Evershot
Encyclopedia
Evershot is a village in west Dorset
, England
, 8 miles (12.9 km) south of Yeovil
. It is the second highest village in the county (the highest being Ashmore
in Cranborne Chase
), the centre of the village lying at 175 metres (575 feet) above sea-level. The village has a population of 206 (2001). It is believed that the village has featured in various novels by Thomas Hardy
.
Evershot began as a Boar pen around 1,100 years ago. Due to its close proximity to the River Frome
a settlement was built nearby, and since then the village has been growing, although its population has dropped in the last 100 years.
In 1628, Christopher Stickland founded a school "...for reading, writing and grammar... for the instruction and breeding of men children ... a schoolmaster there for ever to train up, instruct and teach the same child in good learning, true religion and the fear of God."
The River Frome has its source in the village just behind St Osmund's Church in Back Lane. The villagers restored the head of the well in 2000 and their names are on a plaque.
Another building of special interest is Summer Lodge Country House Hotel, Restaurant and Spa. It was built in 1798 as a dower house
by Henry Fox-Strangways, 2nd Earl of Ilchester
. It was enlarged in 1893 with a second floor designed by local author, Thomas Hardy
, and in 1979 it was made a hotel.
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, 8 miles (12.9 km) south of Yeovil
Yeovil
Yeovil is a town and civil parish in south Somerset, England. The parish had a population of 27,949 at the 2001 census, although the wider urban area had a population of 42,140...
. It is the second highest village in the county (the highest being Ashmore
Ashmore
Ashmore is a small village in the North Dorset district of Dorset, England; situated south-west of Salisbury. The local travel links are located from the village to Tisbury railway station and to Bournemouth International Airport. The main road running through the village is North Road...
in Cranborne Chase
Cranborne Chase
Cranborne Chase is a Chalk plateau in central southern England, straddling the counties Dorset, Hampshire and Wiltshire. The plateau is part of the English Chalk Formation and is adjacent to Salisbury Plain and the West Wiltshire Downs in the north, the Dorset Downs to the south west and the...
), the centre of the village lying at 175 metres (575 feet) above sea-level. The village has a population of 206 (2001). It is believed that the village has featured in various novels by Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy, OM was an English novelist and poet. While his works typically belong to the Naturalism movement, several poems display elements of the previous Romantic and Enlightenment periods of literature, such as his fascination with the supernatural.While he regarded himself primarily as a...
.
Evershot began as a Boar pen around 1,100 years ago. Due to its close proximity to the River Frome
River Frome, Dorset
The River Frome is a river in Dorset in the south of England. At 30 miles long it is the major chalkstream in southwest England. It is navigable upstream from Poole Harbour as far as the town of Wareham.-Geography:...
a settlement was built nearby, and since then the village has been growing, although its population has dropped in the last 100 years.
In 1628, Christopher Stickland founded a school "...for reading, writing and grammar... for the instruction and breeding of men children ... a schoolmaster there for ever to train up, instruct and teach the same child in good learning, true religion and the fear of God."
The River Frome has its source in the village just behind St Osmund's Church in Back Lane. The villagers restored the head of the well in 2000 and their names are on a plaque.
Another building of special interest is Summer Lodge Country House Hotel, Restaurant and Spa. It was built in 1798 as a dower house
Dower house
On an estate, a dower house is usually a moderately large house available for use by the widow of the estate-owner. The widow, often known as the "dowager" usually moves into the dower house from the larger family house on the death of her husband if the heir is married, and upon his marriage if he...
by Henry Fox-Strangways, 2nd Earl of Ilchester
Henry Fox-Strangways, 2nd Earl of Ilchester
Henry Thomas Fox-Strangways, 2nd Earl of Ilchester , known as Lord Stavordale from 1756 to 1776, was a British peer and Member of Parliament....
. It was enlarged in 1893 with a second floor designed by local author, Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy, OM was an English novelist and poet. While his works typically belong to the Naturalism movement, several poems display elements of the previous Romantic and Enlightenment periods of literature, such as his fascination with the supernatural.While he regarded himself primarily as a...
, and in 1979 it was made a hotel.