PENSELWOOD
The parish of Penselwood, usually known until
the 19th century as Pen, occupies the southern
end of a prominent wooded ridge which formed
the core of the ancient forest of Selwood (fn. 5) and
the boundary between Somerset and Wiltshire.
In the 1390s the parish stretched further north
and east, the rector claiming that his predecessors had taken ecclesiastical fees and walked a
boundary which formed the tithing of Gasper
later in the parish of Stourton (Wilts.). (fn. 6) The site
was of strategic importance since it overlooked
an east-west route dividing Selwood and the
forest of Gillingham (Dors.). King Edmund
Ironside fought a Danish army here in 1016 and
it has usually been identified as the site of
Cenwealh's victory over the Britons in 658. (fn. 7) The
parish, bounded by Wiltshire on the north, east,
and south, by Wincanton on the west, and by
Stoke Trister and Cucklington on the southwest, is roughly oval in shape with a tongue to
the west leading to a detached area beside Leigh
common at Sunny Hill. That area, which then
included 2 houses and 9 persons, was transferred
to Stoke Trister in 1885. (fn. 8) Part of Stourton was
transferred to Penselwood in 1966, (fn. 9) giving the
parish an area of 519 ha. (1,280 a.) in 1981. A
small piece of land was transferred from Cucklington in 1982, giving a total of 523 ha. (1,292
a.) in 1991. (fn. 10)
Penselwood c.1842
The ridge of Upper Greensand on which most
of the parish lies reaches 210 m. on the northern
boundary and 201 m. near the southern. To the
east the land falls in coombes to the silty clay
valley of the river Stour, which forms the boundary with Wiltshire. To the west it falls to 110 m.
down a wooded scarp of clay and landslip and
continues south-west over Coral Rag and Oxford
Clay to include Leigh common. (fn. 11)
In the earlier 17th century the bounds of the
parish were marked in the north by a ditch and
what was called a barrow, and by trees, roads,
ditches, a stream called 'le Backwater', stones,
and the forest entrance called Trister gate. (fn. 12) The
southern boundary in part is marked by Long
Lane, in the mid 17th century known as the
London highway (fn. 13) and the most important route
in the parish. From it a road runs northwards to
the church and then along the Selwood ridge.
South-east from the church back towards Long
Lane is Bleak Street (in 1871 Blat Street), (fn. 14) and
north-east from Bleak Street's southern end
towards the mill runs Coombe Street.
Evidence of early settlement has been identified in the south-western corner of the parish
where a double stone bank of the Bronze Age
and Iron Age is associated with several flint
assemblages. (fn. 15) The land east of Penselwood village above the Stour, called Pen Pits by 1589, (fn. 16)
was formerly claimed to have been a 'primitive
metropolis' and later as whetstone quarries perhaps dating from the Roman period. (fn. 17) An
earthwork on the western side of the parish,
known as Ballands castle from the field named
Ballands in which it stands, has been assumed
to be a medieval motte and bailey castle, (fn. 18) but
may rather have been the site of the lodge
occupied by the lieutenant of Selwood forest. (fn. 19)
Settlement is scattered widely across the plateau which forms the centre of the parish.
