Francis Frith Photograph Featuring Kiln Farmhouse at the Meeting of Jubilee Terrace and Bemberry Bank (and the beginning of Church Street), c. 1955
Title
Francis Frith Photograph Featuring Kiln Farmhouse at the Meeting of Jubilee Terrace and Bemberry Bank (and the beginning of Church Street), c. 1955
Subject
Description
A photograph from The Francis Frith Collection, depicting the western end of the centre of the village of Timberscombe, that was originally labeled as "Timberscombe, The Village, c. 1955". The photographer was likely standing near the end of Bemberry Bank, the road that provides a western entryway (or exit) for the village. The building in the photograph's centre, facing the camera, is Kiln Farmhouse- at which point the street becomes Jubilee Terrace, only completed from 1887 to 1889 (1), built to provide an east to west passage through Timberscombe.
From this end, Kiln Farmhouse is the first of six semi-detached, slate-roofed structures, all composed of rubble and the area's distinctive red sandstone. The structures are actually older than the road, all completed possibly in the later 18th century or the early 19th century (2). At the end of Jubilee Terrace is a small village square where an automobile can be glimpsed parked in front of The Lion Inn, Timberscombe's public house. While public houses have likely been at this location in the village centre since the 1600's, this version was known to be standing around 1820, when it was called The Boot. Partly rebuilt by new owners around 1841, it was renamed Lion Inn (3). The same automobile can be seen at this same spot on another Francis Frith photograph, visible at SP-100.
As Bemberry Bank ends in front of Kiln Farmhouse, it can be seen that a continuation of the road rises slightly upward to the right, running along the bottom of a curved and well-shadowed stone wall. This portion of street will continue along the unseen northern side of the multi-leveled building that the wall is behind, where is becomes Church Street, continuing a gradual rise as the road exits the southern side of the village. The multi-leveled building between the beginning of this road and Jubilee Terrace is The Old Forge. The taller section was a village smithy, with blacksmiths recorded at this spot back to the 1100's (4). The current structure is believed to have been erected on the foundations of those earlier forges around the same time The Lion Inn was built (5). The lower back section of The Old Forge was added as housing for the blacksmith or perhaps someone working with the blacksmith. Such was the case in 1843 when the Tithe Map of Timberscombe recorded George Hensley, a Saddler, situated here, working in tandem with Thomas Porter, the blacksmith up front (6).
In 1955, the stone building prominent on the left edge of the photograph was still the Vicarage of St. Petrock's, Timberscombe's 12th century church. The vicar of St. Petrock's from 1951 to 1960 was Sidney Ernest Swann. If he had chosen to do so, Rev. Swann would have been the last vicar to live here. As it was, Rev. Swann lived in Dunster (7).
Nevertheless, a vicarage was recorded to be standing, seemingly at this spot, in 1536, when it was valued at £6 10s. From 1524 to 1554, the rector at the church was Richard Laghwell, known as a well-to-do and educated man (8) --who likely was rarely present in Timberscombe. It was not unusual for upper-class clergymen to be assigned as vicar to more than one church, spend their time in the more affluent parish and appoint a supplementary curate to watch over the less affluent one. Timberscombe was a poor parish and from the 1400's onward, a rapid succession of vicars were either unqualified or mostly absent, resulting in a vicarage often neglected (9). By 1815, the earlier version of the vicarage seen in this photograph was declared unfit for inhabitants (10), although fortunately it was not demolished.
An example of the disregard of Timberscombe's Vicarage appears to be the case of William Bailey Whitehead who became the vicar of St. Petrock's in 1826, while already serving and living at Chard, Somerset (11). He appointed Thomas Bealy, born in Timberscombe in 1766 (12), to be curate for St. Petrock's. From May 1825 to October 1840, Rev. Bealy conducted the services of every burial that occurred at Timberscombe. Rev. Whitehead's name does not appear once (13). In 1840, Whitehead finally came to stay in Timberscombe but moved into The Great House on the opposite side of the village from the Vicarage --where the 75 year old Mr. Bealy continued to live, apparently still doing much of the church's work (14). By the 1851 Census, the Vicarage was occupied by a new 27 year old supplementary curate born in Australia, the Rev. Thomas Cox, while Rev. Whitehead remained at The Great House until 1853. Rev. Cox did not stay long in Timberscombe.
