The village of Stoke St. Gregory in Somerset, its parish church, and final resting place of a notable tennis player.

Stoke St. Gregory, like its neighbouring village of North Curry, straggles along a low ridge which rises from the Somerset Levels and runs south-west to north-east with West Sedge Moor to one side and Curry Moor and Stan Moor on the other.

The Somerset Village Book, Somerset Federation Of Women’s Institutes (Countryside Books, 1988) has this to say of the village:

“The village, one of the largest in Somerset, covers an area of 3,967 acres and took its name from the church dedicated to St. Gregory the Great.

It is situated on the Somerset Levels, which for centuries has been the centre of withy growing and basket making.  The willow tree flourishes naturally on the wetlands of Somerset and it was discovered that the young straight shoots could be twisted, plaited and woven into many useful articles.

Present day Stoke St. Gregory is a study in contrasts – the rattle of the tractors – the rumble of the occasional bus and also the piercing shriek of a jet plane passing overhead.”

In 1988 the jet planes were almost certainly Fleet Air Arm Sea Harriers from RNAS Yeovilton, but sadly, in a short sighted move by the Labour government, they were retired from service in 2006.  However, we may hear the sound of jets over Somerset again in the not too distant future as the F35B Lightning is to enter service with the Fleet Air Arm – it is already at sea with an RAF squadron operating from the carrier HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH.

As Wimbledon is upon us again, at this time of year I thought I would wend my way along the narrow undulating road to the village and pay my respects at the grave of the noted tennis player “Bunny” Austin.  He is at rest in the churchyard at the parish church of St. Gregory.

Henry Wilfred “Bunny” Austin was the last British man to reach the final of a Grand Slam tournament until Andy Murray in 2012.

In the years 1933-1936 he helped Fred Perry win the Davis Cup for Britain.  In 1938 he reached the final at Wimbledon only to be soundly beaten by the American Don Budge, one of the finest players of the era.  Budge was the son of a Scottish immigrant to the USA named John “Jack” Budge who had played several times in Rangers reserve team before emigrating. 

In 1939 Austin was made top seed at Wimbledon, but was eliminated early in the competition – it was his last appearance on court there.

Bunny Austin married English actress Phyllis Konstam in 1931.  They met on a trans-Atlantic liner in 1929 when Austin was travelling to play in the US Open. 

The grave of Bunny Austin and his wife Phyllis in the churchyard of the parish church of St. Gregory in the Somerset village of Stoke St. Gregory.

Arthur Mee, when writing of Stoke St Gregory, beautifully describes its parish church in his The King’s England – Somerset (Hodder and Stoughton Ltd., 1968).

“It has a noble church, with a handsome pierced parapet, glorious windows, and a central octagonal tower built in the thirteenth century fashion before such towers were ousted  by the stately towers of 200 years later, for which Somerset is renowned throughout the land.  The tower has eight sides cunningly fitted on four arches, with smaller arches joining the corners.  Niches and statues are everywhere – nineteenth century apostles round the tower, a mediaeval St. Gregory in the south porch with a dove in his hands, and the statues round the pulpit.  We have seen pulpits like this at Thurloxton and North Newton, but nowhere else in Somerset.”

The parish church of St. Gregory in the Somerset village of Stoke St. Gregory.

The octagonal tower of St. Gregory's with its apostles in the Somerset village of  Stoke St. Gregory.

The tower and clock of the parish church of St. Gregory in the village of Stoke St. Gregory.