Church, former church house, and rectory
house, stand near cottages dating from the 19th
century. (fn. 20) The former capital messuage known
as Pen House or the Great House faced the
bowling green. (fn. 21) A small group of cottages lines
a road leading due south from the church past
Penhouse farm to the southern boundary. The
main settlement in the 20th century lay along
Bleak and Coombe streets. The hamlet of Pear
Ash, on the northern boundary, is so named
from a tree by 1619; (fn. 22) in the north-east is the
almost deserted Castle Orchard, where 14
houses stood in 1871; and Pen Pits, north of
Coombe Street (4 houses in 1871). Chapel Lane,
leading from Bleak Street, was so named in
1871. (fn. 23) New houses were built from 1969. (fn. 24)
There appear to have been two arable fields
in the parish in the earlier 17th century, (fn. 25) one in
the centre called Pen field and later Great field
stretching south from the church to the southern
boundary; the other, known as Elworth and later
as Elliotts, to the west and also reaching the
southern boundary. Consolidated strips still survived in 1842. (fn. 26)
The whole of the parish was probably within
the bounds of Selwood forest after 1155 but its
eastern part including the main area of settlement
was disafforested in 1298. (fn. 27) Disafforestation of
the rest took place between 1627 and 1629. (fn. 28)
Allotments north of the church and converging
lanes there suggest the presence of woodland
at an early date. (fn. 29)
Pen Pits, an area of 200 a. of waste (fn. 30) was
largely woodland, especially oak and ash, in the
16th and 17th centuries and later became pasture. (fn. 31) That part of Leigh common, in the
south-west part of the parish and adjoining
Stoke Trister, was inclosed in 1821 under an Act
of 1814. The area was c. 60 a. (fn. 32) A rabbit warren
was mentioned in 1631 in fields attached to the
mill. (fn. 33)
Most of the houses in the parish date from the
early 19th century and are of local stone with
tiled roofs; from the 1970s many have been
extended. One house in Chapel Lane still retains
a thatched roof.
There was an alehouse in the parish in 1673. (fn. 34)
The Queen's Head in Coombe Street is first
named in 1847 and continued in business until
1975. (fn. 35) A beerhouse, also in Coombe Street and
called the King's Head, was open in 1851 and
closed before 1910. (fn. 36) A third house, the Rest and
Be Thankful in Pen Lane, was in business by
1871, (fn. 37) and closed in 1926. (fn. 38) The Hunter's
Lodge, on the former London road at Leigh
common, was built between 1842 and 1851; (fn. 39) it
was open in 1992.
A feast or revel was held on 13-15 August
1798 and in 1883 on the first Sunday after 5
August. (fn. 40) It was last held in 1919. (fn. 41) Bowls were
played illegally in the earlier 17th century, (fn. 42) and
a field north-west of the church was named
Bowling Green in 1842. (fn. 43) In 1783 mummers
from the village performed at Redlynch House. (fn. 44)
Fives may have been played in the churchyard. (fn. 45)
A benefit society met in the village by 1847 until
1855 or later. (fn. 46)
The population rose between 1801 and 1861
from 265 to 442 and fell rapidly between 1881
and 1911 from 420 to 275. (fn. 47) A slight rise in the
next twenty years was followed by a fall to 218
in 1971, but new building brought the total of
those usually resident to 241 in 1981 and to 269
in 1991. (fn. 48)
(Sir) Arthur Bliss (1891-1975), the composer,
lived in the parish from 1935 until 1955 in the
house named Pen Pits designed for him by P. J.
B. Harland. (fn. 49)
MANOR
Britnod held PENSELWOOD in
1066 and in 1086 it had become part of the estate
of Roger Arundel, from whom it was held by
William Geral. (fn. 50) It descended in the honor of
Poorstock (Dors.) and in 1236 was among the
fees of Roger Fitzpayn. (fn. 51) Roger died in 1237 and
was succeeded by his son Robert (d. 1281) and
his grandson, also Robert, who was lord in
1284-5 and who died in 1315. (fn. 52) No further
record of the overlordship has been found.
William of Kedeford held 'la Penna' as part
of his fee in 1236. (fn. 53) Richard Fromund presented
to the church in 1266 and still held property
there in 1274. (fn. 54) By 1284-5 he had leased it for
life to Nicholas Cleymond. (fn. 55) By 1316 the tenant
was William Tatifer (Tauntefere), (fn. 56) from whose
family it descended by marriage to the Chiseldons. (fn. 57) Richard Chiseldon was in possession by
1342 (fn. 58) and in 1351. (fn. 59) John Chiseldon was lord
by 1402 and in 1419, (fn. 60) but was dead by 1426
when his widow Elizabeth held dower. (fn. 61) Elizabeth seems to have exercised sole patronage of
the living in 1427, 1429, and 1430 (fn. 62) but in 1430-1
half the manor was in the hands of William
Wadham (d. 1451) and his wife Margaret, (fn. 63)
daughter of William Chiseldon, (fn. 64) while Elizabeth held half the manor and a third of the
advowson. (fn. 65)
William Wadham was succeeded in 1451 by
his son John. (fn. 66) James Wadham, sole patron of
the living in 1481, (fn. 67) is thought to have been a
younger son of William. (fn. 68) Sir John Wadham,
William's grandson, died in 1502. (fn. 69) Sir John's
son and heir, Sir Nicholas, died in 1541 (fn. 70) and
was succeeded in turn by his son John (d.