Finally in 1856, the Bishop of Bath and Wells sent a remonstrance to St. Petrock's vicar incumbent since 1853, the Rev. James Hall Croft, accusing him of willful neglect and ordered repairs of the Vicarage (15). By 1864, the building was improved, coming to look like the structure seen in this photograph, enlarged into a 2-room cross passage house, with a new kitchen and scullery, a service area added, as well has two new staircases (16). It became a place where the vicar actually lived, as Rev. Croft now did, along with his wife and two servants (17). Later a bay window was added to the lower right of the building, visible in this photograph, with a loggia and an eastern entrance to its left.
In 1962 the Vicarage was sold and later converted into flats (18), now called The Old Vicarage.
Being known as Kiln Farmhouse, it might seem that the building in the centre of the photograph would be situated on the farmland of Kiln Farm. Possibly in earlier days but by the time of the 1843 Tithe Map of Timberscombe, Kiln Farmhouse was part of the vast Knowle Estate owned by James Hole, Esquire and was leased as a separate "House, Stable & Court " to James and Elizabeth Morgan (19). Mr. Morgan was a farmer but living in the village, and listed his occupation as a Carpenter (20). Kiln Farmhouse was separated from the sprawling lands of Kiln Farm, which spread from the east (at Waydown) to the west (reaching Cowbridge), north of the village, with a separate block of farmland on the south side of the western end of the village. In 1979, Kiln Farm was divided into four sections and sold at auction, which did not include Kiln Farmhouse (21). In 1917, the farmhouse was purchased from the Trustees of the Knowle Estate to David James Tapp, who at that time farmed at Highercombe Farm, north of Dulverton (22).
The house, with the half-gabled front porch facing the camera, is the actual farmhouse at Kiln Farmhouse. The long lower building seen to the left contained the barn and former cowshed. It appears, seemingly much the same, on the 1843 Tithe Map of Timberscombe.
David James Tapp probably never lived at Kiln Farmhouse. He died in 1949 at Beech Park Farm located immediately to the west of Highercombe Farm (23) and in 1938 he had sold Kiln Farmhouse to William Gibbs Morel (24), the owner of the manor house, Bickham. Mr. Morel died in 1951 (25) and his widow, Mary Edith (nee Jacks) Morel would have been the owner of Kiln Farmhouse at the time of this photograph. The likely tenants were Samuel and Gertrude (nee Bricknell) Heard (26). Better known as Tommy, Mr. Heard was born in 1890 at Luxborough. In 1913 he was working in Porlock as one of the first chauffeurs in West Somerset, where he also married his wife (27). By the 1939 England and Wales Register, Mr. and Mrs. Heard were in Timberscombe, working as the proprietors of The Lion Inn. Tommy Heard is well remembered for purchasing a former Red Deer Coach that he used to drive guests (and anyone who needed a ride) to and from the inn and to deliver newspapers, a practice he continued after he and Gertrude had moved into Kiln Farmhouse (28). Bernadette Brunker, who moved into School House in 1980 recalled that in his later years, Tommy Heard was prone to driving the bus too close to her house, resulting in him knocking off her front porch. Gertrude Heard died in 1977, the same year that Pansy Yvonne Morel, the daughter of William and Mary Edith Morel (who died in 1970), sold Kiln Farmhouse to Michael William and Linda Alice (nee Pashley) Powles. Tommy Heard died in 1980 (29).
In this c. 1955 photograph, the doorway seen of Kiln Farmhouse may or may not have been the main entrance. From the beginning of September 1939 to February 1940, ten year old Jeanne and eight year old Pat Robinson were evacuated from Romford, London and wartime bombing by their parents Frank and Elsie Robinson (30). Mrs. Robinson was the daughter of Harry and Annie Prole, then living at Kiln Farmhouse. In 2019, Pat, then Pat Herniman, wrote a memoir, "AWAY & HOME-WORLD WAR II Somerset and Essex 1939". Its first chapter, entitled "Escape to the Country" was about Mrs. Herniman's time at Kiln Farmhouse, where she describes the family's entry door as "fronting the main street", being Jubilee Terrace and not visible in this photograph. Pat's job on Saturday morning was to use Blanco to whiten the front doorstep "which was invisible at night as they had no street lighting". The door seen in this photograph was the "side entrance", where a parlour was kept equipped with freshly baked scones, clotted cream and home-made jam that Annie Prole made and sold to "late season holiday- makers" (31).
The former family entrance to Kiln Farmhouse can still be seen in an aerial photograph at SP-198, where it has been blocked up but still recessed, so that an outline of the door remains visible. Later it will be filled in to be more level with the rest of the outer facade. It appears to have been quite an imposing entryway. The Francis Frith photograph here is one of the later photographs where the western side of Kiln Farmhouse has not yet been rendered, as it is in modern times. The aerial photograph at SP-198, thought to be taken in the mid 1960's to mid 1970's (32), does show the wall has been rendered.
