlish, Shepton Mallet,
from whose family it passed in 1794 to John Porch. In
1827 William Porch released the estate in fee to the Hon.
George Neville Grenville, who still held it in 1849. (fn. 94)
About 1540 the park lodge had limited accommodation, commensurate with its status: a little hall, a buttery,
and a kitchen, with four rooms above. (fn. 95) Built of freestone in the late 15th or the early 16th century, it forms
the central range of the present triple-pile Norwood
Park Farm. The hall and the great chamber above it, both
of which have six-panel ceilings with moulded beams
and are served by a lateral chimney stack, survive at the
east end and extend into a square bay on the gabled east
façade. All the east windows are mullioned with two
arched lights and the bay has a panel carved with JS and a
mitre (for John Selwood, abbot 1456–92). The west end
of the range, which has only one compartment on each
floor, has probably been curtailed. A timber partition
with three door frames may have been moved from the
screens passage to its present position on the first floor.
The north and south ranges, apparently incorporating
some earlier material, have been added since the earlier
19th century. The porch is dated 1910.
Sharpham Park
Sharpham park had been created c. 1356 and had taken
its place as a farming unit in Glastonbury manor. (fn. 96) The
'manor place' built by Abbot Bere in the deer park
there, (fn. 97) where Abbot Whiting was examined shortly
before his execution in 1539, (fn. 98) was, with the park, in the
keeping of Andrew Wadham from 1540 on behalf of the
Crown. (fn. 99) The estate, linked with Walton manor, was
subsequently part of the large grant made in 1547 in fee
farm to Edward Seymour, duke of Somerset (d. 1552), (fn. 100)
and like Walton passed eventually to Seymour's son, also
Edward, who in 1558 was licensed to grant the fee farm
to Sir John Thynne. (fn. 101) Sharpham seems to have been let in
the same year to Sir Thomas Dyer (d. 1565). (fn. 102) Dyer's son
(Sir) Edward, the poet and courtier, (fn. 103) continued as tenant
until 1575 when he received a grant in fee farm from the
Crown, the estate to be held of East Greenwich manor
for five marks a year. (fn. 104) In 1600 the park measured 500 a.
and with the house was let to Gabriel Hawley. (fn. 105)
Sir Edward Dyer died in 1607 (fn. 106) and was succeeded by
his nephew Francis Dyer (d. 1615), and Francis by his
nephew Edward Dyer. (fn. 107) Their ownership was unsuccessfully challenged by Sir John and Thomas Thynne. (fn. 108)
Edward Dyer, whose estate was sequestrated, sold
Sharpham in 1659 to Richard Davidge. (fn. 109) By 1672 Katherine Davidge, Richard's widow, was in occupation. (fn. 110)
She died in 1712, (fn. 111) possibly without surviving children;
her heir was presumably the 'Miss Davidge of Worcester', by whose husband (Sir) Henry Gould (1644–1710)
came a son Davidge and a daughter who in 1707 gave
birth to Henry Fielding there. From Davidge Gould the
estate passed to his fourth son (Sir) Henry (1710–94),
justice of the common pleas. The co-heir of the last was
his daughter Honora Margaretta (d. 1813) who married
Richard Ford William Lambart, earl of Cavan (d.
1837). (fn. 112) Successive earls of Cavan were owners until
1906 or later (fn. 113) but the land was sold before 1923 to the
tenant, George Treloggen. (fn. 114) Mrs. Treloggen was owner
in 1939, (fn. 115) and the family continued to occupy part of the
house and estate until the 1990s. (fn. 116)
About 1540 the lodge at Sharpham comprised a little
hall, parlour, chapel, buttery, cellar, and kitchen on the
ground floor and eight rooms above. (fn. 117) In 1600 it was
described as a mansion, and among associated buildings
were a dairy house, brewhouse, stable, and waggon
house. (fn. 118) Much of the house is said to have been pulled
down in 1799 and a farmhouse formed from its remains,
but Sharpham Park House was evidently still standing in
1826, though part of it was then 'destined to be levelled
with the ground' and the materials offered for sale. The
house then included a chapel range whose gable end
incorporated coats of arms or badges of Glastonbury
abbey and Abbot Richard Bere. The three-light,
mullioned east window of the former chapel contained
stained glass until shortly before 1826. (fn. 119) Much was
rebuilt in the later 20th century using old materials and
with the inspiration of old illustrations, but what may
have been the original entrance range is still preserved
and includes evidence of a fine first-floor chamber.
Shields of arms from the original building are incorporated on the north and south facades.