1577-8) and by John's son Nicholas. (fn. 71) Nicholas,
who married Dorothy Petre and with her
founded Wadham College, Oxford, died without
issue in 1609, leaving three sisters as coheirs.
One third of the manor passed to Joan, wife
of Giles Strangways (d. 1562) and descended
successively to two grandsons, Giles (d. 1623)
and Sir John Strangways (d. 1666). Sir John was
followed by his second son Giles (d. 1675) and
Giles by his second son Thomas. Thomas died
in 1713 and his son, also Thomas, in 1726. The
heirs of the last were his sisters Elizabeth (d.
1729), wife of James Hamilton, duke of Hamilton and Brandon, and Susanna, wife of Thomas
Strangways Horner. Susanna's share of the
manor passed on her death in 1758 to her only
daughter Elizabeth, wife of Stephen Fox Strangways (cr. earl of Ilchester 1756, d. 1776) and
thereafter to successive earls of Ilchester. Giles
Stephen Holland Fox-Strangways, earl of Ilchester, was one of two joint lords of the manor
in 1939. (fn. 72)
One third share passed to Florence, wife of
John Wyndham, and descended like Orchard
Wyndham (fn. 73) to Charles Wyndham, earl of Egremont (d. 1763). In 1817 his son George (d. 1837)
exchanged his holding in Penselwood with the
earl of Ilchester for land outside the parish. (fn. 74)
One third of the manor passed to Margaret,
wife of Nicholas Martin, and was divided among
her four heirs on her death in 1610, namely her
daughters Elizabeth, wife of Sir Thomas
Hamon, Frances, wife of Thomas White, and
Anne, widow of Anthony Floyer, and her grandson (Sir) Edward Richards, son of the fourth
daughter Jane. (fn. 75)
The Martin estate was subject to further
division during the 17th century. Sir Edward
Richards sold his share in 1632 and Sir Thomas
Hamon in 1633, (fn. 76) and parts were acquired by
the Wyndhams in 1660. (fn. 77) Thomas and Andrew
Ewens bought Anne Floyer's share in 1632, (fn. 78)
and by 1657 until after 1664 Thomas Ewens held
a court in respect of one sixth of the manor. (fn. 79) In
1659 Thomas Carew was in possession of a
quarter share formerly of Sir Edward Richards, (fn. 80)
and in 1685 Elizabeth Matthew and James Sparrow each owned fractions, some of which passed
to Edward King in 1699. (fn. 81) King, a linen weaver,
owned one third of the advowson in 1705, half
of which he had acquired from Robert Freke in
1698. (fn. 82) King died in 1722 and his share of manor
and advowson passed to his daughter Dorothy
and to her husband Henry Good. John Good,
their son or grandson, sold the share to Henry
Hoare in 1775. (fn. 83)
In 1685 William Biging held fractions of the
manor and in 1708 the Still family conveyed
more to him. (fn. 84) By 1742 Biging had accumulated
twenty-two fortieths of the divided manor,
largely as lessee of the Strangways share. Henry
Good and Sir Charles Wyndham had nine fortieths each. (fn. 85) Biging was succeeded in 1743 by
his son Harry (d. 1762) and Harry by his son
William (d. 1802). By 1784 William seems to
have exchanged some land with Henry Hoare, (fn. 86)
and in 1845 William's widowed daughter-in-law
Mary Biging sold his freehold estate to the earl
of Ilchester. (fn. 87)
The Hoare share, registered in 1801 with
those of the earls of Egremont and Ilchester, (fn. 88)
descended from Henry Hoare (d. 1785) to his
grandson Richard (cr. Bt. 1786, d. 1787). Sir
Richard Colt Hoare, son of the last, died in 1838
