A Pigott Collection Drawing of St. Petrock's Church, 1842
Title
A Pigott Collection Drawing of St. Petrock's Church, 1842
Subject
Description
A photograph of a drawing of Timberscombe's St. Petrock's Church, from a northeastern aspect, created in 1842. It is part of the Pigott Collection, founded by John Hugh Smyth-Pigott (1792-1853) of Brockley Hall and Grove House, Weston-super-Mare. He commissioned John Buckler (1770-1851) and his son, John Chessel Buckler (1793-1894) to create the drawings that became six large volumes entitled "Illustrations of the Ecclesiastical and Domestic Architecture of Somersetshire" (1). All together, the father and son completed 1,154 black and white wash drawings, with churches included (alphabetically) from Abbott Leigh to Yeovilton (2). The collection is held in the library of the Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society, founded in 1849, originally housed in Taunton and Somerset Institution's Rooms, moving to Taunton Castle in 1974, then the Paul Street Taunton Public Library in the 1990's before being archived at the Somerset Heritage Centre in July 2010 (3).
St. Petrock's is known to be at this site by the early 12th century, situated on elevated land near the junction of two roads and with proximity to a nearby ford (4)--as it still does. It is believed to have been built on the foundations of a church established by the Welsh missionary, St. Petrock, between 500 and 600 A.D (5). Between March and June 2020, more scientific evidence came to light of a settlement here, likely religious and certainly Saxon, when a deep trench was being dug across the southern side of the current church's ancient churchyard to accommodate a mains connection--when incontrovertible evidence was unearthed that was carbon dated to 777AD (6). As stated above, the first stages of the church, as drawn here, had been erected at least by the earlier 1100's and by 1189 the church at Timberscombe was "given" to the Bishop of Wells by four sisters, Cecily of Timberscombe (7), Alicia, Christina and Sara "with the consent of their husbands" (8). This meant money was given to Wells, a way of their church in Timberscombe being officially acknowledged.
The chancel, on the left end of the church, dates from the mid 15th century. A door, described by English Heritage as a priest's door, can be seen in the middle of the chancel's northern wall, which gave access to the chancel. The porch, also mid 15th century (9), faces the north, and this direction looks toward the centre of the village. Where standing tombstones are seen, alongside the nave and porch, a low stone wall with a railing is later constructed to enclose the Kent family graves. No tombstones still stand here but six large ones now lie flat within the low wall. Three have legible death dates of 1770, 1805 and 1858-- the latter after this drawing was created and possibly why only five tombstones are depicted.
Two slab stoned graves are across the path, at least one known to be 16th century (10), as well as the 14th century shaft of the Churchyard Cross. In 1896 a new base will be built for the cross and a new top will be added to the shaft, as a memorial to the Rev. William Bailey Whitehead, a St. Petrock's Vicar from 1826-1853 (11).
To the west is the church tower, rebuilt by 1708, although a tablet on the tower's north side states 1701. It has been suggested that the rebuilding of a former tower may indeed have been completed c. 1701, with the possibility of then suffering great damage by a storm on 26-27 November 1703, known to have caused devastation along the Bristol Channel-- particularly to church towers (12). Perhaps damage was enough that repairs were not complete until 1708. In either case, the completion of the tower was made possible by the generosity of the 16 year old Richard Elsworth (variously spelled Ellsworth or Elsworthy) of Bickham Manor (13).
As seen on this drawing, the entire church is rendered. Not until the early 1880's alterations of St. Petrock's, overseen by John Dando Sedding, is the plaster (or rough-cast) removed, exposing the red sandstone and random rubble underneath (14). Whether the father or the son, Mr. Buckle has indicated stone dressings along the edges of the chancel, the nave, the porch and, particularly evident, on the tower. These do not seem to be apparent on two other watercolours of St. Petrock's, painted by Mr. Wheatley in the 1830's (SP-051) and the Rev. James Bulwer in 1838 (SP-052), a short number of years before this 1842 drawing. It is likely just artistic license (repeated dressings would be more difficult with watercolour) or perhaps the dressings were recent additions.
