Compton Pauncefoot
Encyclopedia
Compton Pauncefoot is a village in Somerset
, England, situated beside the A303 road
, 5 miles (8 km) south west of Wincanton
in the South Somerset
district. The village has a population
of 130. The civil parish
of Blackford and Compton Pauncefoot
joins the village with Blackford
(located one mile to the east) and therefore population is based on the two villages together. The civil parish holds a Parish Meeting
twice a year and has no Parish Council.
There are approximately 35 houses in the village of Compton Pauncefoot and a similar number in Blackford. Compton Pauncefoot is a designated Conservation Area
. The civil parish is in the Blackmore Vale ward of South Somerset District Council and Somerset County Council.
knight called Pauncefote (‘Fat-bellied’).
The parish was part of the hundred of Catsash
.
Baron Blackford
, of Compton Pauncefoot in the County of Somerset, was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom
. It was created in 1935 for the barrister
William James Peake Mason. He had already been created a Baronet, of Compton Pauncefoot in the County of Somerset, in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom in 1918. The titles became extinct in 1988 on the death of his great-grandson, the fourth Baron.
. It travels under the A303 to join the Yarlington headwaters. The River Cam flows onto the Royal Naval Station where it joins the River Yeo
and the Yeo in turn flows west to the south of Yeovilton
and through the town of Ilchester
. The river course continues to the west and at Langport
becomes the River Parrett
.
The stream has its headwaters in the hills around Blackford & Compton Pauncefoot together with a number of springs. The main waters come from 3 primary sources: 1. Maperton, 2. Quarry Hill, 3. Sigwells Hill. The first 2 combine in Blackford around the Crossroads/Hollow and further springs contribute at a number of points all the way through both villages. The A303 is nearby and during construction major drainage pipes were laid at intervals that bring significant quantities of water into the stream. This contributes to the rapid rise in the stream during rainfall.
Compton Castle was built for Mr Hussey Hunt about 1825, in a Gothic
style with large grounds, gatehouse, and lawns stretching down to a lake. Owned by the Showering family (of Babycham
fame) in recent times, it was sold in 1986 and again in 2010.
It should not be confused with Compton Castle
(a fortified manor house in the village of Compton, about 5 miles (8.0 km) west of Torquay).
The Old Rectory has Georgian, additions to an earlier building. Recently this house and the church were used quite extensively in a serialised version of Jane Austen
's Mansfield Park
.
The mainly 18th-century Manor House includes parts which date back to the 15th century.
The Crescent is a quarter circle of cottages built in about 1815 for farm workers, and originally known as Waterloo Crescent.
. In 1485 Sir Walter Pauncefoot left money for the building of the church and for a chantry
at Compton Pauncefoot, where a priest could pray daily for his soul and for those of his immediate family. He also left several yards of differently coloured silks to be made into vestments. Until 1864 the church comprised a nave
with south aisle and porch, and a tower at the west. The inner arches of the tower carried a spire of graceful proportions. The north aisle was added in 1864, and at the same time the two stone coffins (now in the churchyard by the yew tree) were removed.
The font
is 13th-century and is perfectly plain. There is a mass dial on the south wall. The frieze
in the south aisle has part of a stone inscribed "Anne Whyting 1535." In the wall under the sill of the adjacent window is a long stone panel divided into compartments, each containing a shield bearing coats of arms relating to the Whyting and Pauncefoot families.
The south wall of the chancel contains a piscina
with a stone button in the centre of the bowl. Five stained glass
windows in the church are signed — a rare phenomenon — by Jean-Baptiste Capronnier
of Brussels
. The west window is by Charles Eamer Kempe
, 1896. The church's three bells
were cast in 1627, and one of them has the royal arms inscribed. The chancel was panelled with oak
in 1934. The church registers date from 1559.
The top of the spire became unsafe, and an appeal was launched in 1980, with the help of grants from the Department of the Environment
and the Historic Churches Preservation Trust. These efforts raised £18,000 for the necessary work to be carried out. The church has been designated by English Heritage
as a Grade II* listed building. The church is part of the Camelot Group of Parishes in the Diocese of Bath & Wells.
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
, England, situated beside the A303 road
A303 road
The A303 is a 92-mile long trunk road in England. It is the main road between Basingstoke in Hampshire and Honiton in Devon. The M3, the A303 and the A30 together make up one of the main routes from London to South West England, running from London to Land's End in Cornwall...
