A Short Guide

TO

ENGLISHCOMBE PARISH CHURCH

with some notes on its history and of that of the Manor LIST OF VICARS OF ENGLISHCOMBE

1112(Circa) RALPH de LlCHEFEL 1792 JOHN BATCHELLOR 1220 ROBERT .... 1808 DAVID HUGHES, M.A. 1315 WILL DE STABLER 1838 C. RADFORD, B.A. 1345 WILL DE AXBRIGGE 1867 C. LLOYD, B.A. - JOHN BIGG 1876 J. SMART, M.A. 1416 RIC. PA VY 1881 L. T. PENNINGTON 1428 THO. WODE 1882 J. M. VAUGHAN 1429 THO. GALL 1882 F. D. DYMOCK, M.A. 1431 HEN. WYSE 1904 H. J. LEWIS, M.A. 1457 RIC. YOUNG 1911 G. H. LAWRENCE, M.A. 1480 JOHN CLYFTON 1916 C. M. BECKER, M.A. 1493 WILL REGILERNE 1919 G. E. HILLYARD - WILL SHEREWOOD 1922 PRYCE DAVIES, A.K.C. 1541 THO. BEYE 1928 W. T. QUINN 1559 JOHN GOLLEY 1936 E. J. ROWE 1576 EDW. VAUGHAN 1947 J C FORD MA 1588 WILL CLEMENT 1950 R L DEWE 1589 THO. THACKAM 1952 A L WALKER MA 1592 WALT. MASON, A.B. 1955 A F BELL 1662 RIC. MASTERS, A.M. 1962 J C CUNNINGHAM 1678 THO. HALL 1963 J S BARKER BA 1679 ALEX. RANDOLPH, A.B. 1970 R P A LANKESTER BA 1687 WILL. KEAT, A.B. 1974 J JOHNSON MA 1693 HUGO DAVIS 1976 M S LOWE MA AKC 1714 BENJ. WILDING, A.M. 1980 A J RADFORD 1722 SAM CATHERAL, A.M. 1986 T R BONIWELL AKC 1764 J. JOHNSON, B.L. 1996 R ATTLEY BA 1766 JOHN MARTIN, B.A. 2001 D J BURLEIGH 1786 ROB PlTCAIRN, B.A.

2 FOREWORD THIS is now the third edition of Englishcombe Church history to be printed in just over ten years, the first having gone to the press in May, 1937, and the second in May, 1939. Two thousand five hundred copies have been sold and additional material has been added to each of the later publications. The war put a stop to the restoration of the church and many plans have not materialised, but all who are interested in the building will be - glad to know that it has escaped damage, as far as can be seen, and that all the new windows put in in June, 1940, have survived safe and sound. In order that the many visitors who come here may be assisted to notice objects of interest, this edition of the church history begins with an outline of the principal features. This outline will repay careful study, and enable the readers better to enjoy the subsequent pages at their leisure. E. J. ROWE, August,1947. Vicar.

Sixty years after the third edition referred to above, the advantage has been taken of scanning and character recognition technology to produce a further reprint of this booklet and to make it available over the internet as well as on paper. At the same time, the list of vicars opposite has been brought up to date and a final section added to refer to some more recent developments. Apart from these additions, the text of the booklet is unchanged.

December, 2007

3 Interior of Englishcombe Church, 1947

OUTLINE OF OBJECTS OF INTEREST Porch On the right as you enter, hagiascope or squint giving view of side chapel altar. Notice the little Palmer's or Votive Crosses said to have been cut by pilgrims. Over the door is a niche which once held the figure of the Patron Saint - now unknown. Below the niche is a scratch dial or Mass clock, i.e. a simple sundial marking hours of services. It is a very early example. To the right of the door may be seen the remains of a Holy Water stoup. Nave Five War Memorial flags presented by the Services, as recorded below each flag. Royal Arms hung in the coronation year of King George VI and symbolising the fact that the King is the Defender of the Faith.