Rectory Estate
The rectory of Glastonbury was assigned to the abbey
sacrist and in 1291 was valued at £16. (fn. 120) In 1535 it was
assessed at £67 15s. 4d. (fn. 121) and from 1539 at £72 when the
tithes of West Bradley were included. (fn. 122) In 1548 the
whole rectory was granted to William Barlow, bishop of
Bath and Wells, (fn. 123) and passed to his successors in the see,
except for the period of the Interregnum. (fn. 124) It was farmed
during Queen Elizabeth's reign (fn. 125) and during the 18th
and the earlier 19th century was held on leases for lives
from the bishops by members of the Prat and Rocke
families. (fn. 126) Richard Periam Prat and Samuel Prat, then
lessees, were declared bankrupt in 1840 and the rectory
was put up for sale in lots. It was not sold because of
pending tithe commutation but the rent charge, glebe,
and chancels of St. John's, St. Benignus's, and West
Pennard were bought in 1842 by J. F. Reeves. (fn. 127) Reeves
went bankrupt in 1850 and the estate was dispersed
three years later. (fn. 128)
In 1623 the rectory comprised 75 a. of glebe which
included a barn, (fn. 129) in 1704 there were 66 a., (fn. 130) in 1840
105 a. (fn. 131)
ECONOMIC HISTORY
Medieval Agriculture
In 1086 Glastonbury was assessed at 12 hides, but was
said to have land for 30 teams. The demesne farm was
just under 10 hides, had 5 teams, and was worked by 17
serfs. Twenty-one villeins and 33 bordars worked a little
more than 2 hides. Apart from the arable land there were
on the Glastonbury estate 60 a. of meadow, 200 a. of
pasture, 20 a. of woodland, 300 a. of underwood, and
vineyard measuring 3 'arpents'. The stock on the
demesne comprised 5 riding horses, 58 beasts, 20 swine,
20 sheep, and 50 she-goats. The value of the estate had
doubled since 1066. (fn. 132)
By 1189 (fn. 133) there was a division between an area known
as 'beyond Havyatt', that is the eastern part of
Glastonbury manor later known as West Pennard, and
the rest. (fn. 134) Tenants by that date were divided between
those who held in fee of the abbey, obedientiaries, and
abbey servants, and tenants who held for cash rents or
services. Two tenants in fee held a total of just over ¾
hide (perhaps 75 a.), the obedientiaries and servants
held just over five virgates (perhaps 130 a.). The
predominantly agricultural customary holdings, probably 88 in Glastonbury, (fn. 135) were reckoned at just over 13½
virgates in total (perhaps 340 a.); 30 of the tenants were
called ferlingers (later ferdellers) holding ¼ virgate, eight
were half-virgaters. Cash rents amounted to just over
70s. together with payments variously described as gifts
made by 27 tenants, hearthsilver by 13, and church scot
by eight tenants. Thirty-three tenants owed a day for
stacking hay, 15 of them two or three days for
haymaking, and 10 of those usually three days for
mowing, but harvest services were evidently subsumed
under unspecified works. Thirty-four tenants worked in
the vineyard, either digging, pruning, or harvesting, and
all but the four grape harvesters also kept the prisons.
Individual tenants included two parkers and a park
labourer, the keeper of the vineyard, two herewards, four
neats, three men working at the barn, one dealing with
unpressed wine (meram).
In 1234 only the customary tenants were recorded in
detail. (fn. 136) There were then 37 holdings of which three were
of ½ virgate, 26 of ferdells (¼ virgates), and two ½
ferdells. Rents comprised 82s. 2d. gable rents, 9s. 6½d.
larder rents, 1d. hearthpenny, 17½d. Peter's Pence, and
payment of church scot in kind by eight tenants. Gable
rents were excused from six labourers and four
ploughmen, and labour service from one tenant because
he served as bridge-keeper (pontarius). (fn. 137) Haymaking
works were expressed in terms of one, two, or three days
at each of the processes including stacking in the barn;
work in the vineyard similarly in days and tasks
including, for four tenants, custody of wine 'on the bank'
(super ripam), suggesting its removal by water. Several
tenants were expected to do harvest works only if they
had oxen, although three half-virgaters owed one day
each week for most of the year. Eight tenants were
required to drive cattle, five to go with the symbolic
offering by the abbey to Wells cathedral known as St.
Dunstan's Gift on Easter Monday, (fn. 138) and 24 were to keep
the prison. Probably at the same time the duties attached
to a particular tenement, formerly held by Robert
Malherbe, were enumerated and included a wide range
of journeys by water and involvement in fisheries, vineyards, and St. Dunstan's Gift. (fn. 139)
No distinction between holdings within and beyond
Havyatt was made in the medieval bailiffs' accounts and
the following account of manorial agriculture applies
both to Glastonbury and West Pennard. In the year
1257–8, the earliest for which a financial account
survives for Glastonbury manor, (fn. 140) the gross income was
£45 6s. 5d. of which cash rents amounted to £13 3s. 8d.,
larder and vineyard rents and Peter's Pence totalled 35s.
7d., and £2 rent for the windmill. By 1305–6 the gross
income had risen to £61 3s. 9d., partly through an
increase in rents and partly because more land was
tenanted. (fn. 141) In 1311–12 the gross income rose sharply, to
just over £95, evidently the result of a general rent
increase in the previous year to nearly £50; (fn. 142) and by
1335–6 rents reached over £79 out of a total gross
income of nearly £107. (fn. 143) Thereafter rents ranged
between £76 and £93 until the 1390s and by 1419–20
amounted to £94 out of a total gross income of £136,
although in that year arrears amounted to £221. (fn. 144)
Between 1428 and 1446 arrears had been cut
significantly against a rental which was over £119 by
1446 and over £143 by 1460–1. (fn. 145) Between 1461 and
1463 the basic rental was reduced to nearly £78 and the
total gross income from £164 to £115, and both
remained roughly at that level until the early 16th
century. (fn. 146) In 1515–16 the total gross income was £127
which included increased rent of £4 4s. from the farm of
demesne land. (fn. 147)
The demesne arable, on the hilly ground east of the
town and initially shared between three fields, was
assessed at just under ten hides in 1086. (fn. 148) By the mid 13th
century the cultivated area had shrunk by about a half:
191 a. was sown, mostly with wheat, in 1257–8, 264 a.
was under the same crop in 1274–5, and as much as 295
a. in 1311–12 when the crop was divided between wheat
(154 a.), oats (79 a.), and beans (39 a.). (fn. 149) During the rest
of the 14th century between c. 320 a. and c. 400 a. was
ploughed, except for 1349–51 when the area was cut by a
third, (fn. 150) and in most years as much as two thirds of the
ploughed area remained fallow, half of it for a second
year. In 1392–3 the sown area was further reduced: 60 a.
was let at farm, 75 a. was sown with summer corn, 52 a.
was fallow for a single year, 62 a. for a second year, and
91 a. for a third year. (fn. 151) From the 1420s the area ploughed
was reduced by one third and by 1470–1 fewer than 80 a.
was ploughed, half for wheat and the rest shared evenly
between oats, beans, and dredge. All demesne arable,
totalling 145 a., was let to farm at some date between
1492 and 1515. (fn. 152)
Demesne grassland expanded in the later 13th
century: 119 a. of meadow was cut in 1274–5 but by
1314 the area had more than doubled as the moors were
drained. (fn. 153) The area was not recorded after 1344 until
1472–3 when grassland had been reduced to 48 a.
