St. Mary's Church in the village of Huish Episcopi in South Somerset. An aristocrat of the county's towers.

At this time of year I thought posting about notable churches in South Somerset might be appropriate!  This is the third such posting.

The South Somerset village of Huish Episcopi is on the A372 just east of Langport.  In the tenth century Huish Episcopi was the more important of the two settlements, but now the tables have been turned and it is practically a suburb of Langport.

Of the Church of St Mary, Simon Jenkins writes in his England’s Thousand Best Churches (Penguin Books, 2009): “Huish Episcopi is among the aristocrats of Somerset towers.”  He also informs us that: “The tower was chosen to appear on the 9p stamp in 1972.”

The tower of St. Mary's Church in Huish Episcopi, Somerset.

A free and capacious car park sits conveniently opposite St Mary’s.  Alongside the car park is the village war memorial which is of an uncommon semi-circular design, it commemorates 15 men who fell in the First World War and 9 who were killed in World War Two.  The left column of the memorial is decorated with the regimental badge of the Somerset Light Infantry.

The war memorial in Huish Episcopi.

St. Andrew's Church in the village of Curry Rivel in South Somerset. A fine example of the Somersetshire Perpendicular style.

At this time of year I thought posting about notable churches in South Somerset might be appropriate!  This is the second such posting.

The South Somerset village of Curry Rivel is about 3 miles south-west of Langport where it sprawls around the junction of the A378, which forms the high street, and B3168.  A free car park is signposted off the main road, but although it seems very well used I have always been able to find a space.  It is then just a short walk up to the village square and the Church of St Andrew, a fine example of the Somersetshire Perpendicular style.  On the high street the village has an extremely well kept war memorial which is well worth paying a respectful visit.

St. Andrew's Church in the village of Curry Rivel,

South Somerset.

Paul Newman writes in his Somerset Villages (Robert Hale Limited, 1986): “The parish church of St Andrew’s is fifteenth-century Perpendicular and built of blue lias with Hamstone dressing, overlooking the square, perhaps the most attractive part of the village.  Its north chapel has a large tomb thought to contain the bones of Sabina Revel (d.  1254), wife of Henry de Lorty.  She was the last of the great family from whom the village takes its name and the likely builder of the chapel.  . . .  If Rivel has a clear-cut explanation, what of the prefix Curry?  The Domesday Book states that ‘the King holds Curri’, and the derivation appears to be Celtic, allegedly from a hermit who lived and did good works hereabout, St Currig.”  

St. Andrew's Church in the village of Aller in South Somerset where the Danish King Guthrum was baptised after his defeat by Alfred the Great.

At this time of year I thought posting about notable churches in South Somerset might be appropriate!

The village Church of St. Andrew in Aller has Saxon origins and is where the Danish King Guthrum was baptised after his defeat by Alfred the Great at the Battle of Edington in 878AD and the subsequent Treaty of Wedmore.

Today the village rambles along the A372 below Aller Hill midway between Othery and Langport in South Somerset.  The Church is on the fringe of the village, alongside the Victorian Aller Court, looking out over Aller Moor. 

Over one hundred years ago Edward Hutton in his Highways & Byways in Somerset (Macmillan & Co., 1912) wrote of Aller: “Its little church stands firmly upon a rising ground well out of the marsh, and, wonderful to relate, within is the very font in which Guthrum was made a Christian more than a thousand years ago.”

St. Andrew's Church in the village of Aller in South Somerset.  

Aller is also noteworthy as being where Parliamentarians under the command of Fairfax captured the remnants of the Royalist forces after their defeat at the key Battle of Langport in 1645.

English Votes on English Laws. Professor John Curtice says: "The English were sold a pup".

A devastating article by Nick Gutteridge  in the Daily Express (December 2) illustrates the ineffectiveness of former Prime Minister David Cameron’s policy of English Votes on English Laws.  The policy was rushed forward after the 2014 Scottish Referendum in order to assuage growing English concern over Scottish politicians’ interference in English domestic affairs.

Here are some quotes from the article:

Professor John Curtice, a political expert at Strathclyde University, recently told a debate on the usefulness of EVEL: “the English were sold a pup”.

A damning report published by the London School of Economics (LSE) concluded that the flagship measure has “done little to facilitate the expression of English voice” and that it is “unhelpfully complicated and opaque”.

Mr Cameron’s boast: “We have heard the voice of Scotland, now the millions of voices of England must be heard.” 

The Campaign for an English Parliament blasted: “We now know that statement wasn’t true. It was a lie. 

The campaign’s director, Eddie Bone, added: “The only way the English are going to stop their taxes being unfairly given away to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is by having a clearly defined voice and that can only be enabled by an English parliament.”

Here is a link to the whole article:
http://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/739228/English-Votes-for-English-Laws-David-Cameron-SNP-Nicola-Sturgeon-failed

Poet's Walk in Clevedon. A view of the North Somerset Coast and Severn Estuary.

Poet’s Walk in Clevedon takes you up and around Church Hill and Wain’s Hill on the south-west fringes of the town.  The walk gives fine views of the Somerset Coast and Severn Estuary.

Poet’s Walk takes its name from poets such as Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Alfred Lord Tennyson, and other contemporary literary figures, who visited the town and were inspired by its coastal views.  Coleridge stayed in Clevedon for several months in 1795 after his marriage, in Bristol’s St. Mary Redcliffe Church, to Sarah Fricker.

Clevedon is easily reached by road from Junction 20 of the M5 and on arriving at the seafront parking is not too difficult.  One can usually park on the roadside by Salthouse Park but, if needed, there is a spacious pay and display car park at Salthouse Fields near Marine Lake and the starting point for the walk.

Setting off up the hillside path it is not far before “The Lookout” is reached.  The plaque explains all: “Erected circa 1835 by Ferdinand Beeston.  Said to have been used by the Finzel Family sugar importers in the mid nineteenth century to view sugar ships coming from the West Indies.”

From Church Hill one can see the Welsh coast and north east up the Severn Estuary as far as the Second Severn Crossing.

Nestling in a slight hollow between Church Hill and Wain’s Hill is the Church of St. Andrew.  Built on Anglo-Saxon foundations, parts of the 12th century church remain alongside later additions.  Of St. Andrew’s Church, in his Somerset (Great Western Railway Company) 1934, Maxwell Fraser writes: “The grey old church, noble in its rugged simplicity, dominates the whole town from its commanding position on a grassy hilltop, and looks seaward as though brooding over the lines of Tennyson’s “In Memoriam”, which was written in memory of the poet’s friend Arthur Hallam, who is buried in the church with his father, Henry Hallam the historian.” 

In recent times this “brooding” church has featured as a location for the popular TV drama “Broadchurch”.

Clevedon's Church of St. Andrew nestling between Church Hill and Wain's Hill. 

The footpath curves around Wain’s Hill, the site of an Iron Age hillfort and also a little more recent fortification from the Second World War.  Looking beyond Blackstone Rocks and the mudflats, the rolling grasslands of Sand Point and Middle Hope are visible to the south west.  In the far distance the wooded Worlebury Hill can be seen as well as Steep Holm out in the Bristol Channel. 

Poet’s Walk is a little steep in places as it climbs through woodland but there are benches where one can take a breather - there is plenty of fresh air - and linger over the outstanding views of the Severn Estuary and Clevedon’s Victorian seafront and pier.

The Victorian seafront and pier at Clevedon viewed from Poet's Walk.  The Second Severn Crossing can just be seen, in the mist, on the horizon.