206 EAST COKER. SOMERSETSHIRE. court district, rural deanery of Merston, archdeaconry of tor ant! comrade of Capt. Cook, is now a farm house, and Wells and diocese of Bath and Wells. St. Michael's church retains some int;eresting portions of the original building~ is a Perpendicular building of stone, consisting of chancel, erected in the Perpendicular period, including a spacious nave of three bays, aisles, transepts, north porch and an porch of two storeys, with a large recessed and moulded embattled tower on the east side of the north transept with entra.nce arch and a square-headed two-light window above ; a pierced arcaded parapet and small pinnacles, and there is a similar window on one side of the porch, and the an elegant octagonal stair turret at. the north-east angle main block has two lofty pointed windows, formerly belong­ rising above the parapet, and reheved by string courses ing to the hall ; these are of two lights each, with transoms continued from the tower ; it contains a clock with chimes and trefoil heads, and in the head of each window is a pen­ and 8 bells : the stained west window is a memorial to tagonal opening ; the remainder of the house has been George Bullock esq. of North Coker Honse, d. 1885, and the much modernised. In 17S3 the foundations of a Roman east window to Maria Carolina (Grove), his wife, d. 2nd Feb. villa and tesselated pavement were discovered here. Coker :r866: in the north transept is a memorial window to Emily Court is '8. modernised structure of the 1sth century, the Lucy (Portman), first wife of George Troyte-Chafyn-Grove property of the trustees of Miss Dorothy Helyar, and now esq. d. 8th Nov. 18s6, aged 19: in the north transept are the residence of Col. John Mount-Batten; it is situated on several mural tablets to the Bullock family, dating from an eminence close to the church, overlooking a fine expanse 1753: a brass to George Bullock esq. mentioned above, and of country. North Coker House, the seat of GeorgeTroyte­ memorials to the Skinner family, 1769-18o6, and to Thomas Chafyn-Grove esq. D.L., J.P. is a modern mansion of Ham Leaves, of Pendomer, d. 1717, and his wife, d. 1724; a stone. The trustees of Miss Dorothy Helyar and George memorial brass has also been erected to the Rev. Rowland Troyte-Chafyn-Grove esq. are the principal landowners. Huyshe, vicar from 182S; the reredos was presented by The soil is sandy loam; the subsoil is clay and sandy loam. the present Mrs. T:.:oyte-Chafyn-Grove, who also partially The chief crops are wheat, beans, barley, roots and a large reseated the church at her own expense ; the remainder of portion of land in pasture. The area is 2,078 acres ; rate­ the nave was reseated and refloored in 1896, and in 1897 able value, £4,970; the population in 1891 was 863. hot water apparatus was laid down at a total cost of £3oo: NoRTH CoKER, i mile north; BURTON, I! north-west; HEw there are sittings for 434 persons. The register dates from HILL, xi north-west; and NAISH, ~~ north, are hamlets in the year 1s6o, and there is a list of vicars extending from this parish. the 13th century. The living is a vicarage, net yearly value Parish Clerk, Felix Drake esq. £276, including 4! acres of glebe, with residence, in the gift Acting Parish Clerk, Waiter Noble. of the Dean and Chapter of Exeter, and held since 1877 by -posT, M. 0. & T. 0., 'f. M. 0., S. B., Express Delivery, the Rev. Charles Powell B.A. of London University. The Parcel & Annuity & Insurance Office, North Coker.- great tithes, commuted at £3;3S• are administered by the John Martin Brewer, sub-postmaster. Letters from Ecclesiastical Commissioners, .