Reductions continued until 1515–16 when the remaining 18 a. of demesne meadow was let. (fn. 154)
The changing character of demesne farming is
reflected in the farm staff during the period 1274–1492.
A moorward or moor-keeper was no longer needed after
the marshes were drained and inclosed, but a hayward,
to direct haymaking and grazing, was consistently
employed throughout; ploughmen worked on demesne
arable until the mid 1350s. Oxherds or drovers disappeared by the 1360s but acremen were then introduced,
numbering on average between four and five but with
exact functions unknown; carters were employed only
between 1274 and 1315, shepherds in only six years in
the whole period, dairymen or maids before 1315 and in
three years between 1419 and 1428.
Oxen and bullocks for works and meat were kept at
Norwood and were the most consistent features of
demesne livestock farming. Oxen numbered c. 50 in the
years before 1315, thereafter for a century c. 40. By
1427–8 numbers of cattle had increased rapidly: animals
paid as heriots on the deaths of tenants, strays, and transfers from other abbey estates brought in 40 oxen to the
existing 74; 42 yearlings had either joined the dairy cows
or the oxen, and of the 29 calves, 10 had died of murrain
and 2 had been delivered to the monastery. (fn. 155) Total
numbers of oxen thereafter averaged 20 until the end of
the century but in 1446–7 158 were recorded during the
year, presumably because Glastonbury manor was being
used as a dispersal centre for sales. (fn. 156)
Such arrangements had been the practice with sheep
for nearly a century. A very small flock was recorded in
1257–8 (fn. 157) and in 1344–5 the manor seems to have been
used as the collecting point for fleeces, some apparently
from Wales. (fn. 158) Between that date and 1351–2 a
significant change had been made, and until 1491–2 or
later sheep were brought in from all parts of the abbey
estate. Most were usually washed and shorn there before
sale or distribution to other manors. A shepherd at
Glastonbury was employed irregularly and only during
shearing. In 1351–2 the shepherd managed the washing
and shearing of 245 ewes, (fn. 159) and in 1352–3 was presumably responsible for moving 1,231 sheep of which 543
were shorn. (fn. 160) The total number varied widely from year
to year: in 1389–90 when 1,510 were moved through the
manor 24 stone of fleeces were produced at shearing; (fn. 161) in
1392–3 the number is not recorded but 26½ stone were
sold. (fn. 162) A century later and totals were much lower: 32 lb.
in 1489–90 and 12 stone in 1491–2. (fn. 163)
In 1274–5 the dairy at Norwood had a maximum of
34 cows and calves which produced 296 cheeses and 10
stone of butter. (fn. 164) In 1302–3 the total was 311 cheeses
and 6 stone of butter from 37 cows and heifers. (fn. 165)
Production of cheeses continued at a high level from
fewer cows until 1315, but thereafter until the second
decade of the 15th century the number of cows was in
single figures. The dairy herd reached 69 during the year
1427–8 (fn. 166) but by 1446 until the end of the 15th century
the total returned to single figures, perhaps because a
new dairy had been established at Sharpham by
1440–1. (fn. 167)
A survey (fn. 168) made in 1517 by order of Abbot Richard
Bere omitted most of the property assigned to
obedientiaries with the exception of 184 a. of meadow
belonging to the cellarer and is thus concerned largely
with the abbey's corporate holdings. The demesne farm
comprised a barn and other buildings with adjacent
closes and 42 a. of meadow, almost certainly then let.
Some 140 a. of arable, evidently in process of consolidation and noted as formerly let to four separate tenants,
was now also subdivided and held by many tenants, and
there was 39 a. of meadow and pasture, similarly let.
Inclosed demesne grassland surrounded the arable at
Prestmore, Cowbridge, Rowclose, Bryndham, Brodemede, and Corregge, and totalled c. 150 a. To that
should be added c. 290 a. of meadow beside Norwood
park which included a dairyhouse, a new dairy (formerly
associated with the sheepfold), some 57 a. of alders, and
nearly 5 a. of osier beds. The three parks were also
presumably considered demesne. (fn. 169) Among the tenant
holdings were 132 a., mostly arable, described as former
demesne.
The survey records 17 freeholdings, mostly urban and
amounting to just over 77 a. and a carucate. Six were
held by the chamberlain, the almoner, and the churchwardens of St. John's, six by John Marshall, one by the
master of Wells almshouse. There were 73 customary
tenants living in the town and suburbs, a few in
Chilkwell Street and Cart Lane holding small parcels of
agricultural land, and together paying rent of over £30,
some with larger cash fines but seven still paying two
capons each. Scattered inclosed grassland produced
nearly £11.
Edgarley tithing, which covered the southern and
south-eastern part of the estate, seems to have retained
traditional patterns to a greater degree although its
tenants were not necessarily resident there, five living in
Woodland and two others elsewhere in West Pennard,
and others came from Glastonbury's eastern suburbs.
