Devonshire, Exmoor is really, in the main, a part of Somerset. It is
the highest, wildest, and most fascinating portion of the county--a
truly delightsome land, a veritable paradise for the sportsman and the
painter. The red deer run wild at will over the moors, or find a
congenial covert in the oak scrub which clothes the combes. Brawling
brooks abound on all sides to entice the angler and interest the
artist, and a charming strip of sea-coast must also be numbered amongst
its attractions. Though mainly given over to the sportsman and the
tourist, efforts have from time to time been made to civilise these
wilds. In general they have proved futile. Mines have been sunk only to
be abandoned, and the agriculturist has fared little better than the
miner. Early in the last century, a Mr Knight made an heroic effort to
enclose a large portion of the moor for the purposes of cultivation.
The heather, however, is still triumphant. The only memorial of his
ambition is a ruined mansion at Simonsbath. The hills are all of
considerable altitude--well over 1200 ft.--but with the exception of
Dunkery few can pretend to any marked individuality. The landscape is a
mere "tumultuous waste of huge hill-tops," which no one takes the
trouble to specify. Perhaps the least praiseworthy feature of Exmoor is
its weather. To adapt a Cornish description of something quite
different, "when it's bad, it's execrable; and when it's good, it's
only middlin'." It has a disagreeable partiality for haze and drizzle.
In such an untamed region "routes" are only an embarrassment. The
regulation drive is from Minehead to Dulverton, and from Dulverton
through Simonsbath to Lynton, which virtually circumscribes the moor.
The best way, however, is to turn oneself loose in the district, and
ramble over the moors at will. The sturdy tourist will find many an
exhilarating excursion. Winsford, Exford, Withypool, and Simonsbath are
all worth seeing. Dunkery Beacon (1707 ft.) may be conveniently
ascended on the Porlock side from Luccombe or Cloutsham, and on the
Dulverton side from Wheddon Cross, near Cutcombe.
[Illustration: TARR STEPS, EXMOOR]
_Exton_, a village 8 m. N. of Dulverton Station, picturesquely perched
on the hillside overlooking the valley of the Exe. The church is
without interest.
_Farleigh Hungerford_, a small village 7 m. S.S.E. of Bath. It is a
place of some interest to the antiquarian, and should be visited in
conjunction with Hinton Charterhouse from Freshford Station (2 m.). Its
attractions consist of a few crumbling fragments of a castle once
belonging to the Hungerfords, and the contents of the castle chapel.
The ruins stand on the shoulder of a deep defile descending into a
wooded bottom called Danes' Ditch. The annals of the castle are long
rather than stirring. An old manor house of the Montforts was
transformed into a castle by Sir Walter Hungerford (d. 1449), who spent
upon the alterations the ransom which he had obtained for the capture
of the Duke of Orleans at the Battle of Agincourt. In the Great
Rebellion it was, curiously enough, held for the king whilst its owner
was commanding the Parliamentary forces in Wilts. To one of the
existing towers a grim story is attached. In the unchivalrous days of
Henry VIII. a Sir W. Hungerford, who, like his royal master, was a much
married man, consigned his third wife to these uninviting quarters, and
kept her under lock and key, with a chaplain for her only attendant.
The lady, however, not only survived this knightly Bluebeard, but had
the courage to contract a second marriage. The general arrangements of
the castle are not very obvious to the casual observer. It seems to
have consisted of a gatehouse and an outer and inner court. The inner
enclosure was flanked by four cylindrical towers, and contained the
dwelling-rooms, which overlooked the ravine. On its accessible side the
castle was protected by a moat. Nothing now remains but the gatehouse,
a few fragments of the enclosing walls, the remains of two towers, and
the chapel. Passing under the gatehouse, the visitor will see the
chapel and inner court on the R. The Chapel of St Leonard (keys to be
obtained at inn above, fee 3d.) is now a museum, and contains a good
collection of armour. Amongst other curiosities on show are a "He"
Bible, a pair of Cromwell's boots, and one of his letters. A gigantic
fresco of St George adorns the E. wall, and beneath the E. window is
the original stone altar. The Chapel of St Anne, on the N., is shut off
by an iron grille, and contains some fine monuments: (1) in centre, a
costly marble cenotaph with effigies of Sir E. Hungerford, the
Parliamentarian, and his wife Margaret (1648), (2) within the grille,
Sir T. Hungerford and his wife Joan (1398-1412), (3) on N., Sir E.
