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.

South Petherton an historic hamstone village in South Somerset.

The large village of South Petherton is just off the A303 around 5 miles east of Ilminster in South Somerset.  In 2011 the village had a population of 3,367, having increased from 2,781 at the time of the 1981 census; it will be interesting to see the figures from the 2021 census.

The information board near the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul tells us:

“Situated in fertile arable country, South Petherton stands above the River Parrett, near The Fosse Way.  It was granted a Market Charter by King John in 1213. 

Agriculture has always been the basis of the community although South Petherton was the site of an important mint in the eleventh century and of the Sturton bronze foundry in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, as well as being home to glove making and cider production.

The historic heart is cantered around the fifteenth century church and the market square.  There are fine old houses throughout South Petherton including Giles Daubeney’s  “King Ina’s Palace” with parts dating back to the fourteenth century, and “Hayes End Manor” dating from 1610.”

Of the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul Pevsner writes: “The church lies at the highest point of the little town, a large spreading building crowned by a tall a and prominent crossing tower.” 

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

The memorial in the churchyard to those who fell in World War One is approached up steps flanked by pillars on which there are memorial plaques to those lost in World War Two.

The War Memorials to those who fell in two World Wars in the churchyard of St. Peter and St. Paul in the South Somerset village of South Petherton.

Field Marshal Lord Harding*, a notable veteran and commander of the British Eighth Army, was born in South Petherton at Rock House in Palmer Street.

Rock House in Palmer Street, South Petherton. The birthplace of Field Marshal Lord Harding.

*Views from Somerset: Field-Marshal Lord Harding of Petherton. Commemorated at Taunton Castle's Museum of Somerset. (viewfromsomerset.blogspot.com)

The Somerset village of Baltonsborough, its Church of St. Dunstan, and war memorial garden.

The Somerset village of Baltonsborough lies in countryside near the River Brue not far west of The Fosse Way (A37).

The fields and meadows which surround Baltonsborough are charmingly described by Paul Newman in his Somerset Villages (Robert Hale Ltd, 1986): “Visual titillation aside, the country is passing fair.  Apple orchards abound, there are many fine stone barns and cobbled together bridges, plus sufficient trees and hedgerows to hold monotony at bay.  Undramatic country, tamed by thousands of years of tree-felling, pasturing and ploughing, its charm becomes apparent in summer when all the grasses, nettle patches and hedgerow life is astir and burgeoning.

Baltonsborough is in the midst of this countryside, south of Kennard Moor.  An intricate network of droves leads into the village which has several centres.  The main part clusters around the old church, which is thrust out into a meadow and beckons from the ragged willowy lanes.”

The village was once one of the 12 hides, or manors, of Glastonbury Abbey so it seems fitting that St. Dunstan, who was made abbot of Glastonbury in the tenth century, was born in Baltonsborough sometime between 909 and 925.  While at Glastonbury Abbey, Dunstan demonstrated his prowess as a drainage engineer.  The River Brue used to spread over the marshy meadows around Baltonsborough until Dunstan instigated the building of a series of weirs and a ditch to drain the area.

The fame and wealth of Glastonbury increased under Dunstan’s efficient and diligent supervision.  Therefore it is no surprise that he eventually became Archbishop of Canterbury where he tried to expand his ideas, both religious and managerial, throughout Anglo-Saxon England.

Understandably, Baltonsborough’s village church is named for St. Dunstan.  Pevsner describes the church as: “Perpendicular and of no special architectural interest.  The most handsome touch is the weather-vane on the w tower, with very scrolly iron-work made by the local blacksmith early in the C19.  It stands on a pyramid roof rising behind the battlements of the tower.”

The Church of St. Dunstan in the Somerset village of Baltonsborough.

The weather-vane on the tower of  St. Dunstan's Church, Baltonsborough, Somerset.

Baltonsborough’s war memorial garden is at the junction of Church Lane and Martin Street at the southern extremity of the village.  A 15inch BL (breech loading) siege howitzer shell casing, of the type originally used by the Royal Navy, but passed to the Army, was given to Baltonsborough by the National War Savings Committee in recognition of the village’s contribution in raising money during Gun Week.

The war memorial garden in the Somerset village of Baltonsborough.

The National War Savings Committee was set up in 1916 to encourage communities to raise money for the war effort.  It was responsible for a series of fund raising initiatives, including War Weapons Week, Tank Week and Feed the Guns Week.