Five were described as half-virgaters, whose holdings
ranged between 28 a. and 53 a.; probably 19 were
ferdellers, one with a holding of 52 a., five more over
40 a., and four over 30 a.; six were half-ferdellers, and
probably 14 were cottars. (fn. 170) Thirty-three paid heriots, 13
church scot each in the form of 2½ chickens, 9 owed
works of which 3 were unspecified, 2 were commuted
for cash, and 4 were still charged with taking the St.
Dunstan's Gift to Wells. One of those tenants was also to
act as keeper of Tor fair. Three men were described as
neifs: one held 4½ a. and was also described as a cottar,
one held 7 a., and one 37 a.
The land surveyed comprised some 720 a. of arable
then lying in four common fields on the lower slopes east
of the town: Tor, (fn. 171) East, West, and Edgarley, of which
East and West fields were evidently worked as one. There
were nearly 300 a. of meadow beside Norwood park.
Post-Medieval Agriculture
In 1535 the total net value of the abbey's estate at
Glastonbury was assessed at nearly £340 of which over
£260 was assessed rent. Most of the demesne, including
the three parks, was also let. (fn. 172) Immediately after the
Dissolution in 1539 the king's visitors proposed to sell
the cattle, presumably on the small amount of demesne
land still retained by the monastery, and to let the
pastures, which measured 675 a. (fn. 173) Twenty-one-year
leases included one made in 1541 to Thomas Aleyn of
the former dairy and sheep farm near Norwood, 90 a. of
inclosed grassland, and 72 a. of arable in the common
fields; and one in 1544 made to Nicholas Speke was of
535 a. of inclosed grassland. Both leases were acquired
by Edward Seymour, duke of Somerset, in 1547 and
were regranted to him in 1550 with the addition of the
abbey site. (fn. 174) Thereafter, until the end of the 16th century,
leases of 21 or 30 years were sold by the Crown, often to
royal servants and usually in reversion, the units sometimes representing holdings of former abbey departments. Thus, for instance, Sir Christopher Hatton had a
reversionary lease of part of New Close formerly held by
the abbey sacrist, and Roger North, Lord North of
Kirtling, a reversionary lease of land in Brindham and
Edgarley, formerly of the abbey almoner and precentor
respectively. (fn. 175) The sales of leases to outsiders forced
prices higher than local farmers could afford, (fn. 176) and in
1613 a survey concluded that the manor was 'intolerably
defaced and impoverished', first by the alienation of the
demesne, and second by the granting of so many leases
to foreigners resulting in the neglect of houses within the
town. (fn. 177) Arrears on former monastic land rose from £4 in
1608 to nearly £28 in 1612 when the total annual rent
amounted to just over £35. (fn. 178)
In the earlier 17th century the former abbey demesne,
occupied by the earl of Devonshire, comprised a total of
1,033 a. of which nearly three-quarters was meadow and
most of the rest pasture. It included the former Wirral
park, divided between fourteen closes, the site of the
abbey, and large closes in the south-west of the parish.
Just over 30 a. of arable was shared unevenly between
Tor, East, and Windmill fields. (fn. 179) Those fields were in
open cultivation but some of the strips had been
converted to pasture. (fn. 180) All the lands were let, the largest
holding that of Alexander Dyer with some 355 a.
Thomas Brooke had the abbey site and adjoining land of
nearly 50 a. (fn. 181) By 1641 Edward Dyer of Sharpham and
Thomas Brooke were the most prosperous landholders
in the parish. (fn. 182)
The manor, representing the former tenant holdings
of the abbey and surveyed in 1656 for partition, was
reckoned at nearly 2,880 a. The largest holding was that
of Thomas Talbot who occupied the upper and lower
tenements at Wick, later Wick farm. Seven other tenants
held between 72 a. and 33 a.; the rest was occupied in
smaller parcels. (fn. 183) That estate, too, was predominantly
grassland, and barley had to be bought in to make malt. (fn. 184)
William Strode, holder of half the manor, was also
farmer of the rectory, which included 69 a. of glebe. (fn. 185)
Agricultural details are largely unknown, but a drover
lived in the parish in 1628, (fn. 186) a man had a flock of 140
sheep in 1652, (fn. 187) deponents in 1672 reported pigs kept at
Sharpham when it was uninclosed, and 'divers great
dairies of cows . . . and great numbers of sheep and
lambs' at Norwood. (fn. 188) A man died in 1684 owning 6
plough oxen, 2 steers, 16 cows including 10 Welsh, and 5
horses. (fn. 189)
FIG. 30. Glastonbury and its surrounding fields, c. 1655
A visitor in 1635 remarked on the rich corn land and
the 'very spacious, dainty, fruitful meadows', and noted
in particular the 'ditches with willows. . . planted in good
order'. (fn. 190) Four open arable fields were still in use at the end
of the century: Tor, Edgarley, Windmill, and Easton. (fn. 191)
Half of the former abbey manor in 1696–8 comprised
103 separate holdings and included seven farms, six
ranging in size between 26 a. and 52 a., half of them in
Edgarley tithing, and a seventh at Bovetown, probably
Wick farm, let at rack rent for £6 8s. (fn. 192) The other half of
the manor when sold in 1713 comprised 122 separate
holdings, almost all paying rent of less than 20s. Most
were houses in the town, strips of arable in the open
fields east of the town, and grassland closes to the north.