Hungerford and wife (1607), (4) against W. wall, tomb of Mrs Shaa
(1613), with panel of kneeling figures. In the S.E. corner of main
building is a plain altar-tomb of Sir W. Hungerford and son (1596). The
font is said to have been brought from the church. At its foot is a
slab with incised figure of a chantry priest of unknown identity.
Beneath the side chapel is a vault (to which access can be obtained
outside) containing the leaded corpses of several members of the
family. The parish church of St Leonard stands on the other side of the
road on rising ground overlooking the ruins. It is a small plain Perp.
building with square W. tower surmounted by a short pyramidal spire. It
is somewhat quaint, but contains nothing of interest except an altar
made out of an ancient settle. Over the doorway is a semicircular stone
bearing a curious Latin inscription, said to be not later than 1200
A.D. It is supposed to have belonged either to an earlier building or
to some dismantled church in the neighbourhood. Below the church is
_Farleigh House_, a picturesque modern mansion.
_Farmborough_, a biggish village 8 m. S.W. from Bath (nearest stat.
Clutton, 2-1/2 miles). The church is modern, but has a Perp. W. tower.
The chancel contains a piscina, and there is a ribbed stone squint.
Near the village is _Barrow Hill_, a conical-shaped eminence.
_Farrington Gurney_, a pleasant village on the Bristol and Wells road,
8 m. N.E. from Wells (nearest stat. Hallatrow, 1 m.). On the Midsomer
Norton road is an old manor house. The church, which lies beyond the
house in a field, is modern (1843), but occupies an ancient
ecclesiastical site. Over the W. doorway is a small Norm. effigy,
called by the natives "Old Farrington." The churchyard contains the
base of an ancient cross.
_Fiddington_, a parish 7 m. N.W. of Bridgwater. Its church retains a
few carved seat ends, an oak pulpit, and a piscina, but presents no
other feature of interest.
_Fitzhead_, a village 2 m. N. of Milverton. The church has been
rebuilt, with the exception of the tower. In the churchyard is a good
specimen of an effigied cross (cp. Wiveliscombe). Hard by is _Fitzhead
Court_, an ancient manor house said to contain a good plaster ceiling.
_Fivehead_, a parish 5 m. S.W. of Langport. The church has two Dec.
windows in the chancel, the rest are Perp. There is a 16th-cent. tomb
of John Walshe, and an ancient Norm. font with double mouldings. Note
in the S. aisle (1) piscina, (2) remains of canopy. The manor house,
the home of the Walshes, now a farm, preserves the old hall.
_Flax Bourton_, a parish 5 m. S.W. of Bristol (with a station), is said
to owe the first part of its name to the abbey of Flaxley in
Gloucestershire, which possessed the principal estate in the parish.
The small Perp. church is noteworthy for the 12th-cent. Norm. work
preserved in it, which consists of (1) a S. door, exceptionally tall
and narrow, with banded pillars and a quaint carving of St Michael and
the Dragon; (2) a chancel arch, recessed, with curious carvings on the
chamfer of the abacus and on the capitals. Note also (1) terminals of
the label of the S. chancel windows, (2) font.
_Foxcote_ (or _Forscote_) is a small hamlet 2 m. E.N.E. of Radstock.
The church is modern, with the exception of the tower.
_Freshford_, a village near the confluence of the Frome and Avon (with
a station), 5 m. S.E. of Bath. The church is Perp., with a W. tower.
_Freshford Manor House_ once belonged to the priory of Hinton
Charterhouse.
[Illustration: MARKET PLACE, FROME]
FROME, a thriving market town of some 11,000 inhabitants, on the E.
side of the county, with a station on the G.W.R. line to Weymouth.
Though its surroundings are pretty, the town itself is an ill-arranged
collection of steep and narrow streets, one of which--Cheap
Street--deserves notice for its quaintness. The spaciousness of the
market-place redeems the narrowness of the streets. With the exception
of a little faint-hearted sympathy shown to Monmouth, Frome has never
helped to make history. Nowadays it does a brisk trade in woollen
cloth, and possesses some large printing-works, breweries, and
art-metal works. The visitor would do well to make his way at once to
the church, which is practically the only thing in Frome worth seeing.