and the share descended with the baronetcy. Sir
Henry Hugh Arthur Hoare was said to be one
of the two joint lords of the manor in 1939, (fn. 89)
although the family had sold the land between
1875 and 1918. (fn. 90)
Pen House or Great House, the capital messuage of the divided manor and the principal
house in the parish by the later 17th century, (fn. 91)
belonged with the Strangways share of the estate. It was occupied by Thomas Strangways
Horner at his death in 1742 and was a substantial
three-storeyed house. (fn. 92) In 1751 its front was said
to have been decayed and it was offered for sale. (fn. 93)
The building, comprising a main range with
projecting front wings, stood north-west of
church and rectory house. It was still standing
in 1842 and probably until later in the 19th
century. (fn. 94)
Forest Lodge, (fn. 95) on an elevated site overlooking the southern part of Selwood forest, may
have derived its name from and occupied the
same site as the lodge attached to the forest in
1540 (fn. 96) and 1618. (fn. 97) In 1632 it was named Lodge
House and stood beside land called Penne Lodge
and adjoining open grassland. It was then in the
custody of the king's forester. (fn. 98) The principal
rooms of the present house were a three-bayed
addition in front of an earlier building, possibly
the work of J. K. Biging (d. 1841). (fn. 99) The older
house became the service wing. Biging, his
widow, and H. C. Leaver, rector 1852-77, lived
there. (fn. 1) The house had to be extensively rebuilt
after a fire in 1929. (fn. 2)
ECONOMIC HISTORY
There was land for
3 ploughteams in 1086 but only 2½ teams were
recorded, one on the 2-hide demesne. The tenant farmers, 4 villani, 8 bordars, and 4 cottars,
shared 1½ team. There were 3 beasts, 13 swine,
and 100 sheep, 12 a. of meadow, and 20 a. of
pasture. Woodland measured 12 furlongs in
length and 4 furlongs 12 perches in breadth. The
value of the estate had fallen since 1066 from £7
to £3. (fn. 3)
In the 13th and 14th centuries millstones were
quarried and widely exported. (fn. 4) The quarries,
stretching from the east of the village north and
east into Stourton (Wilts.) and Zeals (Dors.)
parishes, comprise some 20,000 pits. The taxpayers of the parish in 1327, paying half the total
of Cucklington and less than Charlton Musgrove, included a shepherd, two men named
from the local woodland, and two called Baller,
perhaps involved in clay digging. (fn. 5)
In 1535 tithe income suggests that the cultivated part of the parish was fairly evenly divided
between arable and grassland. (fn. 6) The income of
the manor in the later 16th and the earlier 17th
century comprised rents of over £8, varying
sums from fines and other casual payments, and
sometimes substantial amounts from sales of oak
and ash shrouds and timber. In 1580-1 the gross
income was £13 10s. 6d., in 1626-7 £64 13s. 2d. (fn. 7)
In the earlier 17th century the manor amounted
to 915 a. There were five freeholds of which the
largest in 1631 was Leigh farm (50 a.), held by
the earl of Pembroke. Just under half the total
area was divided between 17 customary tenants,
holding either on leases for lives or by copy. The
largest tenant farm, later known as Pen farm,
comprised 116 a., followed by the 70 a. held with
the mill. Between them the tenant farms had just
over 148 a. of arable and 109 a. of meadow.