The largest holding was a farm of 52 a. at Havyatt. (fn. 193)
During the 19th century the area of arable land
continued to decline: 1,145 a. was under crop in 1840
but by 1905 only just over 175 a. was recorded. (fn. 194) Nevertheless agriculture was the dominant activity, 362 families being engaged in it out of a total of 690 families in
1821. (fn. 195) In 1801 wheat was recorded on 187 a., potatoes
on 148 a., peas and beans on c. 60 a. and the quality and
quantity of grain and potatoes was better than in living
memory. (fn. 196) In 1840 Sharpham was by far the largest farm
with 400 a.; six others measured between 100 a. and 150
a. (fn. 197) About 20 men and 7 boys were employed at
Sharpham, 'the centre and seat of farming activity'. (fn. 198) By
1851 there were some 30 farms: 5 at Edgarley, 3 at
Havyatt, 2 at Norwood, 8 at Wick, 2 at Bovetown, 5 at
Northover, 3 at Northload. Northover farm measured
305 a., Park farm 190 a., Norwood Park farm 170 a., and
8 others over 100 a. (fn. 199) Sharpham remained the largest
farming unit throughout the century and by 1891 its
equipment included a stationary engine. (fn. 200) Dairying,
cheese production, and cattle dealing were in the 1890s
at the heart of agriculture in the parish, (fn. 201) and a
cider-making plant was under trial. (fn. 202) The local market
was said in 1920 to be well supported. (fn. 203) By 1939 28
people described themselves simply as farmers, nine
holding more than 150 a., four as dairy farmers, one as
farmer and cheese factor. There were two other
dairymen and two poultry farmers. Small acreages were
worked as market gardens or nurseries. (fn. 204) By the end of
the 20th century, when much of the farm land immediately around the town had been absorbed for building,
the largest of the dairies had recently been given up.
Moors
By 1189 moorland south-east of the town and known as
Kennard moor was already in process of reclamation:
some 40 a. had been divided into strips, most of 1 a. or ½
a., and located in the 'higher part', the 'lower part
towards the south', or the 'third meadow'. (fn. 205) Between
1274–5 and 1314 grassland doubled in area as moors
were drained. (fn. 206) In 1517 (fn. 207) the moors were said to measure
a total of 3,183 a. of which Hulkmoor and Heathmoor
were together 1,073 a. and respectively produced alders
and heath. South moor or Aldermoor was said to be
1,040 a. and was used by 'various' abbey tenants of
whom those of Butleigh and Street were noted. North
moor (640 a.) and Kennard moor (430 a.) were grazed
in common; a chace on South moor for Butleigh and
Street tenants had been discontinued because of the
thickness of alder growth and the marshy nature of the
ground. That alder was, however, used for fuel, and in
1531–2 the abbey almoner paid for the cutting and
transportation of 1,500 faggots. (fn. 208) By the mid 16th
century the alder and willow of South moor or
Aldermoor was producing timber for hop poles as well
as for fuel (fn. 209) and a later 21-year lease allowed felling at the
end of each 7-year term followed by fencing to protect
new growth. (fn. 210) A lease of 1584 required the tenant to
plant 600 willows within six years of taking the lease and
to leave the same number at the end of the 15-year
term. (fn. 211) In the 1580s Glastonbury farmers had rights in
most of the surrounding moors over a total of nearly
3,000 a. as well as a share of Sedgemoor, although the
Crown retained the prey and drift. South moor was then
largely planted with alder and thorn. (fn. 212)
By the end of the 16th century the general quality of
the moors had deteriorated. Felling had seriously
reduced the number of large oak, ash, and elm on
Hulkmoor and near Norwood, leaving few but shrouded
trees in hedgerows. (fn. 213) In 1613 a survey concluded that the
commons and wastes had been overstocked with cattle
which subsequently contracted murrain. Inclosure of
the commons and allotment of lands to houses within
the town was supported by the Crown tenants of
Glastonbury but not by people from Butleigh who
claimed rights in South moor. (fn. 214) However, a visitor in
1635 remarked on the 'very large, capacious fruitful
marshes'. (fn. 215)
Hulkmoor produced oak timber up to 1640, largely
for charcoal, and snipe were received as payment for
hunting rights. (fn. 216) South moor was let in 1625 to a
courtier, James Levington, who claimed that the whole
was wood ground, formerly supplying coppiced fuel for
the abbey kitchen, and that those claiming grazing rights
had caused much destruction to the trees. (fn. 217) In 1631 it
was agreed that 250 a. out of c. 1,000 a. of moor should
be allotted to Glastonbury tenants to be inclosed and
improved, and similar areas allotted to tenants of
Butleigh and Street, the rest to be retained by the Crown,
which granted a 99-year lease to Levington in 1632–3.