From this end, Kiln Farmhouse is the first of six semi-detached, slate-roofed structures, all composed of rubble and the area's distinctive red sandstone. The structures are actually older than the road, all completed possibly in the later 18th century or the early 19th century (2). At the end of Jubilee Terrace is a small village square where an automobile can be glimpsed parked in front of The Lion Inn, Timberscombe's public house. While public houses have likely been at this location in the village centre since the 1600's, this version was known to be standing around 1820, when it was called The Boot. Partly rebuilt by new owners around 1841, it was renamed Lion Inn (3). The same automobile can be seen at this same spot on another Francis Frith photograph, visible at SP-100.
As Bemberry Bank ends in front of Kiln Farmhouse, it can be seen that a continuation of the road rises slightly upward to the right, running along the bottom of a curved and well-shadowed stone wall. This portion of street will continue along the unseen northern side of the multi-leveled building that the wall is behind, where is becomes Church Street, continuing a gradual rise as the road exits the southern side of the village. The multi-leveled building between the beginning of this road and Jubilee Terrace is The Old Forge. The taller section was a village smithy, with blacksmiths recorded at this spot back to the 1100's (4). The current structure is believed to have been erected on the foundations of those earlier forges around the same time The Lion Inn was built (5). The lower back section of The Old Forge was added as housing for the blacksmith or perhaps someone working with the blacksmith. Such was the case in 1843 when the Tithe Map of Timberscombe recorded George Hensley, a Saddler, situated here, working in tandem with Thomas Porter, the blacksmith up front (6).
In 1955, the stone building prominent on the left edge of the photograph was still the Vicarage of St. Petrock's, Timberscombe's 12th century church. The vicar of St. Petrock's from 1951 to 1960 was Sidney Ernest Swann. If he had chosen to do so, Rev. Swann would have been the last vicar to live here. As it was, Rev. Swann lived in Dunster (7).
Nevertheless, a vicarage was recorded to be standing, seemingly at this spot, in 1536, when it was valued at £6 10s. From 1524 to 1554, the rector at the church was Richard Laghwell, known as a well-to-do and educated man (8) --who likely was rarely present in Timberscombe. It was not unusual for upper-class clergymen to be assigned as vicar to more than one church, spend their time in the more affluent parish and appoint a supplementary curate to watch over the less affluent one. Timberscombe was a poor parish and from the 1400's onward, a rapid succession of vicars were either unqualified or mostly absent, resulting in a vicarage often neglected (9). By 1815, the earlier version of the vicarage seen in this photograph was declared unfit for inhabitants (10), although fortunately it was not demolished.
An example of the disregard of Timberscombe's Vicarage appears to be the case of William Bailey Whitehead who became the vicar of St. Petrock's in 1826, while already serving and living at Chard, Somerset (11). He appointed Thomas Bealy, born in Timberscombe in 1766 (12), to be curate for St. Petrock's. From May 1825 to October 1840, Rev. Bealy conducted the services of every burial that occurred at Timberscombe. Rev. Whitehead's name does not appear once (13). In 1840, Whitehead finally came to stay in Timberscombe but moved into The Great House on the opposite side of the village from the Vicarage --where the 75 year old Mr. Bealy continued to live, apparently still doing much of the church's work (14). By the 1851 Census, the Vicarage was occupied by a new 27 year old supplementary curate born in Australia, the Rev. Thomas Cox, while Rev. Whitehead remained at The Great House until 1853. Rev. Cox did not stay long in Timberscombe.
Finally in 1856, the Bishop of Bath and Wells sent a remonstrance to St. Petrock's vicar incumbent since 1853, the Rev. James Hall Croft, accusing him of willful neglect and ordered repairs of the Vicarage (15). By 1864, the building was improved, coming to look like the structure seen in this photograph, enlarged into a 2-room cross passage house, with a new kitchen and scullery, a service area added, as well has two new staircases (16). It became a place where the vicar actually lived, as Rev. Croft now did, along with his wife and two servants (17). Later a bay window was added to the lower right of the building, visible in this photograph, with a loggia and an eastern entrance to its left.
In 1962 the Vicarage was sold and later converted into flats (18), now called The Old Vicarage.