The memorial shell casing is listed Grade 2 as according to Historic England: “It is a highly unusual and broodingly eloquent commemorative monument”.

The shell was unveiled in 1922 at the same time as the traditional stone memorial cross.  The plaque on the shell lists the names of the 68 who served, with a blue Maltese Cross marking the names of the six who did not return.

The plaque on the 15inch shell casing in the war memorial garden at Baltonsborough in Somerset.  Note the number of times the surname Bush appears - all appear to have survived!

The traditional memorial cross bears the names of the six who were killed in World War One and three killed in World War Two.  The name of Second Lieutenant John Richings, Royal Tank Regiment, who died on 28 May 1942 aged 25, was originally not included at the request of his family.  However, his name appears to have been added sometime after the year 2000.   John Somerset Richings is also remembered on the Alamein Memorial in Egypt.  He was the son of the Revd Basil Grafton Richings, and his wife Gwendolen, of Baltonsborough.

A visit to the village church in Buckland St. Mary high on the Blackdown Hills in Somerset.

The ancient Somerset village of Buckland St. Mary, Buckland means land granted to the thanes by the Saxon Kings, stands 700 feet high on the Blackdown Hills. 

A short drive along narrow country lanes, not far from the A303, brings you into the village and its incongruous, but impressive, Church of St. Mary.  Incongruous because of the small size of the community which it serves, yet impressive enough to be known as the “Cathedral of the Hills”.

The Church of St. Mary in the Somerset village of Buckland St. Mary.

The church was built between 1853 and 1863. It was designed by London architect Benjamin Ferry and paid for by John Edwin Lance.  It is the third church to be built on the site.  Lance, from a well-to-do family, was rector of St. Mary’s from 1832 to 1885.

On arrival John Lance had himself built a new rectory in the style of a Victorian Gothic mansion – today it is known as Buckland House.  When finished the ground floor of the rectory had a hall, library, double drawing room, dining room, parish room, kitchen, larder, pantry, butler’s pantry and bedroom.  The first floor had nine bedrooms, a dressing room, and a linen room with 4 attics above.  The house stood in 37 acres of glebe land and had a staff to match its size and stature.

It was the death of his wife which motivated Lance to have the church rebuilt.  The finished building was described by Pevsner as: “A noble incongruity, due to the rector, the Rev. J. E. Lance.  Large with a substantial s w tower and in a style not at all du pays.  Moreover far too large for a small and scattered congregation.”

The s w tower of St. Mary's church in the Somerset village of Buckland St. Mary.

The war memorial in the churchyard of St. Mary's, Buckland St. Mary, Somerset.

Sadly a carter was killed during the construction of the church.  He was carting materiel when his horses ran away; the wagon overturned and the man was crushed to death beneath the stones.  The story is on a stone in the churchyard with this quaint warning: “May all carters who read this take warning and never get in their wagon”.  I could not find the stone on my stroll around the church, but I am sure to visit Buckland St. Mary again and will have another look.

However, I did come across the grave of Lt. Col. John Conrad Pringle, Royal Engineers, who died in 1952 aged 71, and that of his wife Ethel Gladys who was over 100 years old when she died in 1991.  Perhaps the fresh air on the Blackdowns accounted for the lady’s longevity?

The grave of Lt. Col. and Mrs John Conrad Pringle in the churchyard of  St. Mary's in the Somerset village of Buckland St. Mary.

A stroll around the Church of St. Peter in the Somerset village of West Lydford.

The village of West Lydford in Somerset is just a short step west of the A37 main road between Yeovil and Shepton Mallet. I parked in the village’s parish hall car park for a short break while on my way to explore the nearby village of Baltonsborough.  In the centre of the car park is a charming and obviously lovingly maintained war memorial.  Sadly, even though the adjacent church appears to be extremely well cared for, the memorial has been the target of vandals, but the damage is now made good and is barely noticeable.

The war memorial in the Somerset village of West Lydford. The Church of St. Peter is in the background.

The war memorial in the Somerset Village of West Lydford,

West Lydford’s Church of St. Peter is picturesquely situated by the bank of the River Brue.  I had a quick stroll around the churchyard and its tranquil surroundings and took some photos of the church from the seventeenth century bridge which crosses the Brue close by.  The bridge has 5 arches and a parapet pierced by 5 smaller arches, in case of flood.  St. Peter’s is of the Somerset Perpendicular type and its 8 pinnacles are notable.

