Ashington Spearhead
Over 30 years ago a metal object, assumed to be a modern artefact, was found by Sandy Boyd beside Ashington Wood. This object was later identified as a bronze spearhead by the Yeovil Archaeological and Local History Society (YALHS)[2], dating to around 1,000 BC.
The spearhead, allegedly kept in a house in Limington, is a well-preserved, well-made bronze head that lacks its tip; it would have originally been around 16cm long. Material has been lost from the edges of the blade which are heavily eroded.
The head is very similar to a drawing of a spearhead from Weston-super-Mare[3], a spearhead of middle to late bronze age design. Whilst it lacks its tip, the object ranks alongside many other prehistoric metalwork discoveries in the area, including the Wyndham Hill axe head and Hendford Hill gold torc.
The Bronze Age spearhead found near Ashington Wood. Photo: B&M Gittos
Roman Settlements
Works to install the Codford to Ilchester water pipeline revealed evidence of a Roman settlement North of Ashington,[4] with remnants of stone-founded buildings visible in the form of mortar and limestone. Pieces of charcoal and burned stones, along with the presence of a baked-clay trough, suggest there was once small-scale industry at the site.
There were multiple findings of pottery. Most notably there were fragments of a Dressel 20 amphora, a container with a pointed bottom, globular body and oval-shaped handles. These and other findings mainly dated to the third and fourth centuries, although earlier pottery was also discovered.
There were also findings of Romano-British pottery between the Honey Pot Plantation and Higher Field Plantation, along with findings to the East of Keeper’s Cottage.[5] It is possible that an alleged burial ground in a field named 'Forty Acres' is connected to any settlements that could have been located on the sites of these findings. According to the Somerset Historic Environment Record, there are at least four 'pillow mounds' in the centre of Forty Acres. There is also a large oval mound (overlying ridge and furrow) within the small, square woodland of the same name.[6]
There is also evidence that in Roman days a shrine was present on the South side of the Yeo, close to Limington; here travellers could make a votive offering and seek the protection of the tutelary deities for their crossing.[0]
A Dressel 20 amphora
Image: Museu Nacional Arqueològic de Tarragona (Dottsa Pilar Sada)
Ashington
Following the Romans, there was a medieval settlement at Ashington - an extensive, deserted village to the West of the church and manor house.[7] A 1947 aerial photograph revealed extensive evidence of earthworks, holloways and ridge and furrow, along with clear evidence of ploughed-out house platforms and crofts. These features seem to have been degraded by subsequent agricultural practices.[8]
Cropmark enclosures were also discovered to the North of Ashington during the installation of the aforementioned Codford to Ilchester pipeline, with droveways running between them. It is likely that the extent of cropmarks visible would have been significantly larger in different weather conditions, possibly running to the East and West.[9]
Ashington was formerly a separate parish, and thus there are parish registers dating from 1567. The lay subsidy of 1327, a nationwide tax implemented by King Edward III, also assessed 17 people as living in Ashington at the time – more than were mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. A parish boundary stone still stands in Draycott today, marking the border of the former parish.[10]
Various local sources indicate the presence of of mill in Ashington, with two sites; one close to Ashington Manor and one by the bank. There is no mention of such a mill in the Domesday Book, however, with information on the structure difficult to source. Nonetheless, a charter of Robert fitzsWilliam fitzRainier confirms such a structure did once exist, stating that he "grants to the church & monks of Montacute five shillings every year from the profits (de censu) of his Mill of Estinton".[0]
Ashington also appears in the Gentleman’s Magazine of 1820. At this time the Parish of Ashington was still present, which included the hamlet of Sock; combined they contained around 930 acres of land. There were 9 ‘dwelling-houses’ in the village, and 13 families, comprising a total of 68 people (according to the magazine; F Goulding disputes this, giving the figure of 81 for the year of 1821).[0]
The Manor of Ashington was bestowed on Roger de Curcelle by William the Conquerer, and was subsequently owned by the St. Barbe family from 1390 to 1901. During this time the St. Barbes became the St. Barbe Sydenhams.