On the left background of the church, a building and chimney stack are visible. The 1843 Tithe Map of Timberscombe does shows a long structure here that runs east to west behind the church. On the map, it appears to be overlapped or semi-detached, on the back of it's eastern end, with the cottage called the Knapp, built c. 1836 by Edward Cording (15), a longtime preacher at the Providence Methodist Chapel. Likely the Knapp is what is visible to the left of the chimney stack.
The land to the right of the church would have been the western and northern churchyard until the low stone wall. Past that would be the church's rectory farm (16). Smaller buildings are seen here, possibly a linhay, a blackmith's shop and a barn, all owned by The Honourable Peter John Locke King. Born in 1811 , the second son of Peter King, the 7th Lord King of Ockham, Surrey and Lady Hester Fortescue, the younger King was purchasing properties in and around Timberscombe in the earlier 1830s, included Bickham Manor and East Harwood Farm. Whatever his plans were, they were likely curtailed when he was elected in 1847 as Member of Parliament, representing East Surrey, in July 1847. He seems to have sold most of his Timberscombe properties around then. King served as MP until 1874, notable for advocating more liberal reforms and died in his family estate, Brooklands, at Weybridge, Surrey in 1885 (17).
St. Petrock's is known to be at this site by the early 12th century, situated on elevated land near the junction of two roads and with proximity to a nearby ford (4)--as it still does. It is believed to have been built on the foundations of a church established by the Welsh missionary, St. Petrock, between 500 and 600 A.D (5). Between March and June 2020, more scientific evidence came to light of a settlement here, likely religious and certainly Saxon, when a deep trench was being dug across the southern side of the current church's ancient churchyard to accommodate a mains connection--when incontrovertible evidence was unearthed that was carbon dated to 777AD (6). As stated above, the first stages of the church, as drawn here, had been erected at least by the earlier 1100's and by 1189 the church at Timberscombe was "given" to the Bishop of Wells by four sisters, Cecily of Timberscombe (7), Alicia, Christina and Sara "with the consent of their husbands" (8). This meant money was given to Wells, a way of their church in Timberscombe being officially acknowledged.
The chancel, on the left end of the church, dates from the mid 15th century. A door, described by English Heritage as a priest's door, can be seen in the middle of the chancel's northern wall, which gave access to the chancel. The porch, also mid 15th century (9), faces the north, and this direction looks toward the centre of the village. Where standing tombstones are seen, alongside the nave and porch, a low stone wall with a railing is later constructed to enclose the Kent family graves. No tombstones still stand here but six large ones now lie flat within the low wall. Three have legible death dates of 1770, 1805 and 1858-- the latter after this drawing was created and possibly why only five tombstones are depicted.
Two slab stoned graves are across the path, at least one known to be 16th century (10), as well as the 14th century shaft of the Churchyard Cross. In 1896 a new base will be built for the cross and a new top will be added to the shaft, as a memorial to the Rev. William Bailey Whitehead, a St. Petrock's Vicar from 1826-1853 (11).
To the west is the church tower, rebuilt by 1708, although a tablet on the tower's north side states 1701. It has been suggested that the rebuilding of a former tower may indeed have been completed c. 1701, with the possibility of then suffering great damage by a storm on 26-27 November 1703, known to have caused devastation along the Bristol Channel-- particularly to church towers (12). Perhaps damage was enough that repairs were not complete until 1708. In either case, the completion of the tower was made possible by the generosity of the 16 year old Richard Elsworth (variously spelled Ellsworth or Elsworthy) of Bickham Manor (13).
As seen on this drawing, the entire church is rendered. Not until the early 1880's alterations of St. Petrock's, overseen by John Dando Sedding, is the plaster (or rough-cast) removed, exposing the red sandstone and random rubble underneath (14). Whether the father or the son, Mr. Buckle has indicated stone dressings along the edges of the chancel, the nave, the porch and, particularly evident, on the tower. These do not seem to be apparent on two other watercolours of St. Petrock's, painted by Mr. Wheatley in the 1830's (SP-051) and the Rev. James Bulwer in 1838 (SP-052), a short number of years before this 1842 drawing. It is likely just artistic license (repeated dressings would be more difficult with watercolour) or perhaps the dressings were recent additions.