, 5 miles (8 km) south west of Wincanton
Wincanton
Wincanton is a small town in south Somerset, southwest England. The town lies on the A303 road, the main route between London and South West England, and has some light industry...
in the South Somerset
South Somerset
South Somerset is a local government district in Somerset, England.The South Somerset district covers and area of ranging from the borders with Devon and Dorset to the edge of the Somerset Levels. It has a population of approximately 158,000...
district. The village has a population
Population
A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals...
of 130. The civil parish
Civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...
of Blackford and Compton Pauncefoot
Blackford and Compton Pauncefoot
Blackford and Compton Pauncefoot is a civil parish in Somerset, England.The parish covers the villages of Blackford and Compton Pauncefoot.The parish has no parish council and has a Parish Meeting which has limited responsibility for local issues, including setting an annual precept to cover very...
joins the village with Blackford
Blackford, Somerset
Blackford is a village in Somerset, England, situated beside the A303 road, south west of Wincanton in the South Somerset district. There are two other places called Blackford in Somerset — one is a village near Wedmore, the other a tiny hamlet between Porlock and Minehead.It is part of the...
(located one mile to the east) and therefore population is based on the two villages together. The civil parish holds a Parish Meeting
Parish meeting
A parish meeting, in England, is a meeting to which all the electors in a civil parish are entitled to attend. In some cases, where a parish or group of parishes has fewer than 200 electors, the parish meeting can take on the role of the parish council itself, with statutory powers, and electing a...
twice a year and has no Parish Council.
There are approximately 35 houses in the village of Compton Pauncefoot and a similar number in Blackford. Compton Pauncefoot is a designated Conservation Area
Conservation area
A conservation areas is a tract of land that has been awarded protected status in order to ensure that natural features, cultural heritage or biota are safeguarded...
. The civil parish is in the Blackmore Vale ward of South Somerset District Council and Somerset County Council.
History
The name of the village is believed to come from ‘compton’, or narrow valley, belonging to a NormanNormans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
knight called Pauncefote (‘Fat-bellied’).
The parish was part of the hundred of Catsash
Catsash (hundred)
The Hundred of Catsash is one of the 40 historical Hundreds in the ceremonial county of Somerset, England, dating from before the Norman conquest during the Anglo-Saxon era although exact dates are unknown. Each hundred had a 'fyrd', which acted as the local defence force and a court which was...
.
Baron Blackford
Baron Blackford
Baron Blackford, of Compton Pauncefoot in the County of Somerset, was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1935 for the politician, public servant and magistrate Sir William Mason, 1st Baronet. He had already been created a Baronet, of Compton Pauncefoot in the County...
, of Compton Pauncefoot in the County of Somerset, was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom
Peerage of the United Kingdom
The Peerage of the United Kingdom comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Act of Union in 1801, when it replaced the Peerage of Great Britain...
. It was created in 1935 for the barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
William James Peake Mason. He had already been created a Baronet, of Compton Pauncefoot in the County of Somerset, in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom in 1918. The titles became extinct in 1988 on the death of his great-grandson, the fourth Baron.
Geography
The stream through Compton Pauncefoot is a tributary of the River Cam (Somerset)River Cam (Somerset)
The River Cam is a tributary of the River Yeo in the south of Somerset, England.The Cam rises east of Yarlington . It flows south west past North Cadbury, Sparkford, Queen Camel and West Camel, and joins the Yeo near Yeovilton ....
. It travels under the A303 to join the Yarlington headwaters. The River Cam flows onto the Royal Naval Station where it joins the River Yeo
River Yeo (South Somerset)
The River Yeo, also known as the River Ivel or River Gascoigne, is a tributary of the River Parrett in north Dorset and south Somerset, England....
and the Yeo in turn flows west to the south of Yeovilton
Yeovilton
Yeovilton is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated east of Ilchester, north of Yeovil, in the South Somerset district. The village has a population of approximately 670....
and through the town of Ilchester
Ilchester
Ilchester is a village and civil parish, situated on the River Yeo or Ivel, five miles north of Yeovil, in the English county of Somerset. The parish, which includes the village of Sock Dennis and the old parish of Northover, has a population of 2,021...
. The river course continues to the west and at Langport
Langport
Langport is a small town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated west of Somerton in the South Somerset district. The town has a population of 1,067. The parish includes the hamlets of Bowdens and Combe...
becomes the River Parrett
River Parrett
The River Parrett flows through the counties of Dorset and Somerset in South West England, from its source in the Thorney Mills springs in the hills around Chedington in Dorset...
.
The stream has its headwaters in the hills around Blackford & Compton Pauncefoot together with a number of springs. The main waters come from 3 primary sources: 1. Maperton, 2. Quarry Hill, 3. Sigwells Hill. The first 2 combine in Blackford around the Crossroads/Hollow and further springs contribute at a number of points all the way through both villages. The A303 is nearby and during construction major drainage pipes were laid at intervals that bring significant quantities of water into the stream. This contributes to the rapid rise in the stream during rainfall.
