Five Women and One Boy in the St. Petrock's Churchyard, pre 1896
Title
Five Women and One Boy in the St. Petrock's Churchyard, pre 1896
Subject
Description
In June 2020, newly appointed Churchwarden at St. Petrock's Church in Timberscombe, Marion Jeffrey, came across this evocative photograph among possessions of the church. It depicts five women and one boy among the graves of the western side of St. Petrock's medieval churchyard (1), photographed from the northwestern corner. Marion presumed that it must have been taken in the later 19th century and it appears the photograph can be dated to at least before 1896.
On the left side of the photograph is a yew tree, planted on the northeastern edge of the churchyard, classified as a Notable likely to have been on this site since c. 1400 (2). In their booklet, "The Village of Timberscombe and Its Church", printed in 1955, St. Petrock's Churchwarden, James Henderson and his brother, Edward Henderson, Bishop of Bath and Wells from 1960 to 1975 (3), wrote that without an old yew tree, "no country churchyard is complete" and that a statute of the time of Edward I, in the 13th century, claimed that they were planted to protect church buildings from high winds. The brothers also speculated yew trees were grown in churchyards to discourage the "unauthorised" from cutting younger branches to make bows and arrows, as well to provide a convenient supply of evergreen for Palm Sunday (4).
James and Edward Henderson also pointed out that in the case of St. Petrock's, the yew tree also provided a "canopy over the 500 year old Church Cross". At first glance the Church Cross appears missing from this photograph. Past the tree and to it's right, two levels of the thatched roof of the 18th century Great House Farm (5) are seen across the road. Just to the left of the first roof (and the dark window below it) is a rather barren looking shaft.
This is the shaft of St. Petrock's Churchyard Cross--or at least most of it-- that is indeed 14th century and cut from red sandstone but with nothing at the top, where traditionally there would be a Crucifix. The Hendersons admit that in many churchyards, "vandal hands have broken off the Crucifix, leaving only the base and part of the shaft". It is not clear if theft or simply the passage of centuries is the cause of the state of this forlorn shaft but in 1896, a new base (which the brothers declared to be "unfortunate") and a Crucifix, made of Ham stone (which they liked) were added at the bottom and top--thus dating this particular photograph before that year. The new square granite base was inscribed as a memorial to William Bailey Whitehead, St. Petrock's vicar from 1826 to 1853 (6). The vicar of St. Petrock's at the time of this photograph was likely Robert James Crosswell, who served from 1876 until his death in 1900 (7) and who is pictured at SP-208.
SP-048 is a photograph, dated from 1905 to 1910, that shows St. Petrock's in much the same position, with the restored Churchyard Cross clearly visible against the dark backdrop of the yew tree. Also the thatched rooftops of Great House Farm are tiled, as they are known to have been before 1909 (8).
The name of St. Petrock's comes from the supposedly tireless Welsh saint, Petrock (or Petroc), said to have founded many churches throughout Devon and Cornwall, with this singular excursion into Somerset, between 500 and 600 A.D. Hopefully there are aspects of fact to this but between March and June 2020, further archaeological discoveries, followed by carbon dating, verified the existence of a Saxon settlement, likely religious in nature, at this site by 777 A.D. (9)
The camera angle of this photograph emphasizes the north side of the church, which is predominately 15th century. From this viewpoint--and as it appears in this particular photograph --the main entrance - the North Porch, looks larger than many country church-door entrances and perhaps it is. In medieval times the first part of a wedding took place there, where people might gather to hear the marriage contract prior to moving inside for the sacramental portions of the ceremony. James and Edward Henderson remind their readers that this was the case in Geoffrey Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales", noting the Wife of Bath had five "Husbands she had at Church's door". This was also the location for a Christmas Box, where donations could be left to be opened on Christmas Day, a meeting place where civil business could be conducted and sometimes even a Coroner's Court would be held in this passage (10).
The North Porch is believed to have been built in the 1450's, retaining its original wagon roof and some original timbers and carved bosses (11), including a possible curly-bearded husband and his wife in her wimple and cap, looking across at each other all these years. The substantial wooden door has its original lock box and ornamented iron bands and the hinges are perhaps older than the door itself, being 13th century and possibly the oldest extant part of the church (12). The chancel , containing the church altar, is to the left of the porch (with a slightly elevated roof), also dating to the 1450's. It had a major restoration by Ewan Christian (1814-1895) in 1862 (13) , followed by further Victorian renovations in the early 1880's, here and in the porch, the nave and the tower, overseen by John Dando Sedding (1838-1891), the diocesan architect of Bath and Wells (14) who was also instrumental as architect at Knowle Manor in 1878. Both of these restorations were probably recalled by at least some of the women in the churchyard.
