H STORY H (REWKERN E SC OOL. — A . D . 149 9 18 9 9 . BY THE E R V. R . GR O S VE N O R B AR T E L O T , AL A . O R E W K E R N E “ PR IN BY JAME S W H E AT LE Y M C O UN T Y MAIL FFI E . TED , SO ERSET O C C O N T E N T S . U U I S AG O I . CHAP . FO R CENT R E J OHN D E COMBE T H E CHANTRY O F T H E HO LY TRINITY T H E L M IM LL FREE SCHOO , SO ET E CA ED CHANTRY O F T H E HOLY TR INITY ’ THE FOUNDER S INTENTION AN D S C H E M E SUBSEQUENT BENEFACTORS THE SCHOOL ESTATES L L V III . THE O D SCHOO ‘ L THE NEW SCHOO 0 01 AN D S ME N THE WARDENS, FEOFFEES, TOWN THE M ASTERS OF THE SCHOO L I K L L X I . CREW ERNE SCHO ARS OF O D ’ I . IM XIII . N DR PENNY S T E XIV T H E H L G I E R . SC OO RE ST P R E F A C E . O f m ak in b ook s l to g many there is no end, nor is there like y . o e au thors be S m of us are born , some attain authorship, and e T h som have authorship thrust upon them . e latter of these is true in the present case . Crewkerne School celebrates the 400th ’ . 2 5 th Anniversary of its Foundation on St James s Day, July , 1 9 I 89 . n view of this festal event I was in April requested by the Anniversary Committee to prepare for the Press a History of the School . Such is the origin of this book . Written in much ’ in the haste , and printer s hands in May, it must of necessity L ; betray m any signs of treatment less thorough than the subject merited . To the Warden and Governors of the School I desire to express my obligations for access to the School muniments ; and to the following my thanks for valuable helps and H . C . T h R ev . e . suggestions Rev the Head Master, Gaye, Vicar - of Crewkerne Rev . Willoughby Allen, M . A . , sub Rector of ° B Exeter College, Oxford Rev . J . P . illing, Rector of as Seavington ; Rev . P . W . Unwin, Second M ter of the School ; h E s . Major Sparks, Jo n Sparks , q , W A Rixon, Esq , of A lfoxton . u . a s Park ; Mrs G P R P lman, Rev C non Edmond , r . C . of Exeter Rev. Canon Wo dsworth, Rev S Ruddle, . C . t Rev A Le hbridge, Rev T Hoskins, Rev J Stroud , F . S . u nr . J . Tompsett, Esq , Warren, Esq , Mr Fred Stoodley, J , . C o . and Messrs Little and , of Exeter R . G . B. East Gate, Corfe Castle, o h ne 1 899 l t Ju , . “ L I S T 0 I L L U S T R A T O N I S . C RE W K ER N E CHURCH FRO NTISPIECE T o FACE PAG E EXETER CATHEDRAL “ CREWK ERNE ABBEY IN 1 846 ’ J OHN DE COMBE S MAN TEL - PIECE (FROM PHOTO BY LI L AN D C O . X TT E , E ETER) K G LL “ B H CREW ERNE PARSONA E, CA ED THE AB EY, W ERE J OHN DE CO MBE LIV ED M J K . L . J . P . M BY M S S A OR SPAR S, D , , (FRO A PHOTO E SR . ELLIOTT AND FRY) L HO L U FE O N T THE O D SC O , SO TH H L O L T E O D SCHO , NORTH FRONT THE NEW SCHOOL R E V . F. LL M . A . M H BY IS O PH WE ER, (FRO A P OTO CHR T ER , OF CREWK ERNE) K C R EW ERNE CHUR CH, W E S T FR O N T pa PE N N Y H I S T O R Y O F C R E W ‘K E R N E S C H O O L P E CH A T R I. F ou r C entu r ies Ago “ HE 400th Anni versary of the Foundation of Crewkerne School cannot fail to land u s mentally for awhile in the reign of V I King Henry I . His was an important reign in many ways, but chiefly so in that it was a marked period of transition and revolution in Society, in e ni Literature, and L ar ng, as well as in national ideas T he long and destructive W ai s —aiid n too n of the Roses were over, no e soo , for therein had the old noble families well nigh exter minated one another . T hose of the nobility who d had survived the struggle found their feu al independence 1 to be but a shadow of its former greatness . whilst a new i l d on a of w a r nob l t , e e ate qualification e lth ather than of i y v , i e was ther r nd the K s serv e t to the ro a l n age, ga ing ou ing ub i n y l cheddlngton 9 The di cover too of Am ca if for the rese t it did little s y, , eri , p n se an r a an el , at y ate t ught the people to think for themselves, d to too nin ts se not trust implicitly to the lear g of the Ancien , who d as theology and science might, after all, be just as much benighte e e . vi th ir g ography And with this came the re val of study . c ars o s S hol fl cked to England from foreign countrie , the Greek an ua th ol l g ge attracted more students than ever before, e d m a e s th ethods of te ching were superseded by bett r method , and e printing press brought literature within the reach of the ordinary student. h of e of t T is wave the New L arning was, course, first fel r ’ in the Universities , but it gradually sp ead over the length and breadth of the land . Schools naturally became a desideratum, w but schools were very few and far bet een . Especially was this 1 447 a dearth of schools experienced in London, for in the year “ petition was presented to Parliament setting forth that it were expedyent that in London their Should be a sufficient number of scholes and enfou rm ers in gramer and not for the singular avail of two or three persons grevously the hurt the multitude w of yong peple of ai this land . For her there is grete nombre few to the s of lerners and teachers, and noon others, maistre n ouerer coun in as waxen rid of monie, and the ler ers p in y g, ‘ c nc o enlie a enst r of l expe rye e p sheweth, g all vertue and ord e wel ” of publik . If then, London felt this want schools , the country w r s h ls to ns felt it more, for there we e not a dozen foundation c oo w' 1 5th . o e th in England at the close of the century H ev r, that e wish of the country was atte nded to in regard to education is shown by the fact that before the l 6th century closed there was w f c n d le s ze but could oast O f ita hardlya to n o any o si erab i b Grammar School . ' n to om r et th town of wk r st d ore T urni g S e s , e Cre e ne oo f mwt 3 ss th in the matter of education four centuries ago. It posse ed e c earliest Foundation Free Grammar School in the county, in fa t ‘ 1 it has been described as one of the most ancient in the kingdom “ not ten to 1 499 the d of its there being more than anterior , ate ” foundation . Crewkerne was a town of considerable importance in those w days . It had sprung up in Roman timm at the intersection of t o d o n - Roman roa s ; later , under the Anglo Saxons , it had attained sufficient importance to be chosen with seven other Somerset o of t wns as a place fitted for the establishment a Royal Mint, and c oins of the reigns of Ethelred II, Canute, Harold I, William the a m O f Conqueror, and Rufus his son are ext nt, bearing the sta p the Crewkerne Mint . In subsequent times the two obvious causes of the prosperity of Crewkerne were firstly its position and secondly the high l nobility and influence of its andlords . A S regards the first of these causes the town stood on the e main road from Exet r to Salisbury and London, it was the natural centre of a district thickly dotted with villages possessing the some of the best land in the county, besides which, from lie of m the land round Ly e Regis, a great deal of the merchandise from that then considerable seaport had to find its way to the Crewkerne, along the ancient Lyme road, before it could reach most profitable markets .