It is a building of much greater dignity within than the exterior
suggests, and has been restored on a very elaborate scale by a former
incumbent, the Rev. W.J. Bennett (1852-66), a figure of note in the
early Ritualistic controversies. The tower, crowned with a spire, is
somewhat eccentricly placed at the E. end of the S. aisle. The interior
is remarkable for its heterogeneous mixture of styles and its multitude
of side chapels, of which St Nicholas's, the Lady Chapel, and St John
Baptist's are on the N., and St Andrew's on the S. A Saxon church was
built on the site by St Aldhelm, and possibly a couple of carved stones
built into the interior of the tower may have belonged to it. This was
succeeded in the 12th cent. by a Norm. church, of which a doorway
remains, leading from St Nicholas's Chapel to the Lady Chapel, and
perhaps a piscina opposite the latter; in the 13th cent. the chancel
arch, the lower part of the tower, and the eastern half of the arcade
were erected The rest of the arcade was added in the 15th cent. The
abrupt change in the mouldings is very noticeable. The Lady Chapel,
originally Norm. (see above), was rebuilt at this time, as well as St
John's Chapel (now the organ-chamber). The chapel of St Nicholas (the
baptistery) dates from the 16th cent.; the old glass in it bears the
rebus of Cable, the founder of it (K and a bell). St Andrew's Chapel is
said to have been founded in 1412 (though it looks like Dec. work).
Interesting features are (1) piscinas above the rood and in the S.
aisle, (2) a _memento mori_ in the Lady Chapel (said to be a Leversedge
of Vallis), (3) brass (1506) on tower wall. The rood-screen, the
statues at the W., the medallions above the arcade, and the _Calvary
Steps_ outside the building are all modern. In the churchyard, beneath
the E. window, is the tomb of Bishop Ken, who, after his "uncanonical
deposition," lived in retirement at Longleat, and, dying in 1711, was
buried at his own request "just at sunrising in the nearest parish
church within his own diocese."
GLASTONBURY, a small market-town of some 4000 people in the centre of
the county, 6 m. S. from Wells. It has a station on the S. & D. line
from Evercreech to Bridgwater. The site of Glastonbury is almost as
conspicuous in a Somerset landscape as its name is in Somerset history.
Its huge conical tor, crowned by a tower, rises like a gigantic
sugar-loaf from the surrounding plain, and is visible to half the
county. The neighbourhood is a happy hunting-ground for the antiquary,
and one of the "regulation" sights for the casual tourist. No one can
be said to have "done" Somerset who has not seen Glastonbury. Its
associations are romantic as well as historical. Though the modern town
is commonplace enough, poetry and piety, fact and fiction, have
conspired to make it famous. Here was the cradle of British
Christianity. In this "deep meadowed island, fair with orchard
lawns"--the fabled _Avalon_--blossomed the flower of British chivalry
in the persons of Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. It was
when a Glastonbury monk that Dunstan made his vigorous onslaught on the
powers of darkness. And it was this "parcel of ground," already
consecrated by the bones of St Patrick, King Edgar, and St David, which
became the favourite burying-place of mediaeval saints and heroes. The
legend which accounted for its early pre-eminence is even in these
sceptical days worth retelling, for from its popularity the future
importance of the abbey sprang. Joseph of Arimathaea was despatched by
St Philip along with eleven companions "to carry the tidings of the
blessed Gospel" to the shores of remote Britain. Providential winds
wafted them across the waters of the Severn Sea, and at length the
wayworn travellers landed at Glastonbury, then an island. As their
leader, like Jacob, leant in worship on the top of his staff on
Wearyall Hill, the rod took root and became a thorn tree, which
blossomed every year as surely as the Feast of the Nativity came round.
The "Holy Grail" (the cup of blessing from the Last Supper), which
Joseph brought with him, he buried at the foot of Glastonbury Tor, and
from the place of its sepulchre gushed forth the Bloody Spring, which
may be duly inspected to this day. The pilgrims made more friends than
disciples, and the king, after a dilatory conversion, set apart for the
maintenance of the newcomers "twelve hides of land." Here the
evangelists possessed their souls in patience and built for worship a
little shrine of wattle and daub, which was many generations afterwards
found intact when fresh missionaries came to re-evangelise the
islanders. Round this _vetusta ecclesia_ gathered the subsequent
glories of the monastery. This long-cherished tradition enshrines
sufficient fact to justify Glastonbury's claim to be "the only tie
still abiding between the vanished Church of the Briton and the Church
of the Englishman." Its authentic history begins with its foundation as
a monastery by that ecclesiastically-minded layman, King Ina (688-726),
who built a church here and dedicated it to St Peter and St Paul.
