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KMORIAi.S F Old Somerset •Nfe 3tlfar8. 5f em lork BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THE GIFT OF HENRY W. SAGE IS9I The date shows when this volume was taken. To renew this book copy the call No. and give to the librarian. ».->^.»^>.^/.0-. HOME DSE RULES AU books subject to recail All borrowers must regift- ter in the library to borrow books for home use. All books must be re- turned at end of college year for inspection aild repairs. Limited books must be returned within the four week limit and not renewed. Students must return all books before leaving town. Officers should arrange for the return of books wanted during their absence from town. Volumes of periodicals and of pamphlets are held in the library as much aa possible. For special pur- poses they are given out for a limited time. Borrowers should not use their library privileges for the benefit of other persons. Books of special value and gift books, when the giver wishes it, are not allowed to circulate. Readers are asked to re- port all cases of books marked or mutilated. Ho Dot deface books by inaj:l(S ^d writing. Cornell University Library The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924028058364 Cornell University Library DA 670.S5S69 Memorials of old Somerset / 3 1924 028 058 364 Memorials OF Old Somerset MEMORIALS OF OLD SOMERSET EDITED BY F. J. SNELL, M.A. Author 0/ '* A Book of Exmoor" etc. and Editor 0/ " Memorials 0/ Old Devonshire ' With many Illustrations LONDON BEMROSE & SONS Limited, 4 SNOW HILL, E.G. AND DERBY 1906 [All Rights Reserved] \^ TO THE MOST NOBLE The Marquess of Bath LORD LIEUTENANT OF THE COUNTY OF SOMERSET THESE MEMORIALS ARE BY PERMISSION DEDICATED •I- PREFACE THE object of the present volume is to provide a conspectus of the principal historical and archaeologi- cal interests of the county of Somerset. These, however, are so rich and varied that the Editor has found it beyond his power to include between its covers all the attractive topics that might be treated. Still, the work, if not actually encyclopaedic, is fairly comprehensive, and its scope is certainly wider than that of any similar publication, while it is far more authoritative. The different writers have attempted to deal with their subjects in a literary, as well as scientific, spirit. Nothing has been assumed that a person of good education may not be reasonably expected to know ; and, conversely, as the writers, in most instances, are either well-known authorities or particularly acquainted with their respective subjects, it may be con- fidently anticipated that the results of their labours will be to " make the bounds of knowledge wider yet," even for those residents possessing an antecedent familiarity with some of the topics. All the papers, with two exceptions, have been specially written for " Memorials of Old Somerset," and, conformably with the aim of the series, in a manner adapted to the cultivated general reader. The two exceptions are viii PREFACE Mr. Alexander Gordon's "Ancient Stone Crosses," which originally appeared in The Reliquary, and " Old Mother Shipton's Tomb." Of the former it is needless to say more than that it would have seemed a pity not to preserve in a permanent and easily accessible form a charming article, charmingly illustrated. With regard to the latter, the late Mr. William George, a devoted and very capable antiquary, re-published in a brochure a set of letters, etc., chiefly but not entirely from his own pen, which had been addressed to the West Somerset Free Press. These letters represent a gradual progress from profound obscurity to complete enlighten- ment, and the whole credit of the achievement thus signalised must be assigned to Mr. George's learning and persevering research. The pamphlet, however, is an exhibition of scholarship in dishabille, and it was resolved by those responsible for the production of the volume that a process of re-casting was essential. With the consent of Mr. George's family, the task was undertaken by the Editor, who put the material in shape, but, apart from minor alterations, the original phraseology has been retained, and the changes effected have been in the direction of pruning superfluities and irrelevancies and transposing parts and passages in a way that Mr. George himself would probably have done if he had taken up the subject de novo. To commend one or two contributors by name would generally be invidious, but the Editor will not be mis- understood if he expresses satisfaction at the kind help PREFACE ix he has received from the venerable Canon Church, whose intellect is as keen as in his younger days ; whilst Mr. Tyte, a veteran professional