Off the Beaten Track in Somerset: April 2024

Monday 15 April 2024

Minehead's Maritime Heritage Plaques

In 2014, as part of the Minehead Maritime Heritage Project, seven plaques were created and mounted on the harbour wall. They were unveiled by the Les Smith, the Mayor of Minehead on 11th July 2014 at the Minehead Harbour Festival. The plaques depict the seven eras of maritime heritage in Quay Town, Minehead and the vessels, which would have been in use at the time.

A series of workshops and projects, lead by Halsway Manor with sea shanty specialists Tom & Barbara Brown and storyteller Alex Simson, were held with local residents and schoolchildren to create the artistic brief. The plaques were then designed and made by artist Sue Webber and author John Gilman. Sue made 3-dimensional clay panels, which were then cast in resin and bronze powder by local company S&S Exmoor.

The First Millennium and the Currach

The Celts sailed in light but durable currachs. These were made of hide and wicker, could be up to 60 feet long and were capable of long voyages across oceans. This scene shows a saint looking for somewhere to live his life in prayer, solitude and learning. He chose the spot where St Michael's Church now stands.

The 1100s - The Cog and the Carrack

The scene on this plaque is the raiding party of Welsh pirates led by William de Berkley, which arrived off the coast of Minehead on 1st August 1265. They were defeated and William de Berkley and his crew were captured by Adam Le Gurdon, who was the master of Dunster Castle garrison. They were executed by public drowning in Minehead Harbour. Cogs were oak planked boats with a single square sail. They developed from the currachs. Portuguese and Spanish boatbuilders later developed the carrack, which had 4 sails and fortified forecastles and aftercastles at the bow and stern.

The 1500s - The Galleon

Galleons evolved from the carracks and were common by the 1500s. They were fully rigged and had deeper keels that the carracks. This meant they were capable of long sea voyages but couldn't be sailed in shallow inland waters.

The 1700s - Tops'l Schooner

Ships paid to shelter in Minehead harbour. A new harbour was built in Minehead. Fees were levied to pay for the new harbour and for the removal of silt and shingle from the harbour mouth.

The 1800s - Fully Rigged Ships

This plaque shows Minehead Harbour when it was busiest with lots of herring boats. Supporting industries e.g. ropemaking, sail making and carpentry were located nearby.

First World War - Steamers

Minehead is decorated with bunting and fairy lights during a July Gala Week when Battlecruiser HMS Furious and Destroyer HMS Vega where anchored offshore. On the Saturday night 3,000 people watched a light show.

Second World War - Lifeboats and Convoys

John Slade and Tom Escott are shown in the lifeboat Mouette. They sailed to Blue Anchor Bay to examine a partially submerged object, which had been spotted. It turned out to be a mine, which exploded as they approached it and they were both killed. A minesweeper can be seen in the distance and Spitfires are shown in the sky. A gasometer stands next to the lifeboat house.

Tuesday 2 April 2024

Ice Houses

An ice house is a building used to store ice all year round. Ice was transported from lakes, ponds and rivers in winter by wheelbarrows or small carts. It was packed into the ice house and then stamped on to form a solid mass. Sometimes salt was added to aid the freezing process. When ice is packed together into a large mass, the relatively small surface area slows down rate of thawing. It was then covered with a layer of straw to insulate it. The ice would stay frozen for up to two years. Sometimes foods such as meat, fish, butter and fruit were stored in the icehouse.

The most popular location for ice houses was the bank of a stream or pond and not too far from an estate road. Almost all icehouses on country estates have an entrance, a passage, a vault and a drain (for meltwater, in the base of the vault). Most ice houses had roofs of either earth or thatch. Some ice houses had a chute in the roof above the centre of the vault to allow ice to be unloaded from above. Only a few ice houses were designed to be landscape features in the gardens of country houses.

Ice was stored in icehouses for use in the kitchens and dining rooms of stately homes. When ice was needed it was chipped out and taken to the house. It was washed and placed in wine coolers and ice buckets to cool drinks and make iced desserts. Fruit, fish and game were also laid on beds of ice to keep them fresh.

One of the first recorded ice houses in Britain was built in Greenwich, London in 1619. The idea for ice houses probably originated in France and Italy. About 3,000 ice houses were eventually built in Britain and by the mid 19th century most country houses had at least one. The majority of ice houses were built between 1750 and 1875. They were also built for commercial use, e.g. for packing and transporting fish or meat, for the manufacture of ice cream or for the sale of ice for domestic use.

From the 1840s crystal clear ice was imported into Britain from the USA, especially from Wenham Lake near Boston in Massachusetts, and later from Norway. Ice houses continued to be used until the late 19th century when ice making machines and refrigerators became available.

There are very few icehouses in Somerset that are accessible to the public. Montacute and Prior Park, which are both owned by the National Trust have ice houses. You can see the mound of the East Coker icehouse from a public footpath that runs close by. Nynehead Court has a very large ice house and the gardens are open to the public on certain days of the week but you need to book your visit in advance. There is an icehouse in a wood on the Ashton Court estate.

Montacute icehouse was built in the late 18th or early 19th century. It has a Latin inscription over the door: "in superet Glacies frondeat atque Nives", which means "freshness springs from the ice and snow." It is situated halfway between the kitchens and the ponds in the park.