4 Scratch Dial built into the western pier of the chapel arch, facing north, 7 ft. 10 ins. from the floor. This dial is upside down. Tower Observe that the tower was originally square and extended westwards to the masonry projections near the pulpit. Norman arcading on north wall under tower. Devil's head on north-east capital, in perfect state of preservation. A mutilated example can be seen on central capital of the arcading. Figure of a priest, badly damaged, date c. 1300, at the foot of the arcading. Oak chest, seventeenth century, for altar linen. Chancel Bambino above chancel arch facing altar. Origin unknown, but a strong local tradition states that it has long been held in reverence. Heraldic Reredos showing the arms of the Patrons of the living from 1112 (1938). Heraldic Glass: north window, ; south window, the Priory of Bermondsey (1940). Piscina, perfect condition, fourteenth century. Chapel Carvings of the emblems of the Crucifixion in the soffit of the window. Piscina, mutilated, fourteenth century. Norman Font and fourteenth century oak cover. Three shields, above the altar, of benefactors (1938). Georgian pewter Communion set of five pieces. Heraldic glass of de Gournay shield (1940). Outside the Church Norman eaves course of grotesque heads under chancel roof. Consecration Crosses measuring 1½ inches can be seen on the buttresses at both the east and the west end. Scratch dial on the buttress of the chapel nearest the ,entrance door, 6 ft. 2½ ins. from the ground. Clerestory Window Fragments of fifteenth century glass, representing the four Evangelists.

5 ENGLISHC0MBE CHURCH The church stands at the western end of the village at a height of 245 feet above sea level, as shown by an Ordnance bench mark on the south wall. It is simple but of good proportions and consists of a Chancel, Nave, central Tower, and a Chapel on the south side.

Exterior The upper portions of the Tower, and the whole of the Porch are the most modern parts of the building. Five Consecration Crosses are to be seen. They are of early date and measure 1½ inches; two are incised on the north-east and one on the south-east buttress of the chancel and one on each of the south and central buttresses at the west end of the nave. These crosses were cut at the points where the Bishop sprinkled the walls with holy water during the elaborate ceremony that attended the consecration of the building. Abbot Horne states that he knows only five other churches in which retain these crosses. The grotesque heads carved on the eaves-course of the chancel are Norman, and so are the stones with pellet moulding which are set upside down in the base of the wall below the east window. The parapet and window of the chapel, the north wall, and also the north and west windows of the nave are Perpendicular.

Porch The Porch is recent and poor. Above the Norman arch of the south door is a niche which once held the figure of the Saint to whom the church is dedicated. Although now unknown, it is conjectured that the dedication is to St. Peter. The reason for this will be explained later. Remains of a Holy Water Stoup may be seen to the right of the door. Several Palmer's Crosses are cut on the stonework of the little window to the right.

Interior The original parts of the church are Norman and date from the end of the eleventh century. There are Decorated and Perpendicular additions. It is fortunate that the work of these periods is of fine quality and little spoilt by restorations such as have destroyed most features of interest in so many village churches.

6 Note-This plan is taken too low to show the west window and the clerestory window

7 On entering the nave, the visitor will notice the apparent inclination of the chancel to the north. Careful measurements have destroyed attractive theories on this point, and have proved that the inclination is an optical effect produced by the centre of the east arch of the tower being set south of the central line about which the nave and chancel are symmetrical.