There were 200 a. of waste. (fn. 8)
Disafforestation took place between 1627 and
1629 (fn. 9) involving 300 a. in which tenants had
rights of pasture over 240a. (fn. 10) After inclosure the
king received one third, with the best trees, the
lords one third 'to be disposed of at their pleasure', and the tenants one third. (fn. 11)
The Ewens family were prominent farmers in
the 17th century. Andrew and Thomas Ewens
had shares of the manor from 1632, (fn. 12) and Andrew was a leading taxpayer in 1641. (fn. 13) Thomas
and Alexander Ewens each offered 40s. to the
king in 1661. (fn. 14) Thomas left goods and chattels
valued at £1,455 in 1685. His farm stock comprised 6 cows, 18 young beasts, 5 horses and
mares, 2 colts, and a Welsh pig. Crops were hay,
wheat, and oats. (fn. 15) A decade earlier another local
farmer had 6 cows and calves, 10 other cattle, 13
horses, and a flock of over 100 sheep, small
acreages of winter corn and oats, and evidence
of cheese manufacture. (fn. 16) William Biging (d. c.
1710) and Samuel Rake were the largest tithe
payers in 1707-8. (fn. 17) Rake was tenant of Pen farm
and paid a total rent of £50. (fn. 18) By 1742 the Biging
family held fractions of the manor and several
leaseholds amounting to 113 a. together with a
share in Pen farm, much of which was later
mortgaged. In 1802 William Biging (d. 1802)
paid a fine of £520 for renewing a lease. (fn. 19)
By 1713 the lords of the manor between them
had 75 a. of woodland and the tenants 52 a. (fn. 20) In
1756 the timber on the earl of Ilchester's share
comprised 446 maiden oak and ash and 1,059
pollards in an area which measured 26 a. c.
1801. (fn. 21) By 1817 the land was described as forest
coppice. (fn. 22)
The regular income of the lords was not large.
The earl of Ilchester's share of manor rents
amounted in 1780 to just over £46, which
included a small farm formerly within the forest
and bought in 1764; (fn. 23) Henry Hoare's rental in
1784 was just over £25, and in 1800 £42. (fn. 24)
At the end of the 18th century the standard
of farm management on the Ilchester estate was
considered not high and the 'poor, cold clay' was
heavily infested with weeds, (fn. 25) but the year 1801
was declared the most fruitful within living
memory, although the crops on only c. 100 a. in
the parish were recorded, of which 30 a. was
oats, 20 a. each of wheat and potatoes, and 18 a.
of barley. (fn. 26) Woodland was exploited for timber
and bark in the later 18th and the early 19th
century, and the oak, ash, and elm on the
Ilchester estate was valued at over £635. (fn. 27) The
largest farms in 1802 were Pen, followed by
Penhouse, and the land attached to the mill. (fn. 28)
By 1817 there were 5 farms over 50 a. in size, of
which the largest, known as Whiteheads, measured 134 a., followed by Pen farm (128 a.),
Sparrows (77 a.), and Pen mill (73 a.). The last
three were unlet. (fn. 29) Leigh farm, which in the
1730s had been 77 a. in extent, (fn. 30) in 1829 covered
44 a. in Penselwood and 152 a. in Wincanton. (fn. 31)
By 1842 three holdings measured over 100 a. in
the parish and there were 306 a. under arable,
606 a. of meadow and pasture, and 89 a. of
woodland, of which 51 a. lay in the area of the
former forest. (fn. 32)
In 1857 the earl of Ilchester was sole owner
of 144 a., joint owner with the Hoares of 126 a.,
and part owner with the Hoares and George and
Henry Messiter of 275 a. (fn. 33) Pen farm was 192 a.
in 1851, and in 1871, renamed Church farm, was
250 a. (fn. 34) In 1875 Leigh farm measured 324 a. in
total, rather less than half in Wincanton, and was
still part of the holding of the Hoare family. A
total of 252 a. in the parish was then owned solely
by Sir Henry Hoare and 254 a. jointly with the
earl of Ilchester. (fn. 35) Leigh farm was sold by the
Hoare family in 1918. (fn. 36)
A dairyman was recorded in 1813, (fn. 37) and two
dairy farmers were in business in 1875. (fn. 38) Arable
contracted between 1842 and 1905 to a total of
43 a., grassland increased to 870 a., and woodland to 106 a., the woodland mostly belonging
to the earl of Ilchester. (fn. 39) In 1912 some 284 a. of
Lord Ilchester's Redlynch estate in the parish,
then including Manor farm (formerly Pen and
Church farm) and Bleak farm, were sold. (fn. 40) Some
of the Hoare estate was sold in 1914. (fn. 41) By the
1880s the largest individual landowner was W.
