A stroll around the Somerset village of Muchelney, its abbey ruins and Church of St. Peter and St. Paul.

Edward Hutton in his Highways and Byways in Somerset first published in 1912 writes of Muchelney: “But the ruins of Muchelney Abbey, lovely as they are, are by no means all there is to be seen in the beautiful island of Muchelney.  The church is interesting, though its double windowed tower is not very splendid.  Perhaps more interesting is the dear little vicarage house upon the north side of it across the road, dating perhaps from the fourteenth century; and there is a good though restored village cross.”

 I visited Muchelney in the Somerset Levels on a fine afternoon in late May.  I drove from Curry Rivel south along narrow twisting lanes, frequently lined with the delicate white flowers of cow parsley, through the picturesque village of Drayton, over the River Parrett at Westover Bridge and into the village.

Leaving the car by the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, avoiding the no parking signs, I explored the church and its graveyard.  Inside, the five panel stained glass east window and the Jacobean painted ceiling were impressive.  The churchyard gave a good view of the remains of the abbey.

The Church of St. Peter and St. Paul in the Somerset village of Muchelney.

The east window of the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul in Muchelney, Somerset.

The ceiling of the nave in the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul in Muchelney, Somerset.

The early nineteenth century organ in the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul at Muchelney, Somerset. 

I took some photos of the village cross and then peeped through the gate of the Priest’s House which is now a private residence in the care of The National Trust, and open only at certain times.

The village cross at Muchelney in Somerset

The Priest's House (National Trust) at Muchelney in Somerset.

A couple of hundred yards further south is the entrance to the car park for Muchelney Abbey.  I left the car by the church and set off on foot.  The Abbey is looked after by English Heritage, and there is an entrance fee.  I opted to take some photos of the ruins from the car park, and perhaps pay for a closer look another day.  The foundations we see today were revealed largely by the exertions of the Rev. S.O. Baker in 1873.

The foundations of Muchelney Abbey in Somerset.  The Church of St. Peter and St. Paul is in the background.

Monks first came to Muchelney in the seventh century, but the abbey was abandoned in the ninth century probably because of the depredations caused by Viking raids.  It is said that King Athelstan re-founded the abbey in 939 as a thank offering for his great victory over the Celtic-Norse army at Brunanburgh in 937.  It then grew in size and status until Henry the Eighth’s Suppression of the Monasteries.  In 1538, two years after the Act of Suppression was passed in 1536, the abbey was torn down leaving only the abbot’s lodging and the monks’ latrine to survive as farm buildings.  Hutton devotes four pages to Muchelney, and they are very well worth reading.

Landscapes and cloudscapes on a late May afternoon in South Somerset.

The morning of 24th May was a bit showery in South Somerset, but the afternoon turned sunny with scattered cloud and a gentle breeze.  

We needed to do a little food shopping so my wife and I drove to a farm shop on the A30 west of Chard and, since it was a good afternoon for photography, I took my camera along.

On the way home road works caused us to divert onto the A30 east of Chard where, near Cricket St. Thomas, I stopped in a layby and took some landscape photos of the view to the south.

Later in the afternoon, back at home, I took some cloudscape photos looking towards the Blackdown Hills.

In the evening I took some more cloudscapes, and just before sunset a wonderful feathery mare's tail appeared.

A feathery mare's tail over South Somerset just before sunset on 24th May.  The black dot near the centre of the photo is a swift.

A stroll around the centre of Crewkerne in Somerset, and its Church of St. Bartholomew.

On a recent Spring afternoon I drove east along the A30 to the Somerset market town of Crewkerne.  I wanted to have a look at its Church of St. Bartholomew which is mentioned in Simon Jenkins’ England’s Thousand Best Churches (Penguin Books, 2000).  St. Bartholomew’s is one of Jenkins’ top one hundred churches.

I parked in the pay and display car park off West Street which is very convenient for the church and town centre, and inexpensive to boot.  Taking the direct route to the church I walked along the narrow, but interestingly named Oxen Road.  On reaching Church Street I walked up the wide steps to the church.

The Church of St. Bartholomew is very impressive, little wonder Jenkins awards it 4 stars out of 5!  Bryan Little in his Portrait of Somerset (Robert Hale - London, 1969) describes the church as “one of the county’s best” and having “a western façade of minsterlike quality, far surpassing those normally found outside abbeys and cathedrals”.

The Church of St. Bartholomew in Crewkerne, Somerset. The town's war memorial is to the right.

The "minsterlike" west front of the Church of St. Bartholomew in Crewkerne, South Somerset.

Crewkerne’s war memorial is in the churchyard, but although it appears well cared for some of the inscriptions are very difficult to read.  I managed to decipher the unusual, but fitting commemorative words from John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress: “SO HE PASSED OVER AND ALL THE TRUMPETS SOUNDED FOR HIM ON THE OTHER SIDE”.

A Blue Plaque on the western wall of the churchyard informs us that the building on the other side is a Victorian Tudor-style house “built in 1846 on the site of the ruins of one of Crewkerne’s three medieval clergy houses.  The south side incorporates an original fifteenth century window from the old house”.   

The Victorian Tudor-style house west of the Church of St. Bartholomew in Crewkerne, Somerset.

Leaving St. Bartholomew’s I strolled down Church Street to the Victoria Hall, part of which is the Town Hall.  It is freestanding on all sides and is in a Jacobean style, built around the turn of the twentieth century.  Prominent beside the entrance to the Town Hall is a stone tablet commemorating the visit of The Queen, accompanied by The Duke of Edinburgh, to Crewkerne on 2 May 2012 in her Diamond Jubilee Year.

