the plough being drawn by long teams of oxen. passage to the river Parret, which here first becomes subject to the action of the tide. rt. are the extensive marshes of this river and its tributaries the Yeo and the Isle, and rising from the midst of these watery channels the church tower of Muchel-ington. It was the native village of ney, once the site of an abbey. Aller, to the N.W., is said to have been the place where King Alfred baptized the vanquished Guthrum and his Danes after the battle of Ed Ralph Cudworth, the divine, author of The True Intellectual System of the Universe,' b. 1617. Ön Aller Moor a detachment of Goring's army was defeated, 1645. Langport, divided into Langport Eastover and Langport Westover, and connected by rail with Yeovil and the Great Western, is an ancient place, but it has little besides the church-tower of Huish Episcopi (late Perp.) to interest the traveller. This is, however, one of the most beautiful erections of the kind in Somerset-cuous in the valley. Leaving Langport we again ascend the hills and open distant views, the church towers of Huish Episcopi and Langport being conspi which there is a view ranging from one end of the county to the other. The 3 landmarks, Stourton Tower, Burton Steeple, and the Wel together with those great features of Somerset the heights of Exmoor, Blackdown, Quantock, and Mendip. The near prospect of wooded hills running N.E. from Somerton is most beautiful. shire. You turn towards it on 3 The top of Somerton Hill, from the rt. beyond the inn, passing by an archway under the Hanging Chapel, an old building now converted into a museum, and evidently so named from its position-overhang-lington Monument, are seen in a line, ing, or uplifted-although traditionally one of the scenes of the bloody assize of Judge Jeffreys. Beyond it is Langport church, itself a fine structure, but thrown into the shade by its neighbour of Huish Episcopi. A story-told in other places where comparisons are made is current here that the apprentice built this tower, the master that of Muchelney, and that the master destroyed himselfin vexation at being so surpassed by his pupil. 2 m. from this church, on the road to Ilchester, is the village of Long Sutton, which, according to an old doggrel, stands in no very good repute for its cleanliness: some At Muchelney, 1 m., are trifling remains of the Benedictine abbey, supposed to have been founded by Athelstan. 1 Somerton (Rte. 32). From this town, passing the river in its valley, we ascend once again to high land dividing the channels of the Brue and the Cary. 3 King Weston Inn. 1. King Weston House, seat of F. H. Dickinson, Esq., a fine estate, remarkable for the beauty of its elms. 11. Keinton Mandefield, where there are quarries in the lias. 1 Cross Keys Inn, where we cross the Fosse Way running N.E. towards Shepton. 1. West Lydford, with a venerable manor-house, and 2 ancient mills on the Brue. 2 Alford, where the church is an admirable specimen of the early Perp. of Henry VI. The roof and screen are very delicately carved, and the The country in this neighbour-churchyard has its cross. S. of the hood is well covered with elms, village is Alford Well, a mineral which give it a golden appearance spring. in the autumn. The soil is tenacious, Castle Cary (Rte. 28), from which it is a very pretty drive to Wincanton, the road keeping on the edge of the hills, and undulating over the broken ground in a succession of little waves. 11. Hadspen House, Right Hon. Henry Hobhouse, a grey old mansion seated under woods. 1 1., in the valley, Yarlington Lodge, the residence of the Rogers's. Delightful prospects to the W. and S. In the latter direction rises the fortified height of Cadbury (p. 206). 1. is seen the church of Bratton, on a grassy height falling steep to a dell. 11. Holebrook House, Charles Barton, Esq. 1 Wincanton (Inns: Greyhound; Bear), situated on the Cale, in a position which may remind the traveller of Shaftesbury. It stands on steep ground at the head of the broad Vale of Blackmoor, where the hills form a natural terrace. Upon this many of the houses are built, commanding from their windows the vista of the vale and its long-drawn boundaries, and the onward course of the little river, which is indicated by a glittering line of light. Wincanton, formerly called Wincalton, is a town of the olden time, when the manor belonged in succession to the Lovells of Castle Cary, the St. Maurs and Zouches, of which the two latter families were seated at Marsh Court, now a farmhouse, 3 m. S. In 1553 Wincanton was terribly ravaged by the plague, to such an extent that the roads to it were closed, and travellers passed into Wiltshire by Alfred's Tower. In 1688 it was the scene of a skirmish between the troops of the Prince of Orange and some dragoons of the King. The Prince afterwards slept in a house in South-street, where the Orange room is still pointed out. The pretty road out of this town towards Bruton, and the view from that towards Castle Cary, should be seen. At a distance of 7 m. S.W. is Castle Cadbury, the traditional camp of King Arthur, p. 206; 3 m. in the direction of Bruton Redlinch Park, a seat of the Earl of Ilchester, the house built in 1672 by Sir Stephen Fox; on Stourhead to the N. Alfred's Tower and Jack's Castle, described in Rte. 13; and lastly, below_the heights of Jack's Castle and Penridge, about 3 m. from Wincanton, some remains of the Augustine priory of Stavordale, rebuilt 1443, but founded by one of the Lovells in the reign of Henry III. They now form the house and appurtenances of a homestead. The choir is the farmhouse, the nave the barn, the chapel the dairy, but the roof of the last is of exquisite beauty. Stavordale gives the title of Baron to the Earl of Ilchester. At Wincanton Major Stanley's hounds are kennelled. They are known as the Blackmoor Vale foxhounds. The road to Mere climbs Bayford Hill, which on the rt. looks far into Dorsetshire. 