£ss thereof being granted to Yeovil arrive at 7·35 a.m. & 3.20 p.m. ; dispatched at the augmentation of the living. The cemetery, one acre and 9· 10 a. m. I2.SS & s.30 p.m. ; sundays, 12. Io p.m a half in extent, with one mortuary chapel, was formed in WALL LETTER Box, Upper Coker, cleared at 8.s5 a.m. & 1877 at a cost of £SS5. and is under the control of the 12.4S & S·IS p.m.; sunday, 12 noon parish council, acting as a burial board. In the parish are County Police Station, Eli Cousins, constable almshouses, founded by Archdeacon Helyar about 164o, for Parochial Elementary Schools (mixed & infants), for East eleven women and one man, who receive 3s. 6d. per weak Coker, Pendomer & Sutton Bingham, built in x8s1, for each. The ancient manor house, said to have been the 250 children; average attendance, 165; Sydney Edward birthplace, in 16s2, of William Dampier, the circumnaviga- Webber, master; Miss Mary Ann Giles, mistress Drake Felix, Devonshire cottage Cox Mary Ann (Mrs.), grocer Noble Waiter, blacksmith, & acting Giles Miss Grumpier J esse, farm bailiff to George parish clerk Groves Miss Troyte-Chafyn-Grove esq. Home frm Pearce Joseph, butcher Mount-Batten Col. John J.P. Coker court Delamont Mary (Mrs.), beer retailer, Perry Frederick, farmer • Powell Rev. Charles B.A. Vicarage Hew hill Perry Joseph, blacksmith & saw mills Troyte-Chafyn-Grove George D.L., J.P. Dodge William, carpenter Pragnell Ruth (Mrs.), nurse North WEST COKER is a parish and village on the high road shilling per week, the other having no pension; the other from London to Exeter, 3 miles south-west from Yeovil charities include Mrs. King's of [2 yearly, for poor widows station on the Great Western and London and South Western and spinsters ; Rodbard's, consisting of freehold land, let in railways, in the Southern division of the county, Hounds- 48 allotments "'t 7s. yearly each, and Miss Sarah Moor's of . borough, Barwick and Coker hundred, Yeovil petty sessional £s yearly, for teaching girls to read and sew. The inhabi­ division, union and county court district, rural deanery of tants are chiefly employed in the manufacture of twine. A Merston, archdeaconry of Wells and diocese of Bath and working men's reading room, with a library of about 200 Wells. The church of St. Martin is a building of stone in volumes, was re-opened in 1882. West Coker House, the the Early Decorated and Perpendicular styles, consisting of property and residence of Col. Edmund Henry Berkeley, is chancel with side chapels of two bays, nave of four bays, a large and handsome mansion of Ham stone, enlarged and aisles, south porch and an embattled western tower with considerably improved in 1892, and surrounded by well pinnacles and containing 6 bells and a clock, erected in 1887 laid-out grounds containing an ornamental sheet of water. at a cost of £100 ~ in the tower is a small and ancient horn Westlake is the residence of Major Robert Aldworth J.P. window: there are six stained windows, the east window West Coker Manor House is an ancient building of the 14th commemorating the restoration of the church in 1864; two in century and belonged to the Earls of Devon until about 1600, the south aisle are memorials to Charles Podger ( 1864) and when it was bought by John Portman esq. ; it was restored Mrs. Susannah Chaffey Fussell (I8S9) respectively; there about 1885, and is the property of Mr. Thomas Moore, but is a monument with kneeling figures to Elizabeth, the eldest is at present unoccupied. 'rhe Hon. Sir Spencer Cecil daughter of Sir John Portman hart. and wife of John Binet Brabazoa Ponsonby-Fane K.C.B. Viscount Portman, Thomas esq. of Holcombe, and to Grace, his fourth daughter, who Moore esq. William Moore esq. and the Rector are the chief died unmarried: the church has been restored since 1873 landowners. The soil is loam and sand ; the subsoil is clay at a cost of £733, and affords sittings for 517 persons. The and sand. The chief crops are wheat, barley, beans and register dates from the year 1697. The living is a rectory, pasture. The area is 1,367 acres; rateable value, £3,987; gross yearly value £soo, ·with residence and 18 acres of the population in 1891 was 892. glebe, in the gift of and held since 188o by the Rev. William Sexton, Edward Hawkins. Laurence Cotter M.A. of Trinity College, Dublin. Here is a Pos·r, M. 0., T. 0., T. M. 0., S. B., Express Delivery, small Wesleyan chapel, erected in 1839, and a meeting room Parcel & Annuity & Insurance Office.-Mrs. Sarah E. for the Brethren. 'l'here is an almshouse, founded by Templeman, sub-postmistress. Letters from Yeovil arrive \Yilliam Ruddock in 1719, for six poor persons, four of at 7.50 a. m. & 3.30 p.m. ; dispatched at 12.4S p.m. & 5·.3o whom receh·e two shillings per week each and one one p.m.; sunday, 10.30 a.m