Parsons, and his successors were Major W. P.
Parsons in 1919, and the Revd. Newton Parsons
in 1939. (fn. 42) There were nine separate farms in
1939, the largest at Pear Ash. (fn. 43) In 1988 there
were 11 holdings, measuring 30 ha. or less and
only two over 50 ha. Among them were three
dairy farms, one poultry farm, and one rearing
cattle and sheep. Less than 15 ha. in the parish
was arable. (fn. 44)
Textile production is first traced in the parish
in 1664 when a hosier from Mere (Wilts.) took
over the corn mill. (fn. 45) A dyer was working in the
parish in 1783. (fn. 46) About 1811 the mill was processing flax for Daniel Maggs, a tick maker, and
his brother Michael. (fn. 47) In 1839 26 people were
employed there, (fn. 48) and in 1851 19 people from
the parish including children. (fn. 49) In 1861 21 were
employed there while others from the parish
worked at the linen factory at Bourton. (fn. 50) Dressed
flax, sackcloth, twine, and shoe thread were
produced until the early 1880s. (fn. 51) Other textile
workers living in the parish included woolcombers and hosiers between 1817 and 1854, and in
1861 a hosier master and a worsted manufacturer
were living there. (fn. 52) In 1861 there were three
shops and craftsmen included two masons and
a carpenter. (fn. 53) There were still three shops in
1906 but only one in 1939. (fn. 54)
Apart from millstones, (fn. 55) limestone was quarried from the earlier 17th century (fn. 56) and was
burnt in the 19th. (fn. 57) A quarry was in operation
in 1939. (fn. 58)
Mill
There was a mill in 1086. (fn. 59) A corn mill
is mentioned in 1586-7 (fn. 60) and in 1618 it was held
with a farm of 60 a. (fn. 61) In 1664 it was let to a
hosier and continued to produce textiles until
the early 1880s. By 1883 it was again a water
grist mill and was in business in 1891, but had
probably ceased to grind by 1902. (fn. 62)
In 1639 the mill house was described as good
and the holding included a garden, orchard, and
70 a. of good land. (fn. 63) In the 19th century the mill
was driven by water feeding a pond to the south
which then passed underground to a second
pond to the north. (fn. 64) A long leat has subsequently
been constructed running parallel to the river
Stour but flowing in the opposite direction. (fn. 65)
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
The parish formed
a single tithing by the early 13th century and
remained so in the 16th. (fn. 66) A single court for the
vill in 1540 imposed fines on a woman for being
a scold and on a man for allowing his dog to bite
a mare. (fn. 67) After the division of the manor the
Wyndhams usually held courts, described as
courts baron, in the spring, and the Strangways
family (jointly with Thomas Ewens in 1657 and
1664) in the autumn. Rolls and papers survive
for 1632, (fn. 68) 1637, (fn. 69) 1657-9, (fn. 70) 1664, (fn. 71) for most
years between 1682 and 1710, (fn. 72) and for 1714,
1738, and 1782. (fn. 73) In the later 16th and the earlier
17th century the court licensed customary tenants to live away from the manor. (fn. 74) Business of
the court in the 17th century included orders to
repair buildings and implements, to control
strays, and to organize common grazing. By 1631
the tenant of Pen farm was required to provide
hospitality for the lord or his steward. Another
house, leased by the Strangways family in 1698,
was to be used by them or their stewards. (fn. 75)
The parish appointed two wardens, two overseers, (fn. 76) and two highway surveyors or
waywardens. (fn. 77) In the 1790s the vestry nominated both wardens as well as overseers. (fn. 78)
In the 18th century the poor were offered
monthly payments and the cost of clothing or
thatching their houses. A poorhouse had been
established in the former church house by 1775,
for part of which in 1792 the wardens were
paying rent to the lords of the manor. (fn. 79) In 1844
the vestry proposed to repair and relet the
former parish portion which in 1846 was conveyed by the poor-law guardians to the rector
and wardens. In the previous year the lords of
the manor had conveyed the rest to the rector
and wardens, both transactions allowing the
whole building to be converted to a parochial
school. (fn. 80)
The parish became part of the Wincanton
poor-law union in 1835, Wincanton rural district
in 1894, and Yeovil, later South Somerset, district in 1974. (fn. 81)
CHURCH
The font, the south doorway, and
the proportions of the nave and chancel suggest
a church of the 12th century. (fn. 82) The living was a
sole rectory until 1980 and from that date formed
a plurality with Wincanton. (fn. 83)
Successive lords of the manor held the advowson from 1266, (fn. 84) but a lessee presented in 1325, (fn. 85)
and in 1595 John, William, and Edmund Waddesworth were patrons by grant of Nicholas
Wadham. In 1623, after the division of the
manor, Richard Willoughby of Silton (Dors.)