The seventeenth century bridge over the River Brue in the Somerset village of West Lydford.

The Church of St. Peter in the Somerset village of West Lydford.

It was a bright day with persistent patchy cloud, but unfortunately the sun disappeared while I was taking some of the photographs.  I will have to return on a day with a clearer sky! 

The Somerset village of Corfe and its Church of St. Nicholas.

The Somerset village of Corfe straddles a short stretch of the B3170, the road linking Taunton with the A303, a mile south of Taunton Racecourse.  I visited the village a couple of years ago and had a stroll around after leaving the car in the small car park alongside the Church of St. Nicholas.

The Somerset Federation of Women’s Institutes beautifully described Corfe in their The Somerset Village Book (Countryside Books, 1988).

“Corfe is a small, pretty village on the northern slopes of the Blackdown Hills , four miles south of Taunton.  The name is said to have been derived from an ancient word meaning ‘gap’ or ‘pass’ and this is borne out by the cleft in the hillside which takes the Honiton road over the Blackdowns from the village.  Although it is not mentioned in the Domesday Book the village has existed since Norman times.

Calamine and limestone were quarried on the hills around the village and there were numerous lime kilns for burning the lime for agricultural use.

The ancient woodlands which provided fuel for the kilns remain and provide a magnificent backcloth to the village.”

The Church of St. Nicholas in the Somerset village of Corfe.

The charming little Church of St. Nicholas with its uncommon tower has its rebuilding chronicled by Ronald Webber in his The Devon and Somerset Blackdowns (Robert Hale & Company, 1976).

"The church of St. Nicholas at Corfe is built in Norman style, but this was done in the nineteenth century – most of it in 1844 and the rest (including the tower) in 1858. The old (1844) tower was small, low, square and ugly, so it was replaced by the present one of blue stone with a peal of four bells; a great improvement, it would seem, to the old one."

The village war memorial outside the Church of St. Nicholas in the Somerset village of Corfe.

The plaque on the village war memorial in Corfe, Somerset.

I came across this just inside the gate at St. Nicholas Church, Corfe, Somerset. Never seen one like it in a churchyard before!

The war memorial in Watchet on the Somerset Coast.

 I visited the Somerset coastal town of Watchet back in the spring of 2018 and, while strolling around the harbour and esplanade, my wife and I came across a rather unique war memorial.  It stands by the wall of the public library, a building which was the town's lifeboat station until 1944.  The stone memorial is new and in the form of a structure representing sand bags.  It was unveiled on 28 June 2014. 

Originally Watchet had remembered its fallen by creating a recreation ground named the Memorial Ground.  It consisted of a sports pavilion and stand which was opened in July 1929.

The distinctive new memorial commemorates 42 men who were killed in World War One and 16 in World War Two. 

The war memorial in the Somerset coastal town of Watchet.

 

The loss of the armoured cruiser HMS GOOD HOPE at the Battle of Coronel. One of her crew is remembered in the village of Broadway, South Somerset.

As soon as war began in August 1914 Vice-Admiral Graf Von Spee’s Asiatic Cruiser Squadron, based in Tsingtau, about one hundred miles north of Shanghai, commenced a campaign of commerce raiding against British merchant shipping across the Pacific.  Von Spee’s squadron was built around two powerful modern armoured cruisers, SCHARNHORST and GNEISENAU, each armed with eight 8.2 inch and six 5.9 inch guns.

The Admiralty gave the task of intercepting the German commerce raiders to Rear Admiral Sir Christopher Cradock’s squadron which consisted of the old battleship HMS CANOPUS and the armoured cruisers HMS GOOD HOPE and HMS MONMOUTH, together with the light cruiser HMS GLASGOW and the armed liner HMS OTRANTO.

Cradock left The Falkland Islands in GOOD HOPE on the 22 October and sailed into the Pacific aiming to rendezvous with the rest of his squadron off the west coast of South America.  However, he left CANOPUS behind as she was suffering from engine problems.