The Crown share was temporarily inclosed in 1641, but
Levington promised the tenants of Edgarley a separate
share of 100 a. Agreement was finally achieved in 1665,
by which time the alder and thorns had been removed
and the grassland was described as 'new improved'. (fn. 218)
There were evidently no further inclosures made in the
mid 17th century (fn. 219) and Edgarley commoners continued
active in ditching. (fn. 220) William Strode the younger, as part
of an agreement in 1665, undertook to improve access to
South moor by building a bridge and by digging
boundary ditches to mark out that part of the moor
within Glastonbury manor. (fn. 221)
Elsewhere around the town in the 1630s there were
well over 5,000 a., some like Kennard moor and
Glastonbury meadows within the parish, but others like
Godney meadows, Hearty moor, and Brindham shared
with neighbouring parishes. (fn. 222)
Inclosure was being promoted again by 1708, (fn. 223) and
the commonable South moor, Common moor, and
Black Acre were inclosed in 1722, (fn. 224) together with New
Close, beyond Benedict Street to the west of the town,
thus adding some 900 a. to the inclosed grasslands of the
parish. (fn. 225) Most of the remaining common land, in Heath
moor (996 a.), Hulkmoor (180 a.), and Kennard moor
(311 a.), was inclosed in 1783 under an Act of 1778. (fn. 226)
The last pieces of common, amounting to only 82 a.,
were inclosed in 1800. (fn. 227)
Parks And Woodland
Glastonbury abbey had established a park south-west of
the town by 1247 (fn. 228) which c. 1301 was known as the park
by Madelode and by c. 1343 as Wirral park. (fn. 229) In 1276 and
1284 a total of forty deer was given by the king to stock
it. (fn. 230) A second park had been created at Norwood by
1305–6 out of inclosed woodland. (fn. 231) In 1325 100 a. at
Norwood, partly covered with oaks, supported cattle
and Wirral, measuring 117 a., was partly covered with
oak, ash, alder, and hazel and supported 12 beasts. (fn. 232)
Shortwood beside Norwood was inclosed by Abbot John
de Breynton (abbot 1334–42) and thus increased the
woodland associated with the park by 'a large amount'. (fn. 233)
By 1517 Norwood had been divided into two parts,
totalling 751 a., and on the west side of the park there
were closes around two dairies, one of which had been
converted from a stock yard. (fn. 234)
John, count of Mortain, before his accession to the
throne in 1199, gave woodland at Sharpham to
Glastonbury abbey. (fn. 235) The abbey evidently lost possession soon afterwards but it was recovered by Michael of
Amesbury, abbot 1235–52, (fn. 236) and Walton tenants paid to
graze their cows there. (fn. 237) Woodland was inclosed before
c. 1260 (fn. 238) and moor drained so that by the early 14th
century small parcels beside the wood were let. (fn. 239) About
1356 a park was formed beside the wood. (fn. 240) During the
Middle Ages wood and park were administered as part of
Walton, the parker being paid by the manorial reeve. (fn. 241)
Claims that wood and park were within Street parish (fn. 242)
and that the park was open to tenants of Compton
Dundon were successfully refuted. Arbitration on the
last point in 1444 confirmed that the park should be
inclosed and should have two 'leapgates'. (fn. 243) East and west
gates were mentioned in 1515. (fn. 244) Houses were built by
the abbots at both Norwood and Sharpham. (fn. 245)
In 1517 Sharpham measured 382 a., of which nearly
half was meadow, and supported 440 deer, (fn. 246) and later
cattle and geldings. (fn. 247) Small closes within the park were
marked out with ditches (fn. 248) and let. (fn. 249) Sales of timber in the
later 15th and the earlier 16th century included old
willow, faggots, and hardwood. (fn. 250)
In 1535 herbage of Wirral was assessed at 16s. 8d., at
Sharpham 53s. 4d., and at Norwood £29 10s. (fn. 251) In 1539
Wirral park pale, in need of repair, measured 1¼ mile;
there were 60 a. of woodland, and the grazing was said to
be 'very good and fertile', supporting 100 deer.
Sharpham pale was 2 miles long, inclosing 'good'
meadow and pasture, 200 oaks worth £20 and ash, oak,
and maple formerly felled every 14 years worth £60.
There were 160 deer. Norwood park was 4 miles round
and the 'very good and sweet' herbage supported 800
deer. Within it a wood measured 172 a. last felled twenty
years before but normally felled every 16 years. (fn. 252) In 1552
Wirral was said to measure 200 a. of which 60 a. and a
great wood were of little value, the whole having 140
deer. (fn. 253) In the following year the keeper of the lodge and
park at Sharpham had to maintain 200 deer. (fn. 254) In 1563
the lessee of Norwood park was required to preserve 300
'wildbeasts and deer' for distribution at the Queen's
pleasure, and to take timber to repair the lodge and
pale. (fn. 255) Four mares were kept there in 1569 and deer still
in 1594. (fn. 256) It was disparked in or before 1622. (fn. 257)
Sharpham supported two mares in 1569 and three in
1583. (fn. 258) In the earlier 17th century a large amount of
timber was felled and burnt for charcoal, (fn. 259) and the area
was probably soon afterwards disparked. (fn. 260) Wirral was by
1628 divided between 14 tenants, (fn. 261) and in 1638
comprised nearly 94 a. of meadow. (fn. 262)
Mills
Water Mills A mill was built at Beckery, probably in
1281–2. (fn. 263) About 1343 it was described as two mills, and
had been let with a reed bed and Wirral park. (fn. 264) By 1351
the mills were let to a baker and a shearer for an
increased rent. (fn. 265) The two mills, described as east and west
mills in 1460–1, (fn. 266) formed part of the abbey demesne
estate and were leased by the Crown after the Dissolution. (fn. 267) A lease of 1579 specified their removal to a 'more
convenient' site. (fn. 268) The mills continued to produce flour
in the 17th century although the summer water supply
was said to have been poor, (fn. 269) and several lessees were in
the cloth trade. (fn. 270) In the late 1680s the water supply was