Tower The Norman Tower has been partially rebuilt, doubtless on account of the collapse, or threatened collapse of the original rounded arches - an occurrence not unusual to Norman towers. The plan of the present tower is a rectangle with its longer sides at the east and west. The original tower was square and extended to the masonry projections near the pulpit. Norman arcading can be seen passing through the west wall of the tower, showing that the western Norman pillars must have been moved eastwards and the west wall of the tower with its pointed arch erected upon them. This wall is carried obliquely across the church, and in order to make the upper, and visible, part of the tower a true rectangle, the direction of the masonry was changed at the level of the medieval roof-line. This change of direction is clearly seen from the floor. The arches are similar in form, but that at the west is lighter as it supports a lighter wall; and although it is Early English in style, it is probable that it was constructed long after that period. The east wall, if not largely Norman, is of the original thickness. The north wall is Norman and its fine arcading is the chief architectural feature of the church. The upper part of the tower contains many fragments of carved stone of the Norman period. The lintel of the north window of the bell chamber is made from an ancient stone coffin lid. There are five bells, .of which two date from before the Reformation. One .of these bears, in crowned capitals, the inscription: JHV: FILII: DEI : MISARERE : MEI and the .other, probably the Ave bell, SANCTA: MARIA : ORA : PRO : NOBIS. The name of the founder is unknown, but as a number of belfries in Somerset, and a few in Devon, contain bells from the same foundry, it is thought that it was located somewhere in Somerset. Two old bells were recast in 1822. The peal cannot now be rung as the bell frame is unsafe. On the floor of the tower is an effigy of a priest which was recovered from the churchyard in 1937, where it had lain neglected since 1840 when it was found under an old pulpit covering a stone coffin containing human remains. A sketch made in 1844 shows that the figure was then in much the same mutilated condition as it now is,

8 and that it has suffered little from its ninety-seven years of exposure in the churchyard. It was seen by Dr. Alfred Fryer1 who recorded that it is the only surviving early ecclesiastical effigy carved from Bath Stone. The figure is shown vested in amice, alb, and stole. The hands are raised in prayer and the head rests on one bolster. Its date is circa 1300. The person represented is not known, but it is just possible that it is Edmund de Gournay who was a Prebendary of Wells in the fourteenth century. It is hoped to place this interesting relic in a suitable place in the chapel. The seventeenth century oak chest was placed in the church in 1937.

Chancel The Chancel is in the Decorated style. The east window is good and retains its original mouldings. The small north window is delicate and pleasing. A number of stones in the walls bear the typical tooling of the Norman masons and were re-used when the present chancel was built. In the north-west corner are the remains of the pillar from which sprang one of the ribs that supported the low, vaulted roof of the Norman chancel. The Decorated piscina is good and undamaged. The oak sanctuary chair, with its fellow in the chapel, are modern. Their design is based on the famous chair at Glastonbury.

The reredos shows, among others, the armorial bearings of some of the Patrons of the church. Facing the reredos, the shields read from left to right as follows : Priory of St. Saviour of Bermondsey, Patron. Cross of St. George. Priory of Bath, Patron. Archbishop of Canterbury. Bishop of Bath and Wells, present Patron. Bysse, Patron. Lions of . Gibbs, Patron.

Above the chancel arch, facing the altar, is the best known feature of the church. It is a small figure, of an infant swathed in a garment which resembles a vestment secured by diagonal bands. The head bears thick curls and rests on a pillow.

1Proceedings .som. Arch . .soc., Vol. LXVI for 1920, Pt. II, p. 47

9 Traditionally it has long been regarded by local inhabitants as an object of supreme importance, while its position indicates that it was so regarded when it was built into the chancel. It has been identified as a Bambino by antiquaries of repute. These representations of the Infant Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes occur in churches in Latin countries but are extremely rare in England. Photographs of this figure were recently submitted to eminent antiquaries who suggest that it represents the shrouded body of a child who died in infancy and that it once formed part of a larger tomb. In support of this contention it should be noticed that the figure must have been intended to occupy a recumbent position and here is no indication of a halo.

Communion Plate The Communion Plate consists of a cup of modern French silver, 9 inches high, copied from a mediaeval pattern. The paten is plain silver with the London hall mark and date mark for 1825. In 1872 there was one large and one small cup, but no details of them, nor of their fate, is known.

Chapel The chapel is attributed to the family of de Gournay. It has been much altered; the east window has gone and the original south windows blocked up and replaced with a single Perpendicular window whose depth was increased, after it was first made, by rough stone extensions to the carved jambs. In the soffit of this window are carved shields bearing emblems of the Crucifixion, including the Cross and Scourges, the Nails, the Spear and Sponge. The key and sword are possibly intended to represent the arms of the Priory of Bath. There is also a single rose and a quatrefoil. The original Decorated piscina remains but is mutilated.

