Old Macdonald had a Farm

Old Macdonald had a farm in Somerset: and on that farm he had lots of sheep, numerous cows, a few pigs, a duck, a cockerel and a couple of geese:

Black Lamb and his friends, Shepton Mallet Roundabout

The rest of the flock, Shepton Mallet Roundabout

Lamb on an elaborately carved wooden bench, Butleigh Churchyard

Willow flock of sheep near Wellington

Willow flock of sheep in Cheddar

Mosaic sheep on the outside wall of the public toilets in Wheddon Cross

Wooden Cows, Chard

Half a cow!  Farrington Gurney Farm Shop

Bull at the Sedgemoor Livestock Market

Highland Cow at Sanders Garden Centre, Brent Knoll

Willow longhorns at Steart Marshes

Colourful cow in Great Elm

The winged bull of St Luke and a packhorse

St Michael's Church, Brent Knoll

A rather scary looking bull on the outside of the public toilet wall at Wheddon Cross

Two cows, a sheep, a cockerel and a chicken on a mural just off the Esplanade, Watchet

Pig weathervane at Grabhams Farm near Wembdon

Wire pig sculpture in the garden of Coleridge Cottage. Nether Stowey

Gloucester Old Spot pig in the garden of Coleridge Cottage, Nether Stowey

Sow and five piglets on a roof boss, South Porch, St Cuthbert's Church, Wells

Ducks Puddle, East Quantoxhead

Ducks Puddle, East Quantoxhead

Thatched ducks on Mallard Cottage, Porlock

Lamb on the reredos of St Peter and St Paul's Church, Odcombe

Herd of cows, Main Road, Middlezoy

Sadly someone had parked their car in front of the mural, so I couldn't take a photo of the whole herd at once.  I think this mural was painted by Simon Watson in 2013.

Rear end of a cow, Main Road, Middlezoy

Two more cows in Middlezoy

These 2 are located on the side of a house beside the track up to the church in Middlezoy

Cockerel on the East Coker village sign

Cockerel on the top of a signpost in East Coker

Cows on display outside Thorne's Butchers in West Street, Wiveliscombe

Wire sculpture of a goose in the garden of Coleridge Cottage, Nether Stowey

Goose in the garden of Coleridge Cottage, Nether Stowey

Colourful cows at Watchet Harbour

Colourful cows at Watchet Harbour

Memorial to Derek the goose at Splash Point, Watchet

She arrived in Watchet Harbour during a storm in 2010 and liked it so much that she stayed until her death in October 2021

A more permanent memorial to Derek the Goose,    Watchet Harbour

Cow and sheep with tractor, adjacent to the 'Welcome to Wiveliscombe' sign

Cows and sheep on a kneeler in St Mary Magdalene's Church, Exford

Wilbur the Pig, Orchard Shopping Centre, Taunton

He is one of the exhibits in the 2023 Somerset Trash Trail

Murder at Road Hill House, Rode

Road Hill House in the village of Rode was the scene of a murder on the night of 29th/30th June 1860. Three year old Francis Saville Kent was taken from his bed, stabbed and had his throat cut.  His body was thrown down a disused privy in an outbuilding near the house. 

Detective Inspector Jonathan (Jack) Whicher of Scotland Yard was brought in to investigate the murder.  He suspected that Constance Emilie Kent, Francis Kent's 16 year old half-sister, was probably the killer and had her arrested.  However the case was not brought to trial.

Contance Kent was born in Sidmouth, Devon in 1844.  Her parents were Samuel Saville Kent and his first wife Mary Ann. She was one of their four surviving children (6 had died in infancy).  Samuel was a factory inspector and the family lived in a number of places around southern England.  

After Mary Ann's death in 1852 Samuel married Mary Drewe Pratt, who had been his children's governess since 1843. They had four children together, including Francis Saville, who was born in 1856.  In 1855 the family had moved to Road Hill House.  Constance did not get on with her stepmother but she was close to her younger brother William.  William was suspected by some people of having been Constance's accomplice in the murder, although she always denied this.

Constance made a confession to a priest in 1865 and then confessed to the police.  However there were several anomalies in her written statement, so it is possible that she was not the murderer.  The other possibility is that the culprits were either her brother William or her father Samuel and the younger children's nursemaid Elizabeth Gough, who it was suspected were having an affair.    

Constance was found guilty of the murder and was initially sentenced to death.  Her sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment and she served 20 years in Millbank, Parkhurst, Woking and Fulham Prisons. 

Constance was released in 1885 at the age of 41.  She emigrated to Australia in 1886 to join her brother William in Tasmania, where he was working as a marine biologist.  She changed her name to Ruth Emilie Kaye and trained and worked as a nurse in Victoria and New South Wales until her retirement in 1932.  She died in Australia in 1944 aged 100.

Kate Summerscale has written a book about the case, which is titled The Suspicions of Mr Whicher.  This was also the title of a series of BBC films about the career of Jack Whicher (played by Paddy Considine), the first of which was about the murder at Road Hill House. 

Road was a village in Wiltshire at the time of the murder.  It has subsequently changed its name to Rode and in 1937 it was moved into Somerset.  Road Hill House is now called Langham House.  The current owners obviously value their privacy, as it is shielded from view at the front by a very tall dense hedge.  It is possible to see the side and back from a public footpath.

Side view of Road Hill/Langham House

 

Outbuildings at the side of Road Hill House

 

Rear View of Road Hill House

 

Front gates of Road Hill/Langham House