was patron, presumably as grantee of one of the
lords, but John Strangways, lord of a third of
the manor, presented in 1628. (fn. 86) Sir John Wyndham, who owned the next presentation, granted
it to Andrew Ewens in 1633, (fn. 87) and Ewens presented in 1645. The new rector agreed not to
resign without first informing Wyndham. (fn. 88) The
next presentation is recorded as having been
made by Sir William Wyndham and Thomas
Ewens, (fn. 89) but was in fact made by the lords of
that third of the manor then largely owned by
Thomas Ewens, William Still, Thomas Carew,
and John Sparrow in which Sir William also had
a small share. An attempt to present another man
evidently received some local support. (fn. 90)
Thomas Ewens presented in 1674 but there
was opposition from the Wyndhams when
Thomas Strangways presented in 1719. (fn. 91) Henry
Good the younger was patron in 1744 as owner
of part of the divided third share of the manor. (fn. 92)
The earl of Egremont presented at the next
vacancy in 1791 and the earl of Ilchester in
1806. (fn. 93) In 1921 the earl of Ilchester had transferred his turn to the bishop of Bath and Wells
and the bishop exercised the patronage at two
vacancies in every three. In 1959 the Hoare
trustees made over their share to the bishop,
leaving him sole patron. (fn. 94)
The living was taxed at £4 in 1291, (fn. 95) at £5 by
1445, (fn. 96) and at £6 13s. 9d. net in 1535. (fn. 97) In 1708
it was valued at £47 1s. 4d. net. (fn. 98) The income of
£297 in 1931 included payments of £36 from
Queen Anne's Bounty and £82 from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. (fn. 99)
Tithes amounted to £3 10s. in 1535, (fn. 1) and to
£29 7s. 4d. in 1708. (fn. 2) They were commuted for
£61 12s. 8d. in 1842, (fn. 3) and in 1851 were worth
£160. (fn. 4) Glebe, valued at 29s. in 1535 (fn. 5) and £50 c.