1. is Bayford House, the seat of the Messiters. 3 The border, from which our route passes through a projecting tongue of Dorsetshire. 1. are Pen Selwood and those curious excavations called the Pen Pits; farther 1. Alfred's Tower and Jack's Castle (Rte. 13). 2 High Cross, a spot where the 3 counties meet. 1. 2 m. Stourhead, seat of Sir Henry A. Hoare, Bart. 1 rt. Zeals House, seat of the Groves; 1. the old camp of Whitesheet Castle. 1 Mere, described, with the remainder of this road, in Rte. 13. tholomew, is one of the 2 finest cruciform churches in the county, the other being at Ilminster. It is a beautiful specimen of the Perp. of the 15th century, of remarkable richness, the windows of the N. transept being especially worthy of notice. You should observe also in particular the W. door and its ornaments. This church was given by the Conqueror to Caen Abbey, and so included in the Norman diocese of Bayeux. In 1402 its churchyard struck the fancy of a certain monk of Ford, one Robert Chard, who obtained permission to immure himself as an anchorite in a solitary house" beneath it. 1 East Chinnock, where there is a considerable manufacture of sail The Free Grammar-school, on the cloth. At Chiselborough, 2 m. N.W., N. side of the ch., was founded 1499 many of the inhabitants are affected by John Combe, a native of Crewby goître and cretinism, maladies kerne, and for many years precentor attributed to a defective ventilation of Exeter Cathedral. It is one of at a mild temperature, the village being situated in a narrow valley closed on 3 sides by lofty hills. These unhappy beings are described by Dr. Guggenbühl in a letter to Lord Ashley (in 1851) as "3 German ft. high-corpulent and bloated, with mis-shapen heads, turgid lips, and noses flattened like the negro's. 1 The road descends from the high land into the vale of the Parret. 11. Haselbury, where, in the reigns of Stephen and Hen. I., lived Wulfric, a celebrated saint and hermit, who, according to the legend, dressed in a coat of iron, and in this easy habit would receive the visits of the King and nobles who came to consult him. 2 Crewkerne (Inns: George; Red Lion), a market town of some size, in the valley of the Parret, surrounded by a wide amphitheatre of hills. It has a manufacture of sail cloth, webbing, and girths, and is a busy place, where every gaping cottage door reveals a loom at work. Several houses, as the George, are constructed of Hamhill stone. The name Crewkerne signifies "the hermitage at the Cross." The church, dedicated to St. Bar the most ancient in England. Mr. Justice Best, afterwards Lord Wynford, was educated at this school. The father of Tom Paine, author of 'The Rights of Man,' was a native of Crewkerne. He was a staymaker, and carried on business at Thetford in Norfolk, where his son was born. Hinton St. George, seat of Earl Poulett, is 3 m. N.W. It is occasionally shown. Fuller says it may be called "a charitable curiosity, if true what is traditioned that about the reign of King Hen. VII. the owner built it in a dear year, on purpose to employ more people thereupon." The garden front was designed by Inigo Jones. mily pictures were given, it is said, to the great Lord Clarendon, and now form part of the collections at the Grove in Hertfordshire and Bothwell Castle in Scotland. The Hinton monuments are in the neighbouring church. The fa At Racedown Lodge, near this town, the poet Wordsworth and his sister lived for about two years, and first became acquainted with Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Proceeding on our road to Chard Cricket Lodge, seat of Lord Brid we obtain a good view of Crewkerne, | together with its background, Pen- port. Through the trees are seen domer Down, and the conical knoll of Crook Hill. 2 A steep ascent to the heights of Rana Hill, a narrow ridge, so named from St. Ranus, to whom there was once a chapel on the hill. The road runs along the summit of this ridge to within 2 m. of Chard. Rt. are the fir plantations of Hinton St. George. 1 The highest point, from which we obtain a bird's-eye view over Somerset and Dorset, each bounded by the sea in the foreground a clump of beech trees, and a sandy road descending the hill, complete the pic ture. 1 Windwhistle Inn, a name suggestive of snug quarters on a winter's night "When frosty winds blaw in the drift." 1. the woods of those twin hills Lewesdon and Pillesdon. The mansion is situated far below the road, in a romantic dell which opens into the valley of the Axe. It was rebuilt about 60 years ago. Adjoining it is the little ch. of Cricket St. Thomas, in which the first Lord Bridport was buried. There is a monument to his memory, and another to the Rev. William, Earl Nelson, Duke of Bronte, whose remains were deposited in St. Paul's. He was the father of the present Lady B. The residence of the Hoods was originally at Mosterton, a village S. of Crewkerne. 2rt. Avishays, a seat of the Fortescues, where Chard greets us in its valley, particularly its great lace factories, which rise high above the houses. 1 Chard (Rte. 39). INDEX. ABBOTSBURY. A. Abbotsbury, 149. Castle, 119, 149. Abbots, Isle, 256. Addison, birthplace, 38; his Aff-piddle, 109. Ailesbury Column, 33. Tower, 95. Allen, Ralph, 116, 169; grave, 22, 171. rivulet, 99. Amesbury, 37; Abbey, 37; Anning, Miss Mary, 153. Ashcombe, 132; Lodge, 192. BARROW. Ashdown, 26. Ashill, 254; Forest, 254. Ashton Court, 229. Rood, 21. -, Steeple, 21. place, 10; residence, 76. -, river, 8, 161, 173. Axe, river, 192, 219; sources, Axium, ancient, 192. B. Babington House, 204. Rings, 100, 135. Baleares, the ancient, 143. Banwell, 190; bone-caves, St. Martin, 75. Stone, 169. Street architecture, 167 Bayford Hill, 258. Beacon Hill, 36, 211. Bearn Rock or Back, 192. Beckford, William, fêtes on Beckhampton, 67. Bp., birthplace, 204. Belbury Ring, 77. Belfield House, 115. |