On November 1^st 1914 Cradock’s squadron came upon Von Spee’s ships off the Chilean port of Coronel.  Cradock ordered the lightly armed OTRANTO to clear the area leaving GOOD HOPE, MONMOUTH and GLASGOW to engage Von-Spee’s two armoured cruisers and their accompanying light cruisers DRESDEN and LEIPZIG.  The two forces were not evenly matched.  The British ships mounted a total of four 9.2 inch, thirty two 6 inch and ten 4 inch guns compared to the German’s sixteen 8.2 inch, twelve 5.9 inch and twenty 4.1 inch guns.

Three hours after forming line of battle the action was over.  GOOD HOPE and MONMOUTH were overwhelmed and sunk with all hands; Cradock and 1600 men were lost.  GLASGOW escaped to fight Von Spee another day at the Battle of The Falklands.

One of those lost with GOOD HOPE was Able Seaman George Mattravers Stoker 1^st Class, the son of John and Eliza Mattravers of Broadway in South Somerset, he was aged 31.

Able Seaman Mattravers is remembered on a commemorative plaque in Broadway’s Church of St. Aldhelm and St. Eadburga, and on the village’s war memorial.  His name is also on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial.

The plaque inside the Church of St. Aldhelm and St. Eadburga at Broadway in South Somerset commemorating those who served 

Note.  The Commonwealth War Graves Commission spells Mattravers as Matravers.  I use the spelling Mattravers as it is used in Broadway’s village church and on its war memorial.  

An expedition to Hinton St. George, a village in South Somerset.

On a recent visit to Merriott in South Somerset I noticed a signpost for Hinton St. George so one day at the end of June I decided on a trip there to take some photos of the church and village.  I took a route through the very narrow country lanes from Kingstone, south east of Ilminster.  However, my navigation went awry driving through steep, deep cut lanes, but I found myself at Dinnington and then followed the Fosse Way to Lopen where I turned right onto the road to Merriott.  On the outskirts of Merriott the signpost for Hinton St. George – the one I had noticed previously - directed me along a gently rising country lane to the centre of the village.

The village cross at Hinton St. George in South Somerset.

Maxwell Fraser, writing of Hinton St. George in his Somerset (Great Western Railway Company, 1934.), informs us that: “It was the ancient seat of the Poulett family, who settled there in the reign of Henry I, and whose magnificent tombs enrich Hinton church.  It was one of the Pouletts who became the keeper of Mary Queen of Scots during her imprisonment. There is a fine cross in the centre of the village and a delightful old house known as The Priory.”

Amias Poulett, “the keeper of Mary Queen of Scots”, was ordered to treat her with severity, but instead, while declaring he would kill her rather than let her escape, paid the expenses of her large household from his own pocket.*

Paul Newman in his Somerset Villages (Robert Hale Ltd., 1986) writes of a seventeenth century Poulett:  “John Poulett (d.1649) was a fervent Royalist, in many ways an intemperate and self-seeking man, who was heavily fined for his allegiance after the triumph of Cromwell’s army.  The fact that he was the brother-in-law of the immensely effective Parliamentarian commander General Fairfax might have proven a mitigating circumstance.”

The Pouletts, originally from Pawlett near Bridgwater, held the estate at Hinton until 1968 when the 8th and last Earl Poulett  (b.1909 d.1973) sold up and moved to Jersey.

The Priory, Hinton St. George, South Somerset.

I parked the car opposite The Priory and walked the short distance to St. George's Church where I took some photos and had a look for the three Commonwealth War Graves which are listed as being in the churchyard.  I did find one headstone which looked very much like a CWGC one, but the inscription was, unfortunately, practically indecipherable.

St. George’s Church is described by Arthur Mee in his Somerset, The King’s England (Hodder and Stoughton Ltd., 1968) as having: “. . . a fine tall tower with pinnacles and pierced battlements, and a window on every side to let out the sound of the bells.  The porch has a ribbed stone roof and an old traceried door, and ancient timbers make the panelled roofs of the nave and south aisle.”

The Church of St. George in the South Somerset village of Hinton St. George.

