CHURCH.
There was probably a church at
Broomfield in the late 11th century. (fn. 75) Maud
Arundel, wife of Gerbert de Percy, gave Broomfield church to Wells cathedral c. 1175 at the
request of Bishop Reginald to endow a
prebend. (fn. 76) In the event Broomfield was excluded from the foundation and the Wells
chapter seems to have retained only a pension of
2s. a century later, (fn. 77) although the parish was
within the spiritual jurisdiction of the Dean of
Wells until the 19th century. (fn. 78) The living was a
rectory in 1296 but by 1334 the church belonged
to Buckland priory which had earlier been given
mortuaries of the tenants of Sir Matthew Furneaux. (fn. 79) From the 14th century the parish was
served by chaplains or curates appointed and
paid by the priory or the farmers (fn. 80) and after the
Dissolution by the lay rectors, who from the
later 18th century were the lords of Broomfield
manor. (fn. 81) An endowment in 1764 (fn. 82) created a
perpetual curacy, known as a vicarage from c.
1892, the patronage of which the Hamilton
family transferred to the bishop c. 1964. (fn. 83) The
redemption of a rent charge of £30 by John
Hamilton in 1919 was probably to extinguish the
lay rector's obligation to pay a curate. (fn. 84) From
1953 the benefice has been held with Kingston
St. Mary, (fn. 85) and from 1981 also with Cheddon
Fitzpaine. (fn. 86)
The church was valued at 10 marks in 1334 (fn. 87)
and was farmed for £8 5s. in 1534. (fn. 88) To augment
the stipend paid by the lay rector, Queen Anne's
Bounty made grants of £200 in 1764, 1789, 1849,
and 1858 to match sums and land given by Mrs.
Horner's trustees (£100 in 1764), Mrs. Pincombe's trustees (£50 in 1764, £100 in 1789,
£100 in 1858), the lay rector John Moss (£50 in
1764), the curate John Blundell (£100 in 1789),
John Hamilton (land worth £360 in 1849, £270
in 1858), Miss Hamilton (£130 in 1858), and
John Crosse (later Hamilton) (land worth £45
in 1858). (fn. 89) The income was £78 c. 1830, (fn. 90) and
further gifts by the Hamiltons in the early 20th
century increased it to £206 in 1931. (fn. 91)
William de Mohun (d. after 1190) gave half the
tithes to endow Dunster priory, (fn. 92) but the grant
was probably not fulfilled. The tithes of the
whole parish belonged to Buckland priory at the
Dissolution and thereafter formed part of the lay
rectory. (fn. 93) By 1841 a small piece of land at
Wembdon belonged to the Broomfield curacy. (fn. 94)
In 1849 John Hamilton and in 1858 John Crosse
(later Hamilton) augmented the curacy with gifts
of land in the parish and by 1933 there was also
glebe land in Creech St. Michael, the whole
totalling nearly 15 a.; (fn. 95) the land remained glebe
in 1976. (fn. 96)
A house was built for the curate before 1861
some distance east of the church on the edge of
Broomfield common. (fn. 97) It was occupied by the
incumbent until c. 1953 (fn. 98) and in 1988 was a
private dwelling.
Broomfield had two priests c. 1175 (fn. 99) but from
the earlier 14th century the parish was served by
a succession of parochial chaplains. (fn. 1) In 1450
there was also an anniversary chaplain (fn. 2) and an
endowed light in 1547. (fn. 3) In the later 16th century
there were difficulties in finding priests to serve
the church: a French priest lasted six weeks and
'upon the soden departed'. (fn. 4) In 1576 the church
lacked a communion cup and there were no
quarterly sermons. (fn. 5) Among the curates of the
17th century, some resident, were Hannibal
Potter, ousted as president of Trinity College,
Oxford, for reading the Book of Common
Prayer, (fn. 6) and John Prince, removed at the Restoration. (fn. 7) George Hellier, curate c. 1678-c. 1710,
was accused, probably unfairly, of being a nonjuror. (fn. 8) Thomas Milward, curate 1778-85, held
four other local livings. (fn. 9) In 1815 only one service
was held each Sunday, but by 1827 both morning and afternoon services were held. (fn. 10) There
were resident priests from 1861 to 1953. (fn. 11)
A church house is mentioned in 1597; it belonged to Broomfield manor (fn. 12) and by 1664-5
appears to have been a poorhouse. (fn. 13)
The church of ST. MARY AND ALL
SAINTS, apparently so called in 1443 as in the
20th century, (fn. 14) but known simply as All Saints
in 1313, (fn. 15) is built of rubble with ashlar dressings.
It comprises a chancel with north chapel, a nave
with north aisle and south porch, and a west
tower. The nave may retain a 12th-century plan,
but a blocked 14th-century doorway in the
chancel and the tower of the earlier 15th century
are the earliest surviving parts, the nave, chancel, and porch having been rebuilt in the early
16th century and the north aisle c. 1535. (fn. 16)
Richard Dulverton (d. 1443), chaplain of
Broomfield who repaired and decorated the
church, is commemorated by a brass in the
church. (fn. 17) Nave and aisles retain their latemedieval roofs, and there are fragments of glass
of the same period, including an inscription to
Alice Reskymer, prioress of Buckland in 1436
and 1457, (fn. 18) and some early 16th-century heraldic
glass. The bench ends, one with the name of the
carver, Simon Warman (d. 1585), (fn. 19) are of the
mid 16th century. The chancel was partially
rebuilt and furnished in the 18th century (fn. 20) and
the east window, inserted in 1913 in place of an
altarpiece, was glazed by Morris and Co. (fn. 21) A
gallery was removed in 1854. (fn. 22)
A cup and cover are dated 1635 and there are
two patens of 1709 and a flagon of 1721. (fn. 23) There
were five bells, the oldest by George Purdue
dating from 1606, and there are two early 18thcentury bells. (fn. 24) The registers begin in 1630 and
are complete. (fn. 25)
The churchyard cross is of the late 13th or
early 14th century. (fn. 26)