Dunstan, himself a Glastonbury man, by the austerity of his conduct and
the vigour of his administration, made the fame of this early religious
house. With the coming of the Normans grander ideas prevailed. Abbots
Thurstan (A.D. 1082) and Herlewinus (1101-20) both projected buildings
of some pretensions, but Henry of Blois, brother of King Stephen, abbot
in 1126, was the first great builder. Henry's church was a fabric of
much magnificence, but it completely perished in a fire in 1184, and
Henry II., in one of his occasional fits of piety, charged himself with
its rebuilding, and entrusted the work to his chamberlain Ralph, who,
upon the site of Joseph's legendary shrine, erected the present
beautiful chapel of St Mary (_c._ 1186). With the death of the king the
work languished, for no funds were forthcoming from the empty pockets
of his "lion-hearted" successor; and it was not until 1303 that the
great church whose ruins still survive was finally dedicated. Even then
the fabric was not complete. It took two centuries to add the finishing
touches. Abbot Sodbury (1322-35) vaulted the nave, and it was left for
one of his successors, Walter Monington (1341-74), to fill in the
vaulting of the choir. Not content with the already considerable
dimensions of the church, Monington extended the chancel two bays
eastwards; and Abbot Bere (1493-1524) added another chapel, and propped
the tower by inverted arches. Characteristic traces of the respective
periods may still be observed. Until the Reformation the abbey had a
career of unrivalled influence and splendour. It yielded precedence
only to St Albans, and the abbot was said never to travel abroad with a
retinue of less than 100 retainers. Such wealth was not likely to elude
the comprehensive grasp of Henry VIII. Glastonbury was involved in the
general ruin of the monasteries. The fate of its last abbot, Richard
Whiting, is one of the tragic stories of the time. Though a "weak man
and ailing," he refused to surrender the property of his abbey. But
Thomas Cromwell had a "short way" with passive resisters. In his
private "remonstrances," amongst other jottings was found, "Item--The
Abbot of Glaston to be tried at Glaston, and also executed there." In
accordance with this pre-arranged programme Whiting was arraigned at
Wells, November 14, 1538, on a quite unsupported charge of treason, and
in the great hall of the palace sentenced to death. The next day he was
drawn on a hurdle to the tor, and there hanged, and his head fixed on
the abbey gateway. After this judicial murder the monastic property at
once fell to the Crown.
[Illustration: ST. JOSEPHS CHAPEL, GLASTONBURY]
The entrance to the ruins is through a gateway opposite the George
Hotel. The abbey cannot be seen from the street, but this obscure entry
conducts the visitor to the porter's lodge (entrance 6d.). The most
perfectly preserved portion of the buildings is the chapel of St Mary,
commonly known as _St Joseph's Chapel_. It stands on the site of St
Joseph's legendary shrine, and formed a kind of Galilee to the W.
entrance of the church. It is rectangular in plan, with a square turret
crowned by a pyramidal cap rising from each corner, only two of which
now remain. It is one of the most beautiful specimens of Trans. work in
England. The decoration is rich and abundant--"no possible ornament has
been omitted." Note (1) fine N. doorway (which should be compared with
the S. porch of Malmesbury), (2) arcading round interior face of wall,
(3) triplet at W. end, (4) remains of vaulting, (5) shallow external
buttresses. Beneath the now demolished flooring is a small crypt of
15th-cent. work. It was probably excavated to provide extra burial
accommodation. Observe on S. side a well within a round-headed recess.
The chapel originally stood apart from the great church, but was
eventually joined up to the larger building by a continuation of the
chapel walls. The extension is at once detected by the late character
of the work. Note change of arcading from Norm. to E.E., and the E.E.
entrance to the church. Of the latter very little now remains. There
still stand the piers of the chancel arch, portions of the walls of the
choir and nave aisles, and a little chapel which opened out of the N.
transept. But these remains, slight though they are, are sufficient to
indicate the general design of the church and its huge dimensions.
Though there is an evident attempt to keep up the character of the
ornamentation displayed in St Mary's chapel, the workmanship is much
later; and a still later development is noticeable in the two
easternmost bays of the choir, thrown out by Abbot Monington (1371-74).
Note (1) lancets of nave, pointed externally, rounded internally, (2)
pointed lancets of choir, (3) square abaci to pilasters of lancets (cp.
Wells), (4) traces of Dec. work in vaulting ribs of nave, (5) absence
of bench-table in Monington's additions, (6) fragment of Perp.
panelling on E. side of chancel arch. The general plan of the church
followed the arrangements of the great Benedictine abbeys, which were
all designed with a view to a stately ritual and imposing processions.