The war memorial is just inside the gates to the east of the church.  It commemorates 18 men from the First World War including Captain William John Lydston, the 7th Earl Poulett, who served for 3 years in the Royal Artillery, and later in the Anti-Aircraft Corps, but died in the 1918 influenza epidemic at the age of 34.*

There is only one name on the memorial remembered from World War Two; that of  Lt. Col. William Murray Leggatt who served in the Royal Artillery and spent most of the war in North Africa. He was awarded the D.S.O. for his part in the Second Battle of El Alamein where he commanded the 11^th Regiment (HAC) Royal Horse Artillery.  When his health began to fail he was posted home to England in May 1944 and given another command, that of 3^rd Royal Artillery Reserve Regiment.  In April 1945 he was sent on sick leave. On the 13th of August 1946, aged 45, he died of a heart attack in the Cavalry Club, Piccadilly.

The war memorial in the South Somerset village of Hinton St. George.

*Robert Dunning Somerset Families (Somerset Books, 2002)

The South Somerset village of Merriott and its Church of All Saints.

Merriott is a village and civil parish in South Somerset 7 miles west of Yeovil and a similar distance east of Ilminster. 

In the nineteenth and earlier centuries, due to the nearby River Parrett and its associated watermills, Merriott was prominent in the flax, canvas and sailmaking trade - all vital products in the age of sail.  Paul Newman in his Somerset Villages (Robert Hale, 1969), informs us that: “. . . the bellying sheets of HMS VICTORY were produced by local craftsmen.” 

In more modern times many residents have earned their living at Westland Helicopters in Yeovil.  The firm has changed hands many times in recent years and is now owned by Leonardo - an Italian multinational company.

On a less serious note, writing of village folklore, Paul Newman tells us: “Curiously enough the place was known as “Little Ireland” on account of an entirely baseless tradition of colonization by the Irish in the distant past and a predominance of dark hair coupled with a distinctive dialect.”

Earlier this month, on a beautiful day of sunshine and blue sky, I decided to drive over to Merriott with my camera and take some photos of the church.  I also intended to visit the four Commonwealth War Graves in the churchyard.

Edward Sutton in his Highways and Byways in Somerset (Macmillan and Co., 1912), writes of Merriott’s Church of All Saints: “. . . the church is a curious and interesting building of many ages.  The chief attractions are perhaps the old gargoyles all around the building, the pretty niche over the doorway, the curious relief over the vestry door, called the “Fighting Cocks”, and a very crude and ancient crucifix.”

It was easy to park outside the church near the lych-gate which gave entrance into what seemed a very large churchyard for a village.  I took some pleasing photographs of the church and its gargoyles.

The Church of All Saints in the South Somerset village of Merriott.

Gargoyles and battlements above the south porch of the Church of All Saints in Merriott, South Somerset.

The tower and south porch of the Church of All Saints in Merriott, South Somerset.

All Saints stands on rising ground and from the highest point in the graveyard, looking north-east, the Ham Hill war memorial can be seen on the skyline about 4 miles away. The memorial is just about visible in the photo below.

The view north-east from the churchyard of the Church of All Saints in the village of Merriott, South Somerset.  Ham Hill is on the skyline to the right of the picture.

Unfortunately, although the churchyard was extremely well maintained, I could find only one of the four war graves; that of Private H. Lawrence of the 6^th Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry, who died on 22^nd January 1918.  I intend to return one day to search for the others.       

The war memorial at the Church of All Saints, Merriott, South Somerset.  It commemorates 33 men who died in World War One and 10 who died in World War Two.

Touching Remembrance tribute at Tatworth in South Somerset.

Earlier this month, driving along the A358 in South Somerset, I passed the village of Tatworth where I saw standing beside a hedgerow a touching Remembrance tribute in the form of two figures, a soldier and a nurse, dressed in the style of the First World War.  

Touching Remembrance tribute beside the A358 at Tatworth in South Somerset

A Remembrance tribute seen at the South Somerset village of Tatworth.  

Nearby, also beside the A358, is the imposing Church of St. John the Evangelist.  In its churchyard is a traditional war memorial commemorating Tatworth’s fallen of two world wars.  Twenty-eight names are inscribed for World War One together with the words: “IN MEMORY OF THE FALLEN / 1914-1918 / THEY DIED FOR ENGLAND”.  Five more names are inscribed for World War Two.  

The war memorial in the churchyard of St. John the Evangelist at Tatworth in South Somerset.

The Church of St. John the Evangelist stands beside the A358 at Tatworth in South Somerset.

The loss of the minelayer HMS ABDIEL at Taranto. One of her officers is remembered at the Church of St.Michael and All Angels in the village of Rowberrow, Somerset.