Landmarks
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
style with large grounds, gatehouse, and lawns stretching down to a lake. Owned by the Showering family (of Babycham
Babycham
Babycham is the trade name of a light, sparkling perry invented by Francis Edwin Showering , a brewer in Shepton Mallet in Somerset, England; the name is now owned by Constellation Europe Limited. Launched in the United Kingdom in 1953, the drink was marketed with pioneering television...
fame) in recent times, it was sold in 1986 and again in 2010.
Compton Castle
Compton Castle is a fortified manor house in the village of Compton, about west of Torquay, Devon, England . The castle has been home to the Gilbert family for most of the time since it was built...
(a fortified manor house in the village of Compton, about 5 miles (8.0 km) west of Torquay).
The Old Rectory has Georgian, additions to an earlier building. Recently this house and the church were used quite extensively in a serialised version of Jane Austen
Jane Austen
Jane Austen was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature, her realism and biting social commentary cementing her historical importance among scholars and critics.Austen lived...
's Mansfield Park
Mansfield Park
Mansfield Park may mean:* Mansfield Park by Jane Austen* Mansfield Park , based on the novel, directed by Patricia Rozema, starring Frances O'Connor, Embeth Davidtz, and Sheila Gish in 1999...
.
The mainly 18th-century Manor House includes parts which date back to the 15th century.
The Crescent is a quarter circle of cottages built in about 1815 for farm workers, and originally known as Waterloo Crescent.
Religious sites
The church dates from the 15th century and is built of hamstoneHamstone
Hamstone is the colloquial name given to stone from Ham Hill, Somerset, England. Hamstone is a Jurassic limestone from the Toarcian, or Upper Lias, stage. It is a well cemented medium to coarse grained limestone characterised by its honey-gold colour and marked bedding planes. The stone contains...
. In 1485 Sir Walter Pauncefoot left money for the building of the church and for a chantry
Chantry
Chantry is the English term for a fund established to pay for a priest to celebrate sung Masses for a specified purpose, generally for the soul of the deceased donor. Chantries were endowed with lands given by donors, the income from which maintained the chantry priest...
at Compton Pauncefoot, where a priest could pray daily for his soul and for those of his immediate family. He also left several yards of differently coloured silks to be made into vestments. Until 1864 the church comprised a nave
Nave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
with south aisle and porch, and a tower at the west. The inner arches of the tower carried a spire of graceful proportions. The north aisle was added in 1864, and at the same time the two stone coffins (now in the churchyard by the yew tree) were removed.
The font
Baptismal font
A baptismal font is an article of church furniture or a fixture used for the baptism of children and adults.-Aspersion and affusion fonts:...
is 13th-century and is perfectly plain. There is a mass dial on the south wall. The frieze
Frieze
thumb|267px|Frieze of the [[Tower of the Winds]], AthensIn architecture the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Even when neither columns nor pilasters are expressed, on an astylar wall it lies upon...
in the south aisle has part of a stone inscribed "Anne Whyting 1535." In the wall under the sill of the adjacent window is a long stone panel divided into compartments, each containing a shield bearing coats of arms relating to the Whyting and Pauncefoot families.
The south wall of the chancel contains a piscina
Piscina
A piscina is a shallow basin placed near the altar of a church, used for washing the communion vessels. The sacrarium is the drain itself. Anglicans usually refer to the basin, calling it a piscina. Roman Catholics usually refer to the drain, and by extension, the basin, as the sacrarium...
with a stone button in the centre of the bowl. Five stained glass
Stained glass
The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...
windows in the church are signed — a rare phenomenon — by Jean-Baptiste Capronnier
Jean-Baptiste Capronnier
Jean-Baptiste Capronnier was a Belgian stained glass painter. Born in Brussels in 1814, he had much to do with the modern revival of glass-painting, and first made his reputation by his study of the old methods of workmanship, and his clever restorations of old examples, and copies made for the...
of Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
. The west window is by Charles Eamer Kempe
Charles Eamer Kempe
Charles Eamer Kempe was a well-known Victorian stained glass designer. After attending Twyford School, he studied for the priesthood at Pembroke College, Oxford, but it became clear that his severe stammer would be an impediment to preaching...
, 1896. The church's three bells
Church bell
A church bell is a bell which is rung in a church either to signify the hour or the time for worshippers to go to church, perhaps to attend a wedding, funeral, or other service...
were cast in 1627, and one of them has the royal arms inscribed. The chancel was panelled with oak
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
in 1934. The church registers date from 1559.
The top of the spire became unsafe, and an appeal was launched in 1980, with the help of grants from the Department of the Environment
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is the government department responsible for environmental protection, food production and standards, agriculture, fisheries and rural communities in the United Kingdom...
and the Historic Churches Preservation Trust. These efforts raised £18,000 for the necessary work to be carried out. The church has been designated by English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
as a Grade II* listed building. The church is part of the Camelot Group of Parishes in the Diocese of Bath & Wells.