Prominent in the photograph is the church's two-stage tower, believed to have been completed in 1708, replacing a earlier medieval version. The new tower was enabled through the patronage of 16-year-old Richard Elsworth (also seen as Ellsworth and Elsworthy) of Bickham Manor (15). At the top is a Victorian slate pyramid roof with pinnacles, over new parapets also added by Mr. Sedding. Messrs. Henderson do not hold back, giving their opinion of the tower by describing "the builder's effort not quite so happy" and that the pinnacles and parapets did not conform to the tower's lower stage. Yet James and Edward Henderson do seem to support the tower's four corners below what they call the "rather fanciful pinnacles", where St. Petrock's has carvings of the four Evangelists, St. Matthews as the Man's Head, St. Mark as the Lion, St. Luke as the Ox and St. John as the Eagle. The brothers write "They have a definite significance".
On the left side of the photograph is a yew tree, planted on the northeastern edge of the churchyard, classified as a Notable likely to have been on this site since c. 1400 (2). In their booklet, "The Village of Timberscombe and Its Church", printed in 1955, St. Petrock's Churchwarden, James Henderson and his brother, Edward Henderson, Bishop of Bath and Wells from 1960 to 1975 (3), wrote that without an old yew tree, "no country churchyard is complete" and that a statute of the time of Edward I, in the 13th century, claimed that they were planted to protect church buildings from high winds. The brothers also speculated yew trees were grown in churchyards to discourage the "unauthorised" from cutting younger branches to make bows and arrows, as well to provide a convenient supply of evergreen for Palm Sunday (4).
James and Edward Henderson also pointed out that in the case of St. Petrock's, the yew tree also provided a "canopy over the 500 year old Church Cross". At first glance the Church Cross appears missing from this photograph. Past the tree and to it's right, two levels of the thatched roof of the 18th century Great House Farm (5) are seen across the road. Just to the left of the first roof (and the dark window below it) is a rather barren looking shaft.
This is the shaft of St. Petrock's Churchyard Cross--or at least most of it-- that is indeed 14th century and cut from red sandstone but with nothing at the top, where traditionally there would be a Crucifix. The Hendersons admit that in many churchyards, "vandal hands have broken off the Crucifix, leaving only the base and part of the shaft". It is not clear if theft or simply the passage of centuries is the cause of the state of this forlorn shaft but in 1896, a new base (which the brothers declared to be "unfortunate") and a Crucifix, made of Ham stone (which they liked) were added at the bottom and top--thus dating this particular photograph before that year. The new square granite base was inscribed as a memorial to William Bailey Whitehead, St. Petrock's vicar from 1826 to 1853 (6). The vicar of St. Petrock's at the time of this photograph was likely Robert James Crosswell, who served from 1876 until his death in 1900 (7) and who is pictured at SP-208.
SP-048 is a photograph, dated from 1905 to 1910, that shows St. Petrock's in much the same position, with the restored Churchyard Cross clearly visible against the dark backdrop of the yew tree. Also the thatched rooftops of Great House Farm are tiled, as they are known to have been before 1909 (8).
The name of St. Petrock's comes from the supposedly tireless Welsh saint, Petrock (or Petroc), said to have founded many churches throughout Devon and Cornwall, with this singular excursion into Somerset, between 500 and 600 A.D. Hopefully there are aspects of fact to this but between March and June 2020, further archaeological discoveries, followed by carbon dating, verified the existence of a Saxon settlement, likely religious in nature, at this site by 777 A.D. (9)
The camera angle of this photograph emphasizes the north side of the church, which is predominately 15th century. From this viewpoint--and as it appears in this particular photograph --the main entrance - the North Porch, looks larger than many country church-door entrances and perhaps it is. In medieval times the first part of a wedding took place there, where people might gather to hear the marriage contract prior to moving inside for the sacramental portions of the ceremony. James and Edward Henderson remind their readers that this was the case in Geoffrey Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales", noting the Wife of Bath had five "Husbands she had at Church's door". This was also the location for a Christmas Box, where donations could be left to be opened on Christmas Day, a meeting place where civil business could be conducted and sometimes even a Coroner's Court would be held in this passage (10).