On the left background of the church, a building and chimney stack are visible. The 1843 Tithe Map of Timberscombe does shows a long structure here that runs east to west behind the church. On the map, it appears to be overlapped or semi-detached, on the back of it's eastern end, with the cottage called the Knapp, built c. 1836 by Edward Cording (15), a longtime preacher at the Providence Methodist Chapel. Likely the Knapp is what is visible to the left of the chimney stack.
The land to the right of the church would have been the western and northern churchyard until the low stone wall. Past that would be the church's rectory farm (16). Smaller buildings are seen here, possibly a linhay, a blackmith's shop and a barn, all owned by The Honourable Peter John Locke King. Born in 1811 , the second son of Peter King, the 7th Lord King of Ockham, Surrey and Lady Hester Fortescue, the younger King was purchasing properties in and around Timberscombe in the earlier 1830s, included Bickham Manor and East Harwood Farm. Whatever his plans were, they were likely curtailed when he was elected in 1847 as Member of Parliament, representing East Surrey, in July 1847. He seems to have sold most of his Timberscombe properties around then. King served as MP until 1874, notable for advocating more liberal reforms and died in his family estate, Brooklands, at Weybridge, Surrey in 1885 (17).
Creator
John Buckler or John Chessel Buckler
Source
Publisher
John Hugh Smyth-Pigott
Date
1842
Contributor
Language
English
Identifier
St. Petrock's Church / Timberscombe / Village Centre
Acquisition Date
2020
Acquisition Method
Gift
Category
PLACES: Churches and Chapels / Timberscombe
Condition
Good
Condition Notes
Entered by Tom Sperling
Condition Date
2020
Dimension Type
W X L
Dimension Units
cm
Dimension Value
10.5 X 16
Institution Name
St. Petrock's History Group
Notes
1) sahns.org/sahns-library (2) as seen in "A Catalogue of The Pigott Drawings", volume 8 (1858), pp. 149-190, sahns.org (3) sahns.org/sahns-library (4) Victoria County History.ac.uk (5) "THE VILLAGE OF TIMBERSCOMBE AND ITS CHURCH", by B. L. K. Henderson and G. O. E. Henderson, printed by E. Goodman & Son, Ltd., 1955 (6) "The Parish Church of St. Petrock, Timberscombe, Somerset, The Results of Archaeological Monitoring", Ref: 18-30/2020, April 2021, by James L. Brigers, PA, PROSPECT ARCHAEOLOGY, Middlezoy, Somerset (7) "St. Petrock's Church Timberscombe", church pamphlet by Marion Jeffrey, 2017 (8) "THE VILLAGE OF TIMBERSCOMBE AND ITS CHURCH" (9) "St. Petrock's Church Timberscombe" (10) this was confirmed after some very careful digging, c. 2018, to uncover grave inscriptions that had been covered by earth settling (11) St. Petrock's Church Timberscombe" (12) 'TIMBERSCOMBE St Petrock", Somerset Churches Project, August 2019, Archaeological Assessment 2019, by David and Jerry Sampson, Buildings Archaeology (13) "St. Petrock's Timberscombe" (14) specifications of J.D. Sedding, held at Somerset Record Office and as reported in "TIMBERSCOMBE St. Petrock", Archaeological Assessment 2019, by David and Jerry Sampson, Somerset Churches Project, August 2019 (15) "Welcome!" pamphlet to the Timberscombe Methodist Chapel, courtesy of Joy and Martin Booth of the Knapp, Timberscombe (16) VCH (17) the 1843 Tithe Map of Timberscombe, Source: Somerset Record Office, Taunton, as researched and drawn by John Burns for the Timberscombe School, February, 1989, Dictionary of National Biography, Volume 1-22, wikitree.com and UK Poll Books and Electoral Registers, 1538-1893
Storage Location
St. Petrock's History Group Archive
Storage Date
2020
Storage Notes
St. Petrock's History Group ARTWORK
St. Petrock's History Group PHOTOGRAPHS
St. Petrock's History Group PHOTOGRAPHS
Item Reference
SP-053
Technique
Reproductions
Citation
John Buckler or John Chessel Buckler, “A Pigott Collection Drawing of St. Petrock's Church, 1842,” St. Petrock's History Group, accessed May 13, 2024, https://stpetrockshistorygroup.omeka.net/items/show/3174.
Comments