South of Churchill on the A38 in Somerset is a narrow lane leading to Rowberrow, one of those Mendip villages once involved in the mining of calamite.  I first explored the lane around ten years ago; this month I decided to have another look.   Just a few hundred yards from the A38, holding fast to the top of a precipitous hill, is the parish church and manor house.  In the churchyard of the Church of St. Michael and All Angels there is a war memorial in the form of a cross with a bronze long sword attached to its west face.  It commemorates the men of the Somerset Light Infantry who died in the First World War and names Captain R.J.R. Leacroft, of Rowberrow Manor, who was killed serving with the regiment on the first day of the Battle of The Somme.

The war memorial in the churchyard at the Church of St. Michael and All Angels, Rowberrow in Somerset.

Another name was added to the memorial after the Second World War, that of Lieutenant Commander (E) Anthony Holland Brown who was killed on the 10 September 1943 while aboard the minelayer HMS ABDIEL.  This year saw the 75th anniversary of that warship’s loss in Taranto Harbour.

ABDIEL, completed in April 1941, was the first of a class of 6 minelayers.  They were of 2,650 tons displacement with a speed of almost 40 knots, a crew of 242, carried 156 mines and an armament of 4inch AA guns in 3 twin mountings.  Due to their very high speed the ships of the class were often used to run supplies to the besieged island of Malta.     

On September 10 1943 ABDIEL was sunk by mines in Taranto Harbour while taking part in Operation Slapstick.  Because of a shortage of aircraft the plan involved Royal Navy ships landing British troops of the First Airborne Division to capture the Italian ports of Taranto and Brindisi.  Only hours after berthing in Taranto ABDIEL detonated two mines laid previously by German torpedo boats as they evacuated the harbour.  The ship, which sank in 3 minutes, was carrying men from the 6th (Royal Welch) Parachute Battalion.   The Battalion suffered 58 men killed and 150 wounded while Lt. Cdr. Brown was among the 48 of ABDIEL’S crew who were lost.    

Operation Slapstick was ultimately successful as the First Airborne Division captured the ports of Taranto and Brindisi in working order.

Lt. Cdr. (E) Anthony Holland Brown was 40 years old and the husband of Jessie Elizabeth Brown B.A. (Cantab.) of Rowberrow, Somerset.  He is remembered on the Plymouth Naval Memorial as well as at the Church of St. Michael and All Angels.

The Church of St. Michael and All Angels, Rowberrow in Somerset.

Remembrance figures in Chard, South Somerset.

“Birthplace of powered flight”, proclaim the signs on the main roads leading into South Somerset’s ancient town of Chard.  Therefore it seems appropriate that to commemorate the end of the First World War the figure of an airman stands at attention beside the A358 on the southern fringe of the town.

Sponsored by Chard Town Council the figure of a First World War airman stands at attention.

Chard in South Somerset remembers those who died serving their country. 

The destroyer HMS BROKE at the Battle of Jutland. A crewman is remembered on the Ham Hill war memorial in South Somerset.

Ham Hill war memorial in South Somerset.

Of the servicemen commemorated on the Ham Hill war memorial in South Somerset only one is a member of the Royal Navy.  He is Alfred George Palmer an Able Seaman who lost his life just before midnight on 31st May 1916 while serving on the destroyer HMS BROKE during the Battle of Jutland.

HMS BROKE, with crew of 205, was a Faulkner Class destroyer of 1,700 tons with a speed of 32 knots, an armament of six 4 inch guns and four 21 inch torpedo tubes.  Although originally ordered for the Chilean Navy, on the outbreak of the First World War the ship, having only just been completed, was instead purchased by the Admiralty.

At the Battle of Jutland BROKE was one of the twelve ships making up the 4th destroyer flotilla.  Just after 11pm on 31st May the flotilla came into contact with four German light cruisers and two battleships WESTFALEN and NASSAU.  During a confused engagement the British destroyers launched torpedoes while the German ships responded with heavy gunfire.  The German light cruiser ELBING may have been hit by a torpedo, but while taking avoiding action she was rammed by the German battleship POSEN and had to be abandoned early next day.  Meanwhile several of the British destroyers had been hit by gunfire; the worst hit was the flotilla leader HMS TIPPERARY which caught fire and sank around two hours later.