The North Porch is believed to have been built in the 1450's, retaining its original wagon roof and some original timbers and carved bosses (11), including a possible curly-bearded husband and his wife in her wimple and cap, looking across at each other all these years. The substantial wooden door has its original lock box and ornamented iron bands and the hinges are perhaps older than the door itself, being 13th century and possibly the oldest extant part of the church (12). The chancel , containing the church altar, is to the left of the porch (with a slightly elevated roof), also dating to the 1450's. It had a major restoration by Ewan Christian (1814-1895) in 1862 (13) , followed by further Victorian renovations in the early 1880's, here and in the porch, the nave and the tower, overseen by John Dando Sedding (1838-1891), the diocesan architect of Bath and Wells (14) who was also instrumental as architect at Knowle Manor in 1878. Both of these restorations were probably recalled by at least some of the women in the churchyard.
Prominent in the photograph is the church's two-stage tower, believed to have been completed in 1708, replacing a earlier medieval version. The new tower was enabled through the patronage of 16-year-old Richard Elsworth (also seen as Ellsworth and Elsworthy) of Bickham Manor (15). At the top is a Victorian slate pyramid roof with pinnacles, over new parapets also added by Mr. Sedding. Messrs. Henderson do not hold back, giving their opinion of the tower by describing "the builder's effort not quite so happy" and that the pinnacles and parapets did not conform to the tower's lower stage. Yet James and Edward Henderson do seem to support the tower's four corners below what they call the "rather fanciful pinnacles", where St. Petrock's has carvings of the four Evangelists, St. Matthews as the Man's Head, St. Mark as the Lion, St. Luke as the Ox and St. John as the Eagle. The brothers write "They have a definite significance".
Creator
Anonymous
Date
pre 1896
Contributor
Language
English
Identifier
St. Petrock's Church before 1898 / 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
2021
Dimension Type
W X L
Dimension Units
cm
Dimension Value
to be entered
Institution Name
St. Petrock's History Group
Notes
(1) Historic Environment Record, Exmoor National Park, MEM24827 (2)"St. Petrock's Church Timberscombe", church pamphlet written by Marion Jeffrey, 2017, where the yew tree is describe as Notable, a description of a tree that has been measured and thought to be between 300 and 700 years old, with St. Petrock's yew tree determined to have been on it's site since c. 1400 (3) the introduction, written by Marion Jeffrey in 2017, of a reprint of excerpts of "THE VILLAGE OF TIMBERSCOMBE AND ITS CHURCH" (4) ""THE VILLAGE OF TIMBERSCOMBE AND ITS CHURCH, by B.L.K. (James) Henderson and G.O.E. (Edward) Henderson, printed by E. Goodman & Son, Ltd.,The Phoenix Press, Taunton, 1955 (5) Victoria County History.ac.uk (6) English Heritage, British Listed Buildings.co.uk (7) TimberscombeVillage.com./ St. Petrock's Church/ "VICARS OF ST. PETROCK'S TIMBERSCOMBE" (8) as seen at SP-015 (9) "THE VILLAGE OF TIMBERSCOMBE AND ITS CHURCH" and "The Parish Church of St. Petrock, Timberscombe, Somerset, The Results of Archaeological Monitoring", Ref: 18-30/2000, 21 April 2021, by James L. Brigers, PA PROSPECT ARCHAEOLOGY, Middlezoy, Somerset (10) "THE VILLAGE OF TIMBERSCOMBE AND ITS CHURCH" (11) "St. Petrock's Church Timberscombe" (12) Historic England.co.uk (13) "St. Petrock's Church Timberscombe" and en.wikipedia.org>wiki>Ewan_Christian (14) "TIMBERSCOMBE St. Petrock", Somerset Churches Project, August 2019, Archaeological Assessment 2019, by David and Jerry Sampson, Buildings Archaeology (15) "PARISH OF TIMBERSCOMBE, RICHARD ELLSWORTH'S CHARITY", from the Charity Commissioners' Report (1819-1837)
Storage Location
St. Petrock's History Group Archive
Storage Date
2021
Storage Notes
St. Petrock's History Group PHOTOGRAPHS
Item Reference
SP-207
Technique
Copy
Citation
Anonymous, “Five Women and One Boy in the St. Petrock's Churchyard, pre 1896,” St. Petrock's History Group, accessed May 5, 2024, https://stpetrockshistorygroup.omeka.net/items/show/3479.
Comments