Cropmark enclosures North of Ashington
Image: Wessex Archelogy Report
The Manor House was apparently erected by the St. Barbes in the sixteenth century,[11] and a Wyvern, the St. Barbe family’s armorial crest, still remains on a buttress at the South West corner of the house. The south face of the house was halved after 1820, with the west façade being similarly shortened. The interior has also been considerably altered multiple times.[12]
Rather unfortunately, a 1953 report for the Lymington Historical Record Society on the St. Barbe family paints a rather damming picture of the Manor:
"The final part of my St. Barbe journey was to Ashington itself, and I must stay that after the excitement of Limington House, Ashington was depressing. I had been warned that only about one third of the original manor house was still standing, but I have not before seen a building looking so obviously like the remaining part of something much larger and finer. It is inhabited by a farmer and the original courtyard now forms a pleasant garden leading to the farmyard and farm buildings. The porch to the front door has been moved, but on the inside the original Tudor arch can be seen. It is now covered in, and fitted with shelves and forms a kitchen cupboard, with the pins for the hinges of the massive Tudor door still in place."[12A]
Ashington Manor in 1820
Image: Gentlemen's Magazine 1820
The Church of Saint Vincent
The Church of St Vincent is a small church of Early English (1189-1280) origin.[13] It features Hamstone dressings and has a clay tile roof[14], with walls of lias rubble. The building lacks a tower, but instead has a rare ‘lantern’ bellcote, likely added in the late 15th or early 16th Century. The church underwent restoration in 1878, and has recently undergone extensive roof repairs and re-plastering.
The original structure consisted of the nave only. Amongst other elements, the greatest indicator of this is that there is a niche in the outside East gable of the nave. For how long this arrangement lasted is unknown. Prior to a stone building, it seems likely that there was a wooden structure at around the time of Domesday.[0] The graveyard has been in use since at least medieval times.[13]
The interior of the church includes Jacobean furnishings, including box-pews with ‘shell-tops’. There are two larger pews at the front which were formerly for the Rector (who lived in St Vincent‘s House, the former rectory) and Squire (owner of the manor). A Reader’s Desk attached to one of these, along with the pulpit and tester, can be dated to 1637.[15]
Ashington Church in 1820
Image: Gentlemen's Magazine 1820
On the exterior of the church, there is a niche in the East gable of the nave. In the niche are three small human figures – a decapitated male between two other carvings. It was assumed by one 'C.S.B.' of the Gentleman's Magazine (possibly Charles St. Barbe) during an inspection in 1820 that the male figure is the martyred Saint Vincent, to whom the church is dedicated. According to C.S.B., the figure is shown with his hands bound, which most likely represents the moment after his sentencing – to be burned – for refusing to abandon his faith. Ashington Church is one of only 6 churches in England dedicated to this Spanish Saint. He also interprets the two figures either side of the central one as two women looking at him "piteously", one of these possibly being St. Catherine of Alexandria.[11]
Unfortunately for C.S.B., this assumption is wholly incorrect, as the central figure is in fact of Christ, with his mother and St. John either side of him, as revealed by a further inspection in 1971. Cromwellian iconoclasts may well have climbed onto the roof to decapitate the figure and also to smash a cross that once stood at the peak of the East gable.[0]
Within the church and to the East of the North nave wall, above the 'organ', there is a gap, which previously formed the entrance to the roodloft. It is said that from here, a staircase continued to above the loft, which may have been intended to enable offerings to be made in front of the figures in the niche.[0]
Carving in niche in gable in c.1980
Image: F Goulding
The current South porch was built in 1878. For seemingly no reason, there has been a niche inserted into its gable, and, surprisingly, the whole structure fails to align with the original door still in place today. This is perhaps explained by the presence of another niche (in the original wall) just above and to the West of the centre of the old door and arch; the porch was likely built to contain it.[0]
On the original church door within the porch, there is a 'Sanctuary handle'. Now uncommon in such a well-preserved state, it was installed so that any fugitive could put themselves under the protection of the Holy Church (for as long as they could hold on to the iron loop between the lock and the latch).[0]
A Latin inscription also lies in the doorway. Unfortunately, there seems to have been an attempt to erase it during the time of the Reformation, and it is thus illegible (to the unaided eye).[0]
1847 watercolour and pencil by W W Wheatley showing a previous South porch design
Image: SWHT
The church features a rare 'lantern' bellcote. Whilst roof repair works were taken out during early 2022, the opportunity to inspect the bells and bellcote was taken, with a report detailing the physical soundness of the structure produced. It also gave thorough details of each bell, as set out below (all facts are from the report unless otherwise stated).