10 A double squint, formerly provided with an iron grille, communicated with the porch. The use of these squints, or low side windows as they are now called, is unknown and is subject to much debate. Above the arch is an ancient corbel in the form of an angel bearing a shield. The font has recently been moved from the west end of the nave to the chapel. It is Norman, but the unusual base has suffered mutilation. Its oak cover is Gothic and dates from the fourteenth century. Three shields showing the arms of benefactors are hung over the altar. That to the north is of the de Gournay family; that in the centre is of the Duchy of Cornwall and records a donation from H.M. King George VI (Duchy of Cornwall) to the Restoration Fund of 1937. The other is of the Bishop of Bath and Wells and marks a gift by Bishop Wynne Wills on to the same fund. The chapel was re-roofed with finest English oak and covered with lead at a cost of over £300 in 1937. At the same time the large organ which for fifty years had filled the east end of the chapel was found to be beyond repair. It was removed, and the chapel in part restored with a small altar and new Communion rails. When this work was in progress, a fragment of a gravestone was found. From the arms carved on it, it proved to be part of the tomb of a family of Rosewell from which Collinson recorded a curious inscription which was visible in his day. The fragment is now in the porch.

Nave In the nave, above the chapel arch, is a clerestory window2 containing some very good fifteenth century glass. The fragments have been arranged at random but the following subjects have been identified: Part of a figure, apparently of St. Mark, with pastoral staff, an open book or Gospel, and with hand raised in Benediction. Part of a winged lion, the emblem of St. Mark. Part of a winged bull, the emblem of St. Luke. A portion of a priest's stole.

2 Additional information has recently been published in Stained Glass in Somerset by Christopher Woodforde.

11 Above the arch of the tower is a Royal Arms which was painted and hung in the Coronation year of King George VI. The Sovereign has always been regarded as the temporal head of the Church as well as the State, even as far back as Saxon times. This fact is the reason for the frequent display of Royal Arms in churches which commenced as early as the reign of Henry VI. The Reformation saw a great increase in the custom but most achievements were destroyed during the Commonwealth. By Act of Parliament, in the reign of Charles II, the King's Arms were ordered to be placed in all churches and this Act has never been repealed. As far as can be ascertained the Royal Arms in Englishcombe Church is the first to be put up in this county since Queen Victoria's reign. Another has since been hung in Otterhampton Church, near Bridgwater. It is of interest to note that a drawing now in Bath Public Library of Englishcombe Church (see page 18), made in the middle of the nineteenth century, shows a Royal Arms above the chancel arch, in almost exactly the same position as the present one. What became of it is unknown. On a bracket on the north wall is a small carved head with a coronet or crown. It has been there many years and is said to be a Head of Christ. To the west is a memorial tablet to John Gay of Haycombe bearing a conventional cherub's head of delicate workmanship. Facing this memorial is one to a family of Gibbs who once held the advowson. The carvings in the jamb mouldings of the west window are worthy of notice. The crossed keys are the emblem of St. Peter and, as this shield is so prominent, it is deduced that the church is dedicated ·to that Saint. Above is a single rose and to the right is a quiver of cross-bow arrows, or quarels. It is noteworthy that the family of de Gournay, concerning whom a note appears later in this pamphlet, held both the manors of Englishcombe and Farrington Gurney by the annual service of one rose; and the manor of West Harptree by the like service of a dozen quarels3. It is impossible to resist the conclusion that here is recorded a most interesting feudal tenure. Previous writers on Englishcombe have overlooked the fact that the manor remained in the hands of the de·Gournays until the early years of the fifteenth century and thus missed the significance of these carvings. The style of this window follows closely that of work in the neighbourhood which is known to date from the third quarter of the fourteenth century.

3Chancery Inquisition Post Mortem, 13 Edw. III (2nd Numbers) No. 37, M2.