1670, (fn. 6) was reckoned at 33 a. in 1606 and at 28
a. in 1708. (fn. 7) In 1842 there were 47 a. (fn. 8) Nearly 30
a. were sold in 1921 but a small plot was bought
in 1928, (fn. 9) leaving just over 19 a. (fn. 10)
There was a parsonage house in 1606. (fn. 11) In
1815 it was described as unfit and very small,
and in 1840 was uninhabited but under repair. (fn. 12)
It continued to be let until after 1871. (fn. 13) It was
rebuilt, on a larger scale, in the later 19th
century, was divided in 1951, and was sold in
1980. (fn. 14)
In 1325 Hugh of Bourton was licensed soon
after his appointment as rector to be absent in
the service of the queen's sister. (fn. 15) In the 1530s
a rector and a curate served the parish and there
were six altars, lights, or images in the church
and an endowed obit. (fn. 16) William Ashley, rector
1665-74, was resident rector of Cucklington
with Stoke Trister and employed a curate at
Penselwood. (fn. 17) Richard King, rector 1745-91,
and Charles Digby, rector 1806-32, both employed the rector of Stourton (Wilts.) as curate. (fn. 18)
From 1822 the curate was J. K. Biging, who
himself was rector 1832-41 and also served
Bourton (Dors.). (fn. 19) Samuel Merindin, rector
1841-52, was also rector of Buckhorn Weston
(Dors.) and employed resident curates at Penselwood. (fn. 20) On Census Sunday 1851 the morning
congregation was 107, of whom 50 were adults;
in the afternoon there were 120 adults and 50
children. The curate believed open beershops
the reason for the small morning congregation. (fn. 21)
By 1870 there were monthly celebrations of
communion. (fn. 22) A choir had been introduced by
1871. (fn. 23)
By 1889 there was a mission church in
Coombe Street owned by Mrs. Austen, wife of
E. G. Austen, rector 1887-99. It was sold by her
before 1900. (fn. 24)
There was a church house by 1611. (fn. 25) It stood
beside the churchyard and was evidently rebuilt
in the later 18th century. It was last so named
in 1784 but was already a poorhouse. (fn. 26)
The church of ST. MICHAEL, so dedicated
by 1546 (fn. 27) and built of rubble with ashlar dressings, comprises a chancel with north vestry, a
nave with north aisle and south porch, and a west
tower. The reset south doorway of the small nave
has a carved lintel and a chevron-decorated arch
above a plain tympanum. There is a 14th-century piscina in the chancel and the tower is of
the 15th century as are the much-restored windows of the chancel. In 1805 the nave walls were
raised in height, new windows inserted, and a
new ceiled roof built. (fn. 28) The north aisle and
vestry were added in 1847-8 to the designs of
Jesse Gane of Evercreech. Gallery and box pews
were then removed, and the chancel and nave
rebuilt. (fn. 29)
The head of a late-medieval churchyard cross
is in a niche over the south porch. (fn. 30) The three
medieval roof bosses in the nave came from
Stavordale priory in 1874. The pew ends were
carved in 1927 by Mrs. Clemency Angell. (fn. 31)
The plate dates from 1843. (fn. 32) There are six
bells including one from a Dorset foundry of c.
1500 and said to have come from Stavordale, and
one of 1520 by Thomas Jeffereys of Bristol,
formerly at Charlinch and added in 1985. Another is dated 1584. (fn. 33) The registers date from
1721 but are incomplete. (fn. 34)
NONCONFORMITY
One man was fined for
recusancy in 1593-4 and was reported again in
1604 and 1612. (fn. 35) One woman in 1629 was described as a popish recusant and excommunicate. (fn. 36)
A house was licensed in 1842 for use by
dissenters. (fn. 37) Primitive Methodists were building
a chapel in 1860. (fn. 38) Closed in 1954, it was sold in
1956 (fn. 39) and later demolished. (fn. 40)
EDUCATION
A church Sunday school
opened in 1829 had 40 children in 1833 and was
supported by subscriptions. There were also in
1833 two day schools teaching a total of 27
children at their parents' expense. (fn. 41) By 1846-7
there was a National school which had 40 children on weekdays and Sundays and 24 on
Sundays only. (fn. 42) A new school was built in 1847
on the site of the former poorhouse (fn. 43) which was
enlarged in 1882 and 1926. (fn. 44) In 1903 there were
43 children on the books. (fn. 45) The average number
in 1935 was 37 but attendance was much less. (fn. 46)
The school, which received pupils from
Southampton in 1940, closed in 1946 and the
children were transferred to Bourton (Dors.). (fn. 47)
The Primitive Methodist Sunday school started
in 1863 had 18 teachers and 82 children in 1865
and 55 children in 1890. (fn. 48)
CHARITIES FOR THE POOR
Walter Kelly
(d. 1930) gave £50 to the rector and churchwardens for the parish and for the benefit of the
poor, and Cyril Leaver (d. 1931) bequeathed
£500 in trust for the sick and poor. (fn. 49)