said to have been diverted by the construction of dams
and the breach of a bank. (fn. 271) In the early 18th century there
were two grist mills and a malt mill on the site (fn. 272) and
Beckery mill was still in operation until just after the
First World War when it was worked as a grist mill by the
Baily family. (fn. 273)
A mill was built at Northover shortly before 1503 but
a house occupied its site by 1535. (fn. 274) Little Mills were
mentioned in 1612. (fn. 275)
Windmills About 1244 there was a windmill in the
north, later Windmill, arable field. (fn. 276) There may have
been two in 1274–5. (fn. 277) One was still in use in the early
14th century. (fn. 278) A new one was built there in 1389–90
which was in hand in 1419–20. (fn. 279) That or another was in
use in 1535 (fn. 280) and still in the 1580s. (fn. 281) The site was
perhaps on Stone Down Hill overlooking Norwood. (fn. 282) In
1458–9 a windmill was built in or near Wirral park by
two tenants, who bought timber for machinery from
Street. (fn. 283) In 1641 another was built on Wearyall Hill in
opposition to water mills at Beckery (fn. 284) and a third was
there in similar circumstances in the 1680s (fn. 285) and the
early 18th century. (fn. 286)
Other Mills A fulling mill was in operation at Beckery in
1365 and 1403–4. (fn. 287) Abbot Bere built a fulling mill in or
before 1503 and a house at Northover was described
slightly later as formerly a blade mill. (fn. 288) The same
description was retained in the 1580s. (fn. 289)
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Manorial Courts
By the end of the 12th century the land south and east of
Glastonbury was divided between that which lay within
and that which lay beyond Havyatt. (fn. 290) By the mid 13th
century courts for the whole area, usually called
halimotes but occasionally simply courts, were held
twice a year, in Spring and Autumn, and were attended
by men representing halimotes in its two parts. (fn. 291) By
1340 those two parts were renamed Edgarley and West
Pennard. (fn. 292) A separate halimote for East Street, part of
West Pennard, reported from 1367. (fn. 293) From the later
14th century until the later 15th the halimotes met
together three or four times a year. (fn. 294) Extracts from
sessions in 1530 and 1532 described them as courts or
manor courts. (fn. 295)
Business at the halimotes was principally control of
grazing, repairs to buildings, cases of trespass, straying
animals, and debts among tenants, damage to watercourses and fisheries, changes in tenancies and, from the
later 14th century, orders to enquire into neifs. Officers
mentioned were haywards, moor keepers, warreners,
and bedels, one of the last fined in 1366 for failing to
appear with his staff in his hand.
After the dissolution of the abbey, sessions described
as manor courts or simply as courts are recorded in
1544–5 and 1557–8 and were concerned with tenancy
changes, repair of buildings, and animal husbandry. (fn. 296)
In 1540 a chief steward of the lordship or manor was
appointed to administer the former abbey estate both in
Glastonbury and beyond. (fn. 297) Courts were evidently
retained by the Crown and two royal servants in the
1540s were granted office within and beyond the town
and parish, one as bailiff of the lordship of Glastonbury
and clerk of the market, the other as surveyor of former
abbey lands and concerned with courts and finance. (fn. 298)
From 1568 a royal grantee held office both in the Twelve
Hides hundred and in the manor, taking profits of
markets, fairs, and courts, and having the reversion of
the offices of clerk of the market and bailiff and collector
of the manors. (fn. 299) A steward of the manor and barony was
referred to in 1598 and a deputy bailiff in 1609, both
evidently Crown officers. (fn. 300) Before 1613 one Crown lessee
kept a court baron called the manor of Glaston, in which
he granted leases and reversions. (fn. 301)
Owners of the fee farm from the 1630s kept courts in
the town at which copyholds were granted and surrendered. (fn. 302)
The manorial halimote courts were probably held,
like all other courts in the abbot's liberty, in a hall in
High Street. (fn. 303) That had been replaced by 1503 by a
slightly smaller but similar building on an adjoining
site. (fn. 304) The building, in 1598 called the town hall or
shirehall, was then in poor repair and the prison within it
'in great decay and insufficient'. (fn. 305) In the earlier 17th
century it was called the court hall or guildhall, and in
the 1630s was used for courts both of hundred and
manor but by 1640 had suffered the removal of windows
and a door. (fn. 306)
Parish Administration
St. John's church had a common seal by 1320 (fn. 307) and
accounts of its churchwardens survive from 1366. (fn. 308) St.
Benignus's church had its own wardens in the later 15th
century, but probably for strictly internal purposes
only. (fn. 309) In the early 19th century the wardens of St. John's
were concerned solely with rates for repairs and for
church property. (fn. 310)
St. John's parish from the Middle Ages seems to have
been responsible for the town's water supply. A well or
conduit called Fabiansput was mentioned in 1317. (fn. 311) In
the 1580s there were three conduit wardens and their
plumber assistant whose funds came from the Shrovetide ale. (fn. 312) By the earlier 17th century two conduits, the
lower beside the high cross in the market place (fn. 313) and the
upper at the junction of High and Lambrook streets, (fn. 314)
were repaired by a rate. (fn. 315)
By the earlier 17th century two constables, probably
successors to the hundred constables, had become
leading members of the administration of the town and
parish, (fn. 316) and their successors in the 18th century were
two petty constables chosen each year by the town
jury. (fn. 317)
By 1641 responsibility for the poor was in the hands of
three overseers appointed by St. John's and two by St.