The church has two bells; a tenor, of around 1520 origin, and a treble, of around 1290-1320 origin. The treble, being such an early object, is an interesting example of a bell produced when the shape of bells was in a state of flux. The external profile is nearly 'modern', although the internal profile is of an earlier pattern, with little thickening at its soundbow. It thus produces a significantly lower note than might otherwise be expected given its diameter, being almost a full tone lower than its tenor companion in pitch (despite being 2" smaller).
The tenor originates from a small group of late medieval bells, which are scattered across Somerset and Dorset. Their foundry may have been sited in Shaftesbury, though this is only a possibility based purely on the pattern of distribution.
The canons or supporting loops of the bells have sadly been removed at an unknown date. So too were the cast-in crown staples, cut away from the part at which the clapper hangs. However, the latter process is common conservation practice, and it has greatly reduced the chances of the bells becoming cracked.
A previous inspection in 1971 by Mr George Elphick of Lewes also sought to close date the two bells. However, he found the process particularly difficult on account of the removal of the canons, with differing dates given to those in the recent report; whilst the tenor was estimated to be 14th Century, Mr Elphick states that the treble was cast "at some date between late 14th and early 17th Century", which now seems unlikely.[0]
Based on this 1971 inspection, Francis Goulding M. A. of St John's College, Oxford, deduced that the church must have first only had one bell, simply slung over the west end. He believes that the weight of this bell alone would have been enough to get the West wall bulging, which called for the building of the large buttress that now blocks the West window. He explains that the design of Ashington's bellcote was later copied from the the church in Brympton d'Evercy due to family connections (either in the late 15th or early 16th Century), and a second bell was obtained from elsewhere to be put into the structure.[0]
The bellcote is also in need of repair. Particularly damaging has been previous repair work on the structure, as, with a strong mix of Portland cement having been used, the masonry has eroded at a higher rate than might otherwise have occured.
Unfortunately, the treble bell's tonal quality has been described as "less than pleasant". However, given its age, it is nonetheless listed by the Church Buildings Council as being "worthy of preservation". There are now plans in place to repair both bells, and the bellcote itself, so that the whole arrangement can be brought back into regular use.
The report is available on request to the Ashington and Draycott Community Page.
Inside the bellcote, during roof repair works
Image: Jonathan Marsden
An 1830 drawing of the church font shows a circular ‘pedestal’ to one side of the font which has been cut to grasp the pedestal of the font in situ. The pedestal has cable-moulding, and appears to be the cut-down base of an early tub-font from the 12th Century. Since the present font is of the 13th Century, the pedestal in the 1830 drawing is presumably part of a 12th Century font that may have existed in the church, and it is therefore possible that the building could in fact be of 11th or 12th Century origin.[13]
1830 drawing of the font and 'pedestal'
Image: F Goulding
On the North wall of the chancel, there is a marble tablet in memory of John St Barbe, who died in 1723. It is inscribed as follows:
Here lies Sir John St. Barbe, Bart. possessed of those amiable qualities which birth, education, travel, greatness of spirit, and goodness of heart, produce. — Interred in the same vault, his second wife Alice Fiennes, aunt to the present Lord Say and Sale. His first wife was Honour, daughter of Colonel Norton. — He died at his seat of Broadlands in Hampshire, Sept. 7, 1723, leaving for his only heir and executor Humphrey Sydenham, Esq. of Combe in Somersetshire, who ordered this Marble to his memory.[16]
On the North wall of the nave, there is also with a brass plaque commemorating Charlie Cox who died in the First World War.
There were once two further monumental inscriptions in the church, presumably removed by the Victorian ‘restorers’ during the restoration in 1878. One was the flat grave-stone of James Burt, a former rector of the parish, along with his wife Mary and son James. The other is referred to by Yeovil Archaeological and Local History Society as the ‘Ashington Slab’.[17] Fortunately, a drawing of the slab is preserved in the Gentleman’s Magazine of 1820.