12 War Memorial Flags The flags given by the four Services commemorate all who served in the second World War. The money subscribed for a memorial in the parish was divided equally among the Services benevolent funds. The Bishop of Bath and Wells dedicated the four flags described below on May 5th, 1947. The Union Jack given by Field Marshal the Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, Chief of the Imperial General Staff, was raised over his headquarters on Luneburg Heath after the Germans signed the surrender at the end of the war in Europe, in May 1945, and at his later headquarters in Germany. The White Ensign given by H.M.S. Flying Fox, the headquarters of the Severn Division of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. The Roy'al Air Force Ensign given by the Air Ministry. The Red Ensign from S.S. Empress of Australia, given by the Canadian Pacific Steamship Company. This ship, originally German built, was intended to be used by the Kaiser as a yacht when he led in the surrendered British Fleet at the end of the first World War! She was named the Tirpitz, but her subsequent history was very different from that which was planned. In 1921 the Canadian Pacific Railway took her over from the Reparations Commission and renamed her the Empress of Australia. She has sailed under the Red Ensign ever since. After conveying their Majesties the King and Queen to Canada in May 1939, she began her war work, which she continued without cessation, carrying members of the Allied Forces to every theatre of the war. Her ensign, now hanging in the church, was in use during her service in the Pacific. Subsequently the White Ensign worn by H.M.S. Vindictive was presented by the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty and was laid up by the hands of Captain H. G. D. Acland, D.S.O., R.N. (Commanding Officer, 1941-42), at the instance of the Vicar of this parish, who served in this ship as Chaplain from 1941-43. The ensign was dedicated by the Archdeacon of Bath, the Ven. E. A. Cook, on July 27th, 1947. H.M.S. Vindictive saw service in Norway and the South Atlantic, and in the Mediterranean during the North African and Italian landings. At the laying up ceremony the lesson was read by Admiral of the Fleet Sir James Somerville, His Majesty's Lieutenant for the County of Somerset.

13 Memorial Tablets No tablets prior to the eighteenth century remain in the church. Whether this is due to the zeal of church restorers or the iconoclasm of reformers will not now be known. The following is a list of memorial tablets at the date of this publication: John Gay of Haycombe, or Haycoome, 1729. Philip Gibbs of Trowbridge, 1813. Sarah Hallett of Misterton, 1855. Charles Radford, Vicar, 1867. James Smart, Vicar, 1881. F. D. Dymock, Vicar, 1902. Clara Lawrence, 1912. Percival Firmin, 1919. G. E. Hillyard, Vicar, 1922. War Memorial Tablet, 1914-1918. Plaques beneath War Memorial Flags, 1947. De Gournays Much of the early history of the church is associated with the family of de Gournay. After the Norman Conquest, the manor of Englishcombe was included in the vast spoils of the warrior-prelate - Geoffrey, Bishop of Coutances. He had for his sub-tenant, Nigel de Gournay, a Norman who had fought at Hastings. Nigel's descendant, Robert, left an heiress, Hawisa, who was thrice married. By her second husband, Robert Fitz-Harding, she bore a daughter, named Eva, who married Thomas Fitz-John of East Harptree. She carried to him the estates of de Gournay and, later, those which had descended to her from her half- brother, Maurice de Gant. Fitz-John, now aggrandised, assumed the name of de Gournay. His grandson, Anselm, shortly before his death in 1286, divided his estate among his sons. To Thomas, the youngest, he gave Englishcombe, Farrington and West Harptree, subject to the curious rents mentioned above. The first record of the church appears to be a grant by Hawisa de Gournay in 1112 of the advowson to the Priory of St. Saviour of Bermondsey. Just over a century later, in January, 1219-20, Robert de Gournay, a great-grandson of Hawisa, disputed the Prior's right of patronage; alleging inter alia that Hawisa was under the rod of her husband when she made the gift. The case came before the Court of Pleas at Westminster where it was held that, as Robert was unable to plead, being then under age, the Prior was to present a parson and that Robert could again apply when he became of age.