Being known as Kiln Farmhouse, it might seem that the building in the centre of the photograph would be situated on the farmland of Kiln Farm. Possibly in earlier days but by the time of the 1843 Tithe Map of Timberscombe, Kiln Farmhouse was part of the vast Knowle Estate owned by James Hole, Esquire and was leased as a separate "House, Stable & Court " to James and Elizabeth Morgan (19). Mr. Morgan was a farmer but living in the village, and listed his occupation as a Carpenter (20). Kiln Farmhouse was separated from the sprawling lands of Kiln Farm, which spread from the east (at Waydown) to the west (reaching Cowbridge), north of the village, with a separate block of farmland on the south side of the western end of the village. In 1979, Kiln Farm was divided into four sections and sold at auction, which did not include Kiln Farmhouse (21). In 1917, the farmhouse was purchased from the Trustees of the Knowle Estate to David James Tapp, who at that time farmed at Highercombe Farm, north of Dulverton (22).
The house, with the half-gabled front porch facing the camera, is the actual farmhouse at Kiln Farmhouse. The long lower building seen to the left contained the barn and former cowshed. It appears, seemingly much the same, on the 1843 Tithe Map of Timberscombe.
David James Tapp probably never lived at Kiln Farmhouse. He died in 1949 at Beech Park Farm located immediately to the west of Highercombe Farm (23) and in 1938 he had sold Kiln Farmhouse to William Gibbs Morel (24), the owner of the manor house, Bickham. Mr. Morel died in 1951 (25) and his widow, Mary Edith (nee Jacks) Morel would have been the owner of Kiln Farmhouse at the time of this photograph. The likely tenants were Samuel and Gertrude (nee Bricknell) Heard (26). Better known as Tommy, Mr. Heard was born in 1890 at Luxborough. In 1913 he was working in Porlock as one of the first chauffeurs in West Somerset, where he also married his wife (27). By the 1939 England and Wales Register, Mr. and Mrs. Heard were in Timberscombe, working as the proprietors of The Lion Inn. Tommy Heard is well remembered for purchasing a former Red Deer Coach that he used to drive guests (and anyone who needed a ride) to and from the inn and to deliver newspapers, a practice he continued after he and Gertrude had moved into Kiln Farmhouse (28). Bernadette Brunker, who moved into School House in 1980 recalled that in his later years, Tommy Heard was prone to driving the bus too close to her house, resulting in him knocking off her front porch. Gertrude Heard died in 1977, the same year that Pansy Yvonne Morel, the daughter of William and Mary Edith Morel (who died in 1970), sold Kiln Farmhouse to Michael William and Linda Alice (nee Pashley) Powles. Tommy Heard died in 1980 (29).
In this c. 1955 photograph, the doorway seen of Kiln Farmhouse may or may not have been the main entrance. From the beginning of September 1939 to February 1940, ten year old Jeanne and eight year old Pat Robinson were evacuated from Romford, London and wartime bombing by their parents Frank and Elsie Robinson (30). Mrs. Robinson was the daughter of Harry and Annie Prole, then living at Kiln Farmhouse. In 2019, Pat, then Pat Herniman, wrote a memoir, "AWAY & HOME-WORLD WAR II Somerset and Essex 1939". Its first chapter, entitled "Escape to the Country" was about Mrs. Herniman's time at Kiln Farmhouse, where she describes the family's entry door as "fronting the main street", being Jubilee Terrace and not visible in this photograph. Pat's job on Saturday morning was to use Blanco to whiten the front doorstep "which was invisible at night as they had no street lighting". The door seen in this photograph was the "side entrance", where a parlour was kept equipped with freshly baked scones, clotted cream and home-made jam that Annie Prole made and sold to "late season holiday- makers" (31).
The former family entrance to Kiln Farmhouse can still be seen in an aerial photograph at SP-198, where it has been blocked up but still recessed, so that an outline of the door remains visible. Later it will be filled in to be more level with the rest of the outer facade. It appears to have been quite an imposing entryway. The Francis Frith photograph here is one of the later photographs where the western side of Kiln Farmhouse has not yet been rendered, as it is in modern times. The aerial photograph at SP-198, thought to be taken in the mid 1960's to mid 1970's (32), does show the wall has been rendered.