John St. Barbe's marble tablet.
Photo: Peter Marsden
The slab shows a mail-clad figure holding a stave, with a long shield, sword, and curious ‘kettle-shaped’ helmet. A slightly better drawing of the figure alone shows them also holding a spear (Archaeological Institute (Bristol), 1851). In both drawings, the arms on the shield appear to be those of the Raleigh family, to whom the Furneaux family, former owners of Ashington, were allied (as a result of Sir Matthew Furneaux’s marriage to the daughter of Warine de Raleigh of Nettlecombe). There is a similar (preserved) slab in Nettlecombe Church, carved of Hamstone, bearing the same arms.
From the 1980 YALHS Chronicle [17]:
The Ashington slab is of particular interest because it shows two unusual features. Firstly there is the spear which also occurs on a broken incised slab at Chelvey near Clevedon and on the famous brass to Sir John d’Aubernon the elder at Cobham in surrey. Secondly, there is the almost comical headgear of the Ashington figure. It appears to represent an onion-shaped kettle-hat worn over a close-fitting bascinet. It is difficult to find parallels for this arrangement. However, a canopy figure (Almeric, Lord St Amand) on the Hastings brass at Elsing in Norfolk, dated 1347, shows a superficial similarity.
The 'Ashingtion Slab' in 1820
Image: Gentlemen's Magazine 1820
The church exhibits some beautiful stained glass windows. The lancet windows in the chancel are in the Decorated style, and therefore date from 1300-1350. However, the former lancet windows in the nave were enlarged after the Black Death to be of post-plague Perpendicular style. The East chancel window dates to 1878 (rebuilt during the restoration).[0]
Unfortunately, the same iconoclasts who decapitated the carving of Christ in the niche and shattered the cross also sought to damage the pre-Reformation glass, leaving behind few fragments of thus valuable and greatly interesting glass.[0]
Particularly important are the patterned ‘quarries’ (diamond shaped pieces of glass) within the heads of the main ‘lights’ (larger frames within the window) which are of a style almost entirely unique to Somerset. In the Westernmost window on the North side of the nave, where this style can be seen most plainly, the quarries, showing a variation of a fleur-de-lis, are bordered by elongated crowns, with the cusps filled with roses, crowns and ‘flaming suns’.[18]
Also of note are the tracery lights (above the heads), which appear to have once held standing figures. One has been replaced by a large star, whilst another has been replaced by a winged ox, the symbol of St. Luke. Common in Somerset churches, the tracery lights would have once portrayed all four Evangelists, likely (in this scenario) by their symbols (E.g. for St. Luke an ox, or for St. John an eagle).[0]
The Westernmost window on the North side of the nave. Photo: Jonathan Marsden
Draycott
The medieval village of Draycott was a substantial settlement to the East of the current hamlet, roughly where Draycott Farm is today. It was located in its own manor – the Manor of Draycott – which in turn was situated within the civil parish of Limington. Domesday records deemed the manor to be in the possession of Robert, Earl of Cornwall and Count of Mortain, with William de Curcelle being the tenant – the father of the then tenant of the manor of Limington (Roger de Curcelle).[19] The manor fell into the hands of the St Barbe family likely in the late 14th Century.
Various pieces of land are recorded in the Domesday Book, each with a specific purpose. We know that the main portion of the manor contained three ploughlands, assessed as paying tax for 2 hides. It can also be assumed that the Northernmost field South of the River Yeo was the meadow referred to, due to its size and proximity to the river.
It is harder to place the 31 acres of woodland and 31 acres of pasture described; however, due to the proximity of Ashington and Limington to the East and West, and the River Yeo to the North, it is likely that they were sited to the South of the manor. The presence of the presumably Norman ‘Hook Drove’ reinforces this idea, as the fields it passes through – the arable land – are sufficiently small and concentrated not to require a lane for access; it must have been serving land further South. It thus is very likely that the drove was used for the transportation of livestock.
Draycott exhibits a highly unusual feature for this part of Somerset. The drainage pattern has been formed around the field pattern, with the channels running along the field boundaries; the implication is that the clearance of the area took place as an organised movement of some complexity (prior to being recorded in Domesday).[20]
The layout of Draycott in 1086.