There was a lofty nave of ten bays, with corresponding aisles, a choir
of three bays, also with processional aisles (Monington's extension was
evidently intended to form a further path behind the high altar), and
N. and S. transepts, each with a pair of E. chapels. A large central
tower surmounted the whole, which, like that of Wells, is said to have
been braced internally with inverted arches. The cloisters abutted on
to the S. aisle of the church (note the higher sills of the windows),
and beyond these again were the cloister garth, the refectory,
dormitory, and domestic offices. The only remains of this part of the
monastery is the _Abbot's Kitchen_, with a contiguous fragment of the
almonry, and a portion of the great gateway of the monastery, now
incorporated in the "Red Lion" inn. The flowering thorn tree--a
descendant of Joseph's budding staff--should be noticed near the
porter's lodge. The _Abbot's Kitchen_ may be inspected at an extra
charge of 6d. (entrance in Magdalene Street, just below Museum). It is
a handsome stone building, now standing by itself in the middle of a
field, and not at all suggestive of culinary appointments. Externally
it is square at the base, but is crowned with an octagonal
superstructure carrying a pyramidal roof and lantern. Within, huge
fireplaces, once surmounted externally by chimneys, are set across the
four corners, making the interior altogether an octagon. On one face is
the effigy of a mitred abbot. The vaulted roof is supported by stone
ribs, and egress for the steam is cunningly contrived in the windows.
Its date is 1435-40. Another surviving remnant of monastic property
will be found in Bere Lane at the top of Chilk-wall Street. This is a
very fine cruciform barn similar to those at Doulting and Pilton, but
rather richer in detail. The windows are traceried, and have above them
figures of the four Evangelists, and ecclesiastical effigies stand as
finials on two of the gables.
The other objects of interest in Glastonbury are (1) the _George Inn_
in High Street opposite the abbey entrance--a fine 15th-cent. structure
(said to have been built by Abbot Selwood) which once served as the
pilgrims' hostelry; (2) the _Tribunal_--a few doors higher
up--probably the court-house where the abbey officials interviewed
their clients (observe escutcheon above doorway); (3) the almhouses and
chapel in Magdalene Street (entrance through Red Lion gateway, once
part of the main entrance of the monastery), founded by Abbot Bere in
1512 (note founder's rebus above gateway of court); (4) Market Cross, a
modern structure of good design standing on the site of an ancient
hexagonal cross; (5) museum in Magdalene Street, containing several
"finds" from the neighbouring lake village (see _Godney_); (6) the
churches of St John and St Benignus. The latter, in St Benedict Street,
has a well-designed tower, but is not otherwise noteworthy (observe
stoups in porch and Abbot Bere's rebus on parapet above porch). A flood
which in 1606 inundated the neighbourhood is said to have reached to
the foot of the tower. St John's Church in High Street, built by Abbot
Selwood in 1465, has, on the contrary, some pretensions to
magnificence. The tower especially is worthy of observation, as it is
considered by some to be amongst the finest in the county. This,
however, is an extravagant opinion. The arrangement of the windows
superficially resembles that at Chewton Mendip, those of the belfry
being reproduced in the stage below; but the lower pair are not an
exact repetition of the pair above. It will be noted that the string
courses are carried round the buttresses. The elaborate cresting is
rich but meretricious. The interior, Perp. throughout, is lofty and
spacious, but the general effect is spoilt by the timber supports which
are found necessary to shore up the chancel arch. Note externally (1)
bell-cot above chancel (cp. Wrington), (2) groined S. porch with
parvise above: internally (1) plain altar-tombs on either side of
sanctuary, (2) groined vault to tower, (3) at S.W. end the tomb, with
effigy, of one Camel, an abbey official (observe camels on panels
below), (4) finely carved stone pulpit, (5) wooden roof of nave, (6)
good E. window.
[Illustration: GLASTONBURY TOR]
A climb should be taken to the top of the _Tor_--500 ft. above
sea-level. The original chapel of St Michael was destroyed by a
landslide in 1271. The Perp. tower subsequently erected still remains,
though deprived of its upper storey. Note _bas-reliefs_ over doorway,
and tablet with figured eagle below parapet. A spring, called the
"Blood Spring," near the Tor is said to mark the spot where St Joseph
buried the Holy Grail. _Wirrall_, or _Weary All Hill_, near the
station, may also be scaled with advantage, if only for its traditional
associations. It was here that St Joseph landed, and his staff, taking
root, developed into the miraculous thorn tree. The tree, however, no
longer exists, for it was hewn in pieces by a Puritan soldier, who is
said to have cut off his leg in the process as a penalty for his
profanity. An offshoot of the parent thorn grows in the Abbey grounds.