writer, still shows remarkable versatihty. To these and his other able coadjutors, whose work speaks for itself, the Editor tenders warm acknow- ledgments ; nor must he fail to thank Mr. Charles Tite for advice which has been invariably most judicious, and for the generous loan of valuable prints. The photographs of Wookey Hole by Mr. H. E. Balch, who has kindly lent them, may be regarded as the first instalment of a work on the Mendip caverns in general —a subject of extreme interest, of which Mr. Balch is a master. F. J. SnelL. Tiverton, June, 1906. CONTENTS Historic Somerset " Mendip's Sunless Caves " The Glastonbury Lake Village . British and Roman Bath . " " Old Mother Shipton's Tomb . Glastonbury Abbey Wells Cathedral .... Ancient Stone Crosses King Alfred and the Danes Taunton and its Castle Church Towers .... " " Letters of Dorothy Wadham . Coryate and his Crudities . Admiral Blake .... William Dampier, Navigator and Buccaneer .... A Family of Politicians The Folhes of Bath . Samuel Daniel and the " Lake Poets" INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS Entrance Gate, Bishop's Palace, Wells . Frontispiece {From a Photograph hy J. Bed-well) Facing Page Interior of New Grotto, Wookey Hole i8 {From a Photograph by H. E. Balch, Wells) Wookey Hole—Stalagmite Pillars 24 {From a Photograph iy H. E. Balch, Wells) Roman Bath .... {Froin a Photograph hy F. Frith) 42 Roman Bath . (From a Photograph lent by the Corporation 0/Bath) 50 Glastonbury Abbey . {Froma Photograph by J. Bedwell) 68 North Doorway, St. Joseph's Chapel, Glastonbury Abbey . 74 {From a Photograph by J. Bedwell) Interior of St. Joseph's Chapel, Glastonbury Abbey . 82 {From a Photograph by J. Bedtvell) Wells Cathedral .... {From a Photograph by J . Bedwell) 88 Wells Cathedral—Plan i 94 „ 1, ,.2 100 Font in Aller Church . {From a Photograph by J . Bedwell) 1 46 Taunton Castle . {From a Photograph by H. St. G. Gray) I 52 {From a Drawing by H. Frier) Old Taunton .... 1 68 Church Tower, Huish Episcopi 176 „ Staple Fitzpaine 180 Silver Medal of Nicholas and Dorothy Wadham . .188 {From a Photograph by J. Reginald H, Weaver) xiii xiv INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS Facing Page Odcombe Church (Interior) (From, a Photop-aph by Montague Cooper) 194 Statue of Robert Blake at Bridgwater 202 {From a Photograph by Montague Cooper) Dampier's Reputed Birthplace, East Coker . .212 {From a Photograph by Montague Cooper) Ilminster Church 222 Samuel Daniel 250 {Drawn by T. Uwins. j£ngraved by R. Rhodes, Froin an original picture in the Collection of the late Earl 0/ Thanet) Holford Village (near Alfoxden) {From a Photograph by f. Frith) 262 Holford Glen .... „ „ „ 276 HISTORIC SOMERSET By the Editor O a traveller Somerset has much the same attraction as Holland. True, it is not all flat, yet the typical scene is ever the turf-clad moor, with its long " rhines " and invariable willows. That is the Somerset on which one looks down from the central peak of the Glastonbury Tor, with Mendip in the far dim vista. The broad pleasance of Taunton Dene, worthily named the Garden of England, and the happy hunting-grounds of Exmoor and Quantock, are also integral parts of the county; and east and south, round Yeovil and round Chard, are many lovely nooks, not to mention the superb beauty of the Avon. Still, the region of the peat and the gorges of Cheddar stand out distinct and individual. They are the heart and midriff of the land ; in an imaginative sense, they make Somerset —once a fief of the sea. If we turn from the natural to the animal kingdom, we shall be rewarded with discoveries of transcendant interest. To-day the red deer of Exmoor are the only large game that yet run wild in England, but the spade has brought to light abundant remains of fauna now wholly extinct or relegated to the tropics. That in prehistoric times herds of wild horses roamed over the plains of Somerset, making this the Argos of Britain, awakens little surprise, but the revelations of the hyasna den near Wookey are fairly amazing. It is hardly conceivable that there was ever a j>eriod when, in Britain, and in Somerset, the lion, the bear, the rhinoceros, the gigantic ox, the B 2 Memorials of Old Somerset reindeer, the Irish elk, and the huge woolly mammoth were at large. And with them was man. Compared with the teeth and claws of his fierce enemies, his natural means of defence how absurdly inadequate! Even his artificial weapons of bone, chert, and flint, his bows and his arrows, seem not very promising aids in his encounters with the big brutes which beset him on every hand. But he was acquainted with the use of fire, and the knowledge helped him to survive.

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