14 in the Irvine Collection in the Irvine Photograph of a drawing Photograph by kind permission of the Librarian, City of Bath library of Bath City Librarian, the of permission by kind

15 Seven years later Robert exercised this right, but he was obliged to acknowledge the legality of Hawisa's gift to Bermondsey and the right of the Prior to the advowson. In 1239 the Prior of Bath obtained the advowson for the annual payment of fifty shillings to the monks of Bermondsey and two marks ten shillings to their Prior. Again there is silence for upwards of a century until in 1332 William de Stabler, Vicar of Englishcombe, was summoned to appear before the Barons of the Exchequer in the matter of a will. He did not, or could not, appear. Writ followed writ in succeeding years. The reply to the second was to the effect that he had been distrained but his benefice was so poor that it scarcely sufficed for the sustentation of one priest. It may well be that the Vicar was in sore straits for grave trouble had come to Englishcombe. Its Lord, Sir Thomas de Gournay, had fled the Realm with a price upon his head, having set the seal upon a turbulent career by playing a leading part in that hideous crime at which brought the life of Edward II to its fearful close. Thus it is probable that the parson suffered in the catastrophe which had overwhelmed the village, and was unable to obtain the powerful help he could have expected in happier times. On the other hand, the suit in which de Stabler was joined concerned his wardship of a de Gournay of Overweare and he may have been frightened to appear in any court where his associations with a family under such a cloud might have placed him in considerable peril. De Gournay was taken at Burgos, in Spain, but escaped and was later retaken in Italy. He died on the journey to England and must be counted fortunate to have escaped the horrible death that the Feudal Law inflicted on those found guilty of treason. His estates were forfeited to the Crown, but on the petition of Joan, his widow, they were restored to the family as an act of grace. The eldest son, another Sir Thomas, succeeded. At his death the estates passed to his uncle, Sir Matthew de Gournay, the youngest son of the regicide. He is the most flamboyant personality associated with Englishcombe. His valour in the Hundred Years War was outstanding even among the famous band which surrounded the Black Prince. Some of his exploits are mentioned in the pages of Froissart. Leland saw his tomb at Stoke-sub-Hamdon and recorded the inscription with its list of battles and sieges, which included Crecy, " in which he gained for himself great praise and honour ". He had married the widow of John Beauchamp of Hache, who brought to him a number of manors in Somerset. These, together with Englishcombe, Farrington, and West Harptree were, for reasons we do not know,' escheated to the Crown when he died in 1405 at the great age of ninety-six. In 1421

16 Englishcombe was one of a parcel of Somerset manors added to the Duchy of Cornwall in exchange for the manor of Isleworth in Middlesex. It was returned to the Crown by Act of Parliament in 1481, but this Act was repealed in 1495 and the manor has been held by the Duchy ever since. At the Reformation, the Prior and monks of Bath were compelled to hand over their church and lands at Englishcombe to King Henry VIII. They were sold through Lord John Russell, Keeper of the Privy Seal, to James Bysse, clothmaker, of Stoke St. Michael. The Bysse family held the advowson for over one hundred and fifty years, after which it was in several hands. The living is now in the gift of the Bishop of Bath and Wells.

Churchwardens' Accounts The accounts surviving commence in 1807 and run to the present time. The opening entry records the sale of lead from the church roof and the construction of a new roof. This work was carried out by the local carpenter and must have been very poor for it was ruinous by 1875. The chapel roof was stripped of its lead in 1811 and reconstructed by the same carpenter; and when taken down in 1937, it was found to have been made of elm with rough oak beams which appeared to have been previously used in some secular building. It may be noted that the roofs were stripped of their lead during the Napoleonic Wars when lead commanded an enormous price and the use of oak for building was prohibited. In the early years there are many entries recording payment at the rate of sixpence a dozen for sparrows. This was the only vermin paid for. Only one charitable donation is recorded — that of one shilling to a woman with four children. Payments for prayers for failing crops run through the Hungry Forties. Little is recorded to mark the stirring events of the times although an Order in Council and a Proclamation were bought in 1831 and doubtless concerned the Reform Act. A payment for a prayer for the "India War" occurs in 1846. This was the campaign against the Sikhs. Of the other, and greater, wars there is no mention. As the years pass, the entries become more and more a record of routine.