The Town Hall, Crewkerne, South Somerset. 

Opposite the Town Hall is the George Hotel, mentioned by Pevsner.  The nearby Crooked Swan public house - its original name The Swan Inn still visible – displays its support for Ukraine in the ongoing war in Eastern Europe by flying that nation’s flag above its entrance.

The George Hotel - mentioned in Pevsner - Crewkerne, South Somerset.

The Crooked Swan, Crewkerne, Somerset.

In previous wars, in the days before steam, Crewkerne provided sailcloth for the Royal Navy.  Crewkerne’s prosperity was founded on weaving flax which was grown extensively in the surrounding area.  It specialised in sail cloth which was required in huge quantities for the Royal Navy, and also produced webbing for the British Army.  Lord Nelson and HMS VICTORY were carried to immortality at Trafalgar by canvas sails from Crewkerne. 

The town has another link to The Battle of Trafalgar in Thomas Masterman Hardy, Nelson’s Flag Captain and captain of VICTORY, who attended a long gone grammar school north of St. Bartholomew’s Church.

I walked along busy Market Street and back up West Street, where, before returning to my car, I spotted a picturesque terrace of almshouses.  The stone plaque on its wall read “ALMSHOUSES ERECTED IN THE YEAR OF THE DIAMOND JUBILEE OF HER MAJESTY QUEEN VICTORIA OUT OF A PORTION OF THE FUNDS GENEROUSLY BEQUEATHED TO ASSIST THE AGED POOR BY THE LATE GEORGE SLADE JOLLIFFE.  SURGEON.  CREWKERNE.”  Perhaps another indication of the town’s prosperous past? 

Almshouses in Crewkerne South Somerset.

A Spring drive south through Somerset and Devonshire to Seaton.

During a fine afternoon in the last week in April I took a leisurely drive down the A358 to Seaton in Devonshire.  On the way I passed through Chard and Axminster.  Chard was unusually quiet, but Axminster seemed even more subdued than usual, its town centre ever more deserted every time I pass through.

Looking down High Street and Fore Street in Chard, Somerset on a quiet Spring afternoon.

I find it strange that Axminster town centre is so quiet, with many empty premises.  When one considers the amount of housebuilding that has gone on around the town over recent years, the shops, restaurants and bars ought to be thriving!

The centre of Axminster in Devonshire on a quiet Spring afternoon this year.

Driving on through the gently undulating countryside I passed by Musbury which rests below the ancient hillfort of the same name, crossed over the A3052 and took the road which follows the River Axe down to Axmouth and into Seaton.

Seaton was quiet with plenty of room to park on the seafront - which I did.  Hardly any people were on the beach, and very few were walking along the seafront.

The seafront at Seaton in Devonshire on a quiet Spring afternoon this year. One seagull, one car and one pedestrian!

I walked as far west as was practicable before retracing my steps.  It seems that the Hook and Parrot pub is to be redeveloped into apartments and named The Lookout.  The advert on the former public house suggests it will be rebuilt with gable ends facing the sea, reassuringly in keeping with its neighbouring buildings.  It will not look so out of place as the carbuncle – known as Seaton Beach Apartments – on the seafront further east.

The Hook and Parrot public house in Seaton, Devonshire closed for redevelopment.

The Hook and Parrot reincarnated as The Lookout.

I continued east along the seafront then turned left into Trevelyan Road and then right to cross over the bridge to Axmouth Harbour.  Walking along the harbour side I reached The Prow which sits atop the old World War Two artillery emplacement. It is a convenient spot to enjoy the views across the harbour entrance and out over Seaton Bay.  Those WW2 gunners certainly had an excellent field of fire!

The view from The Prow, Axmouth Harbour entrance in Devonshire.

A small fishing boat just outside the harbour entrance was attracting lots of seagulls. Inside the harbour a couple of people were throwing something into the water for their dog to fetch which did not seem very sensible – I certainly would not have done such a thing.

A fishing boat surrounded by seagulls at Seaton in Devonshire.

Axmouth Harbour in Devonshire.

Walking back over the bridge I stopped to take some photos of the yachts and pleasure craft at their sheltered moorings.  The clear blue sky and lush green of the grounds of Haven Cliff House made a pleasing picture.  Seaton and the Axe Valley were very well fortified during WW2.  Two pill-boxes can be seen in the grounds of Haven Cliff House, one at the clifftop and another beside the drive up to the house.

Axmouth Harbour in Devonshire on a Spring afternoon this year.  Note the World War Two pill-box on the cliff edge above and to the left of the houses.

On my journey home I stopped in a lay-by just south of Axminster.  The hedgerow beside it is usually too high to see over, but it had been trimmed enough to allow me to take some photos.  The fields, trees, thatched cottages and rolling hills beyond made a pleasant scene.

A view of the Devonshire countryside south of Axminster.

I drove on again through Axminster, still very quiet, and headed north for Somerset and home.

Merlins and a Wildcat over Ilminster in South Somerset.

I saw these two Merlin helicopters flying in formation with a Wildcat at midday today over Ilminster in South Somerset. They appeared to be coming from the direction of RNAS Merryfield and were heading to the south-east.

With the background of a clear blue sky they made a nice picture.

Merlins and a Wildcat over Ilminster in South Somerset.