Image: Chronicle article
There was once a mill in the Manor of Draycott, in a small field called ‘Wear Field’[21] or ‘Wear Hays’ – the only field North of the river included in the manor. This was not owned by the St Barbe family. The mill was unusually profitable; it produced 15 shillings, compared to Bruton’s 2 shillings and sixpence, Montacute’s 4 shillings and twopence and Yeovil’s 5 shillings. It is likely that this profit was driven by the (then) absence of mills in Chilton Cantelo and Ashington – the mill was presumably a large supplier of grain to Ilchester (the then second largest town in Somerset), and the demand created would have been profitable for local farmers to fulfil.
Very little evidence of a mill remains visible on the site today. However, the former mill site was studied by former university student Duncan Black, who recorded his work in a YALHS (Yeovil Archaeological and Local History Society) Chronicle article.[22]
His study, carried out with a ‘Total Station’, showed evidence of a mill leat (X) and pond (Y), along with the potential site of the mill (Z). The mill pond would have gradually filled up with water from the river (via the leat), allowing a consistent supply to be fed via the mill back into the river when required. As a mill was never active all the time, there would have been plenty of water always available for milling. During the survey, however, no evidence of the dam or river bridge could be found.
It is likely that the mill did not survive beyond the 13th/14th Century, as three mills are recorded in Ilchester around this time. Competition from these mills may well have reduced the demand on the Draycott Mill to such an extent that it would have no longer have been a viable asset.
Diagram of the suspected mill layout.
Image: Chronicle article
A survey was also carried out in ‘Higher Draycott Field’, the field between the Hook Drove and the present-day Blue Haze. The findings were rather complicated; along with the ridge and furrow, there was evidence of three or four former buildings (the mess of features to the South), a former pond (B) along with a cattle feeder (H) and even the dumping of garden refuse (G). This pond was not the village pond site, being installed not to serve the village but likely for the purpose of livestock some time before 1887. The village pond was - and still is - to the East of the Hook Drove
(where it meets the road).
The field probably represents a roadside expansion of the village to accommodate a growing population, which is presumed to have happened around 1300. The absence of a boundary bank, which would have divided the settlement from the surrounding countryside, further reinforces the idea that this field did not form part of the original settlement; other areas of Draycott are certainly surrounded by such a bank.
The neighbouring field to the East of the Hook Drove – ‘Higher Lady’s Leaze’ – was also surveyed, but this only revealed ‘indistinct earthworks’, likely representing further, damaged remains of the former settlement. The same applies to the field East of the latter field.
Within the medieval village, dwellings would have lined the North side of the road for some seven-hundred metres, starting from where Draycott Cottages are today (the Manor's boundary with Ashington), and finishing at the bend in the road, just West of Blue Haze (the Manor's boundary with Limington). South of the road, there were only dwellings in the one field between this bend in the road and the Hook Drove. This field was not owned by the St Barbe family. The irregularities in the fields surrounding Draycott Farm are a good indicator of the former size of the lost village.
Land usage in Draycott has changed considerably since the Domesday recordings. In 1839 most of the manorial land had become pasture, with only small fragments being recorded as arable. By this time the medieval village had likely been abandoned. Of particular interest is the sale of the 36 acre Draycott Mead – which took place in 1900 – to the Yeovil General Hospital, which was priced at £1,424. This investment would provide them with £75 of rent.[23]
As a result of this abandonment, features from the medieval village have survived better than might otherwise be expected. The Domesday field boundaries, for example, are still present and remain largely untouched, apart from the one dividing the pasture and woodland to the South of the Manor (which was removed between 1086 and the keeping of reliable records). Modern field boundaries have been inserted into the older pattern.
The current 'Draycott', formerly Nether Draycott, is situated in the former Manor of Limington. In this new 'Draycott', the earliest house dates to only the 19th Century. Draycott Farm, on the site of the original settlement, dates to the 18th Century.[24]
The Ashington and Draycott Community Page currently has access to two Chronicle articles concerning Draycott which are available on request.
Diagram of the survey findings.
Image: Chronicle Article