Benignus's, (fn. 318) but practice in the next century suggests
that administration was based at St. John's and covered
the whole parish as a single unit. So, for instance, the
town stock accounts were signed by two constables, two
wardens, four overseers, and three other parishioners. (fn. 319)
A 'public vestry' was first mentioned in 1720 and seems
usually to have met in the church house. The number of
overseers varied between two and four during the 18th
and the early 19th century; a salaried assistant was
appointed from 1817. (fn. 320) From the early 18th century
regular monthly relief known as the 'calendar' or 'necessity calendar', which was paid to 42 people in 1750, was
supplemented by payments for clothing, cash, house
rent, medical expenses, pauper apprentices, and regular
support for the almshouse inmates, the last from 1765
repaid annually at the royal audit at Bruton. (fn. 321) A select
vestry was appointed from 1819 and thereafter
numbered no more than twenty members. From 1820
the appointment of a parochial surgeon and apothecary
was considered permanent. (fn. 322) The vestry continued to
function for that part of the parish outside the borough
until 1908. (fn. 323) A soup kitchen was established in 1870 and
was replaced in 1883 with a coal club which continued
until 1902 with the support of the town council. A penny
savings bank was held in the town hall by 1889. Allotment gardens were created in several parts of the parish
from 1892. (fn. 324)
No records of highway repairs have survived but in
1762 the vestry approved a highway rate, in 1809 viewed
the footway along Chilkwell Street, and in 1821 was
negotiating with Shepton Mallet turnpike trust. (fn. 325) By
1826 there was a salaried assistant highway surveyor. (fn. 326)
Waywardens remained in office under the vestry until
1871. (fn. 327) From 1815 the vestry nominated collectors of
property tax. (fn. 328)
In 1816 the vestry proposed to subsidize labour costs
in the parish in anticipation of winter crisis, and in 1821
removed the horsepond when a new reservoir was built
at the top of High Street. The appointment of a police
officer was not pursued in 1830 but a fire engine was
bought before Christmas 1824 which from 1825 was
supported by the general rate. Constables were nominated from 1842 to serve outside the borough. In 1843
the churchwardens were included on a committee to
discuss with the corporation the erection near the site of
the old market cross of a conduit and an ornamental
column for gas lights.
A workhouse in High Street, rented by the vestry in
1734, was subject to inspection from 1737 and closed in
1742. In 1768 another was leased in Chilkwell Street and
a master and 'proper matron' employed. (fn. 329) In 1818 there
were 14 poorhouses on the north side of Bere Lane
known as Paupers' Row and six cottages at Hill Head;
they were sold in 1838. (fn. 330) St. Benignus's parish had at least
three houses which were let by 1816 to the overseers but
after 1834 were returned to parish control. (fn. 331)
In 1653 the parishes of St. John's and St. Benignus's
were united for purposes of registration, (fn. 332) but from 1660
they were separated although the two were regarded
with West Pennard as a single ecclesiastical benefice. (fn. 333) In
1834 the parishes were united for civil purposes and the
vestry met as 'the parish of the united parish' although
ecclesiastical business of St. John's was recorded in the
same book as vestry decisions. (fn. 334) In 1894 the area was
divided, that part outside the borough becoming the
civil parish of Sharpham. (fn. 335) Glastonbury was part of Wells
poor-law union from 1836 and in 1974 became part of
Mendip district. Sharpham was part of both Wells
poor-law union and Wells rural district from 1894. It
lost some territory to Street in 1933 and the rest became
part of Mendip district in 1974. (fn. 336)
The vestry met in the church house from 1736 and
probably much earlier. (fn. 337) It still met there in 1808. (fn. 338) A
vestry room was proposed in 1839 (fn. 339) and authorized in
1863. (fn. 340) Known as the Vestry Hall, it was built in High
Street in 1865 to the designs of Frederick Merrick. (fn. 341)
A fragment of the churchwardens' seal survives on a
document of 1413. (fn. 342) A drawing of the 18th century
shows a circular design with a standing figure of St. John
the Baptist under a canopy between slender pillars on a
chequered ground holding a head on a charger with the
motto 'Signum Commune Baptiste Glastoniensis'. (fn. 343)
CHAPELS AND RELIGIOUS SITES
Beckery
A religious site on Beckery 'island' included a possible
chapel or tomb-shrine in timber of the post-Roman or
Anglo-Saxon period, later succeeded by a stone chapel.
That building, which had reached its final form by c.
1250, was completely encased by a second chapel at the
end of the 13th century and remained in use perhaps
until the 15th. (fn. 344) The site, which was associated with St.
Bridget from the 12th century, was included in the
group of chapels cited in the forged privilege of King
Edgar as exempt from the jurisdiction of the diocesan
bishop. (fn. 345)
Edgarley
A chapel dedicated to St. Dunstan in Edgarley was
mentioned in the 1580s and was evidently still standing
in 1696–8. (fn. 346) It was later said to have been converted to a
barn at the Dissolution. (fn. 347) The foundation may have originated to support a tradition that Dunstan was brought
to Glastonbury from Canterbury for burial after the
cathedral there had been burnt in 1012. (fn. 348) There were
fields at Edgarley named Chapple in 1844. (fn. 349)
Edmund Hill
There may have been another chapel on Edmund Hill: a
piece of arable land named Chapele in 1313–14 presumably gave its name to Chapell furlong in the north field in
1517. The name persisted in the 1580s. (fn. 350)
Glastonbury Tor
The earliest religious community, presumably British,
dates from the 5th or 6th century, and was succeeded by
what appears to have been a small mid to late
Anglo-Saxon monastery. (fn. 351) By the 12th century it was the
site of the chapel of St. Michael, probably destroyed by
earthquake in 1275. Rebuilt by Adam of Sodbury (abbot
1323–34), the chapel has since largely disappeared. The
tower, the only part to survive, although now reduced by
one stage, was rebuilt in the earlier 15th century, with
traceried windows and canopied niches on the west face
of its upper three stages. (fn. 352) Tithes and offerings were still
payable to the 'parsonage' of the chapel in 1535, (fn. 353) but no
later reference has been found. The tower was 'broken
down one side' by the 1690s. (fn. 354) It was bought in 1736 by
Richard Colt Hoare of Stourhead, who funded repairs
and a new parapet. It was acquired as part of the Tor by
the National Trust in 1937 (fn. 355) and was repaired in 2003. (fn. 356)