BROKE had assumed leadership of the 4th flotilla when, at 11.40pm, the British destroyers came under devastating fire from the WESTFALEN.  BROKE was badly damaged; 30 men were wounded and 50 killed including her helmsman who died at the wheel.  Now out of control, BROKE veered away and rammed the destroyer HMS SPARROWHAWK.  Moments later the unfortunate SPARROWHAWK was rammed by another ship of the 4th flotilla, HMS CONTEST, and sank later that night.  BROKE and CONTEST were able withdraw from the battle and struggle back to England the next day.   

Remarkably, less than a year later, BROKE rammed another ship - this time a German torpedo boat - in the Second Battle of Dover Strait on 20th April 1917.  Twelve German torpedo boats had ventured forth from Zeebrugge to bombard the ports of Dover and Calais.  Just before midnight they were engaged by HMS BROKE and HMS SWIFT.  The two British destroyers managed to beat off the attack; SWIFT torpedoed and sank the G45 while BROKE rammed the G42, the two ships becoming locked together.  The Germans then tried to board BROKE and a hand-to-hand fight ensued until BROKE managed to break free.  G42 eventually sank while the ten remaining German torpedo boats withdrew.  BROKE was badly damaged and had to be towed into Dover with 21 of her crew dead and 36 wounded.

HMS BROKE survived the First World War and was eventually purchased by Chile in May 1920, serving as the ALMIRANTE URIBE until being scrapped in 1933.

According to the Commonwealth War Grave Commission website, Able Seaman Alfred George Palmer was the grandson of George Palmer of High Street, Stoke-under-Ham in Somerset.  Born in Peckham, he was aged 21 when killed in action at Jutland and he is commemorated at the Portsmouth Naval Memorial.

The loss of the destroyer HMS HUNTER during the First Battle of Narvik. One of her officers is remembered in Ilminster cemetery, South Somerset.

I have taken many a walk over and around Beacon Hill on the outskirts of Ilminster in South Somerset.  There are views to enjoy toward the Blackdown Hills to the south-west, the Quantock Hills beyond Taunton, and the Mendip Hills to the north.  I sometimes take the footpath alongside the B3168 toward Ilminster which passes the town’s cemetery on the western slopes of Beacon Hill.  Close to the railings which border the cemetery is the grave of members of the Maidlow family, the headstone has a number of memorial inscriptions one of which reads:

 ‘H.R.M. ‘Dick’ / Lt. R.N. / killed at Narvik / 1917-1940’

A little research revealed that this intriguing inscription was in memory of Henry Richard Mundon Maidlow who was killed while serving as a Lieutenant on board the destroyer HMS HUNTER during the First Battle of Narvik.

HMS HUNTER was an ‘H’ class destroyer of 1,340 tons built by Swan Hunter and completed in the autumn of 1936.  She was capable of 35.5 knots and had a main armament of four 4.7in guns and eight 21in torpedo tubes.

Having already been active in the Norwegian Campaign, HUNTER took part in the First Battle of Narvik on 10 April 1940.  The action commenced at 0430hrs.  Opening fire and launching torpedoes, HUNTER and 4 of her sister ships from the Second Flotilla attacked German destroyers and merchant ships in the port of Narvik on the shores of Ofotfjorden.  Six merchant ships were sunk, as were two German destroyers with three further destroyers damaged.  As the British ships withdrew, the remaining German destroyers fought back damaging HMS HARDY so severely she had to be run aground whilst HUNTER was hit by gunfire and then collided with the also damaged HMS HOTSPUR.  HUNTER subsequently sank while HOTSPUR managed to escape with the help of the other two destroyers HMS HAVOCK and HMS HOSTILE.  As the British ships withdrew they came upon the German ammunition supply ship RAUENFELS which was engaged and sunk. 

Of HUNTER'S crew of 145, 107 men were killed, the survivors being rescued from the freezing waters by German destroyers; 5 more men died of wounds later.  Amongst those lost 78 years ago today was Lt. Maidlow.  He is remembered on the Plymouth Naval Memorial and also in Ilminster’s Church of St. Mary, together with 29 others, on a memorial tablet with the words “ILMINSTER ROLL OF HONOUR.  THIS TABLET IS ERECTED TO THE MEMORY OF THE SONS OF ILMINSTER WHO SACRIFICED THEIR LIVES ON ACTIVE SERVICE DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR 1939-1945”.