17 Scratch Dials Scratch Dials are lines or scratches radiating from a hole in the masonry. Some are bounded by a circle in which the lines form radii. They are specialised, but simple, sun-dials and their purpose was to mark the times of religious services. A style, or gnomon, of wood or metal was inserted in the central hole and its shadow cast by the sun marked certain hours. The most important line is that which terminates where the figure VIII would appear on a clock face and is often more deeply cut than the other lines. The shadow was cast on this line at 9.0 a.m. which was the generally accepted hour for the commencement of Mass. The line vertically below the central hole indicated noon and the horizontal lines to right and left showed 6.0 a.m. and 6.0 p.m. Lines are frequently seen to the right of the noon line and marked the time of Vespers. These interesting timekeepers are almost always to be found on a south wall near an entrance to the church. They were in use from the Norman period to the time when clocks became general in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Three scratch dials are to be seen at Englishcombe. One, small and indistinct, is cut on the western buttress of the chapel near the porch. It is 6 ft. 2 ins. from the ground. The second, doubtless a very early example, is cut on the tympanum of the south door. It must have become useless as soon as the chapel was built. The third is a very well preserved circular specimen, 6½ ins. in diameter, cut on a stone forming part of the western pier of the chapel arch. It is placed upside down; and as it is inside the church and facing north it could not have indicated time in its present position. The stone on which it is cut must have formed part of the south wall of the church and was removed when the opening was made to form the chapel. Presumably the scratch dial was considered worthy of preservation. It is unlikely to be a spurious dial, for a copyist would not have cut it in a reversed position. It was long covered with plaster and this accounts for its good state of preservation. Objects of Interest in the Village The site of the Castle of the de Gournays is situated in a field at the east of the village and can be seen from the churchyard. It consists of an oval mound surrounded by a ditch. In 1938, preliminary excavations disclosed the foundation of a central circular keep and portions of a curtain wall at the north-east angle of the mound. The small triangular plot of land in the centre of the village was the site of the parish stocks - lineal descendants of the pillory, tumbril and gallows which Anselm de Gournay pleaded that his ancestors had maintained in the Manor for time out of mind.

18 The Tithe Barn to the south of the church is worthy of notice. It was built by the Prior of Bath. It is probable that the Tudor farmhouse adjoining the barn was the residence of the bailiff of the Priory who lived in the village. The belief that the barn is built from stone taken from the Castle was not supported by the excavations in 1938, for no single fragment of worked ashlar was then found. The meadows to the west of the church contain one of the best preserved sections of that great Saxon earthwork, the . C. C. TITCHMARSH.

Footnote 2007 — Recent Developments Among the more significant of works in recent years has been the replacement of the Church roof, starting with the chancel in 1985-6 and then the nave and chapel in 1992-4. The nave was re-roofed in natural slate but for the chancel and chapel stainless steel was used, being durable but less prone to theft than the lead it replaced on the chancel (the chapel having previously been felted). Once weathered it is of a similar appearance. In 1997 new oak external doors were hung and dedicated in memory of Grahame Blair, Churchwarden for 35 years from 1962 to 1996. The Burial Grounds (Englishcombe Churchyard, Englishcombe, ) Order 1977 closed the churchyard to future burials other than those for which plots had already been reserved. The final burial took place in 2003, that of Mrs Ellen Brown, former headmistress of the village school, who at the age of 104 was also, as far as is known, the oldest person to have been buried in the Churchyard. An area in the churchyard to the east and south of the chancel has however been reserved for the interment of ashes. Following its closure, maintenance of the churchyard became the responsibility of the local district council (now Bath & North East Somerset), although grass cutting and other minor routine maintenance has been subcontracted back to the PCC. With deterioration to a number of the gravestones, and in some cases the surface with the inscription having split off completely, a survey of the gravestones and memorials has been undertaken to produce a photographic record of the stones and as far as possible, a transcription of the inscriptions before further deterioration makes others illegible. This can be inspected in the Church or referred to via the Englishcombe village website, www.englishcombe.net.

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