Creator
The Francis Frith Collection
Source
Publisher
The Francis Frith Collection
Date
c. 1955
Contributor
Language
English
Identifier
Kiln Farmhouse, The Old Vicarage and The Old Forge, c. 1955 / Timberscombe / Village Centre
Acquisition Date
2020
Acquisition Method
Research
Category
PLACES: Farmhouses / Timberscombe
PLACES: Vicarages / Timberscombe
PLACES: Forges / Timberscombe
PLACES: Vicarages / Timberscombe
PLACES: Forges / Timberscombe
Condition
Good
Condition Notes
entered by Tom Sperling
Condition Date
2021
Dimension Type
W X L
Dimension Units
cm
Dimension Value
11.5 X 20
Institution Name
St. Petrock's History Group
Notes
(1) VictoriaCountyHistory.ac.uk (2) Historic Environment Record , Exmoor National Park, MEM24410 and VCH (3) VCH (4) VCH (5) as recalled in 2019 by Peter Rawland, owner of No. 2 Old Forge (and previous owner of No. 1 Old Forge (6) "TIMBERSCOMBE TITHE MAP 1843", Source: Somerset Record Office, Taunton, researched and drawn by John Burns for the Timberscombe School, February 1989 (7) hand-drawn list of the Vicars inside St. Petrock's Church, Timberscombe and Rev. Swann living in Dunster was recalled in 2022 by Jennifer Hansford, who had grown up in Timberscombe (and played the organ at the church during the tenure of Rev. Swann) (8) VCH (9) "Register of Thomas Bekynton, 1443-1466, written by Thomas Bekynton, Bishop of Bath and Wells", edited by Sir H. C. Maxwell-Lyte, Somerset Heritage Society (10) VCH (11) hand-drawn list of the Vicars inside St. Petrock's Church, Timberscombe and 1841 England Census (12) "Nigel's Family Tree", by Nigel James Palmer, Tree Search of Thomas Bealy, 1766-1855, Ancestry.com (13) Somerset, England, Church of England Burials, 1813-1914 (14) "TIMBERSCOMBE TITHE MAP 1843" (15) Surveyor's Report of Vicarage, 1856", Taunton Records Office (16) VCH (17) 1861 England Census (18) VCH (19) "TIMBERSCOMBE TITHE MAP 1843" (20) 1861 England Census (21) "Sales Particulars of ACCOMMODATION LANDS being formerly part of KILN FARM, TIMBERSCOMBE, by directions of Miss. P. Y. Morel", printed by PHILLIPS & SANDERS, 32 The Avenue, Minehead for Public Auction on Wednesday, March 14 1979 at Timberscombe Village Hall, collected by Kenneth Grabham (1920-2007), given to Derek Poole (1942-2011) and shared by his daughter, Angie Gummer, in 2019 with the St. Petrock's History Group (22) Deed and Conveyances of Kiln Farmhouse, shared in 2020 by Jessica (Jess) and Matt Plumridge, current owners of Kiln Farmhouse and Dorset, England, Church of England Marriages & Banns, 1813-1914 (23) England and Wales, Nation Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations) 1858-1995 (24) Deeds and Conveyances of Kiln Farmhouse (25) England and Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007 (26) "Timberscombe 1957-1965", written memories by John Nurcombe, former resident of Oaktrow Farm, for francisfrith.com (27) 1911 England Census, England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1835-1914 and West Somerset Photograph Collection, at the West Somerset Rural Life Museum, Allerford, Somerset, the Porlock volumes (28) as recalled by Wendy Hellewell, Maurice Huxtable and Bernadette Brunker, longtime residents of Timberscombe (29) England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Indexes, 1916-2007, England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916-2005 and Deeds and Conveyances of Kiln Farmhouse (30) Timberscombe School ADMISSION REGISTER's, 1897-1944 and 1944-2012 (31) "AWAY & HOME- WORLD WAR II" Somerset and Essex 1939-1945", by Pat Herniman, published by Paper Mill Books, Little Baddow, in association with Little Baddow History Centre, 2016 (32) the map at SP-198, donated by Jess and Matt Plumridge of Kiln Farmhouse, is undated but the front of Berrowcote (later Burrow Cottage) on Brook Street is not rendered on it's left side and is rendered on it's right side, as seen in a photograph dated 1967 at SP-201 and Timberscombe's Old Village Hall is seen, which was demolished in 1976
Storage Location
St. Petrock's History Group Archive
Storage Date
2021
Storage Notes
St. Petrock's History Group PHOTOGRAPHS
Item Reference
SP-197
Technique
Copy
Citation
The Francis Frith Collection, “Francis Frith Photograph Featuring Kiln Farmhouse at the Meeting of Jubilee Terrace and Bemberry Bank (and the beginning of Church Street), c. 1955,” St. Petrock's History Group, accessed May 18, 2024, https://stpetrockshistorygroup.omeka.net/items/show/3468.
Comments