Are the trees watching you?

Alive and dead trees can sometimes look like people, faces or animals.  These are the ones I have come across so far while walking around Somerset.  I will add more as I discover them.  My thanks to my friend Sue, who is exceptionally good at spotting them.  Although there is a word for rocks, which look like real or imaginary people, animals or plants (mimetoliths), there doesn't seem to be an equivalent word for trees.

Tyrannosaurus Rex (or maybe a Doyouthinkhesawus?), Poundisford Park, Taunton

Happy Tree, East Coker

Sad Tree, East Coker

 

Long nosed creature with mouth and big eye, Exmoor

 

Head of a bison, by the River Tone at Wellisford

 

Bird's head and beak - a wandering albatross perhaps?

This bird is to be found looking down over the Witcombe Valley at Ham Hill, South Somerset

My thanks to Sue for spotting this one for me.

 

Shy Hippo!  He is to be found close to Kilmersdon Common near Coleford

My thanks to Sue for spotting this one for me too.

 

Head of a strange horned beast - found near Hawkridge on Exmoor

 

Dragon's head?  Hatch Beauchamp

Another dragon, Old Berry Farm near Dulverton

Snake with his tongue out, Ham Hill

Mouse wearing a cap or head of a fish?

Holford

Barwick Park Follies

Barwick Park, which is located just to the south of Yeovil, has four impressive follies:

1. Jack the Treacle Eater
2. Rose Tower or Cone
3. Fish Tower
4. Obelisk or Needle

The origin of the follies is somewhat of a mystery.  They were probably built in the 1770s by John Newman, who owned the estate at the time.   Another theory is that they were commissioned by George Messiter in the 1820s to give estate labourers work to do during an agricultural depression or to relieve unemployment in the Yeovil glove trade.  They are placed almost at the north, east, south and west points of a compass.  None of them had any useful purpose, so they are true follies.

The Fish Tower is located on the northern edge of the estate just to the south of Two Tower Lane.  There was originally a second tower a few metres away from the Fish Tower, hence the name of the lane.  However the other tower, which is shown on a tithe map of 1837, had fallen down or been demolished by around 1880.  The Fish Tower got its name from the fish weather vane, which was once attached to the top of it.  This had disappeared by the 1950s.  The Fish Tower is a cylindrical tower made of rubble and is about 15 metres high.  The cap is made of ham stone with decorative markings on it.

The Cone or Rose Tower stands on the western edge of the estate adjacent to the Yeovil Showground.  There is no public right of way to it but every Sunday a car boot sale is held on the Showground.  I had never been to a car boot sale before (and won't hurry to visit another one, as it seemed to be mainly tat and junk food that was on sale, although everyone else seemed to be enjoying the experience) but this was the only legitimate way I could think of to get a photo of the Cone.  It is 22 metres high and the cone part is set on a cylindrical base, which is dissected by three arches.  The cone has seven levels of pigeon holes in it and is crowned by a ball finial.

The Obelisk is situated at the southern end of the estate adjacent to the A37 main Yeovil to Dorchester road.  It is surrounded by trees and as yet I haven't figured out a way of safely getting a photo of it, as the road is very busy and there is no pavement or footpath to it.  It is 15 metres high and the top is leaning to one side.

Jack the Treacle Eater is my favourite of the follies. It lies at the eastern end of the estate adjacent to a public footpath.   At the bottom there is a rubble arch.  This has a circular crenelated turret on top of it and on top of this is a conical roof crowned with a statue of Mercury, the Roman messenger of the gods (or possibly Hermes, the equivalent Greek god).  The story goes that the Messiter family employed a messenger boy called Jack, who ate treacle to give him the energy to run to London.  The turret has an inaccessible door (open when we visited) leading to a single small room.

Cone or Rose Tower

Cone or Rose Tower

 

 Fish Tower

 

View up the centre of the Fish Tower

 

Fish Tower

 

Jack the Treacle Eater

 

Jack the Treacle Eater

 

Jack the Treacle Eater

Nunney Castle

Nunney Castle is hidden away in the middle of the village of Nunney.  It is ruined but is very picturesque, as it is encircled by a water filled moat and accessed across a drawbridge.  It is now in the care of English Heritage, it is free to visit and open at all times.

Nikolaus Pevsner (author of the county by county Buildings of England series of books) had this to say about Nunney Castle: "Nunney Castle is aesthetically the most impressive castle in Somerset.  The emphasis is on the aesthetic aspects; for the castle is neither large nor distinguished by a commanding position. But it is designed with a view to monumentality by being designed to a strictly symmetrical plan."  Buildings of England: North Somerset and Bristol.

The castle was built by a local knight called Sir John de la Mare in the 1370s.  It was modernised in the 16th Century, probably by Richard Prater, who was a London merchant who bought the castle sometime after 1560.  The four towers were originally capped by conical towers. The castle remained in the hands of the Prater family until it was besieged by the Parliamentarians in 1645 during the English Civil War and was badly damaged by them.

The ruins were taken into the care of the state in 1926 and were cleared of plants and rubble.  The moat was excavated at this time.

Nunney Castle

 

Nunney Castle

Nunney Castle

 

Nunney Castle

Nunney Castle

Sheela na Gigs

Sheela na gigs are semi-erotic stone carvings or sculptures of female figures standing or sitting in such a way that their genitals are on display.  The figures are  always distorted or grotesque and sometimes comical.  They are mainly of old women or hags. The term sheela na gig is possibly from the Irish meaning "the hag of the breasts" or "the old woman squatting".

They are most often found on churches, which seems a rather unlikely place to find them, but also occasionally on secular buildings such as castles.  They are found all over Britain and Ireland on Norman or Romanesque churches.  They are more common in Ireland than elsewhere. They are also found in France and Spain.  In some cases they are older than the church they are currently displayed on, as they were removed from earlier buildings.  They were probably originally symbolic representations of the sin of lust or possibly fertility symbols.  Later on in some areas they were viewed as protective icons to drive away the devil.

In Somerset there are sheela na gigs displayed on the outsides of the parish churches in Fiddington, Stoke-sub-Hamdon and Clevedon.  There is also one at Donyatt on the Manor House but this is not accessible to the public.

St Mary's Church at Stoke-sub-Hamdon may have two sheela na gigs.  Both are corbels - one on the front of the church to the left of the main entrance door on the north side of the church and one round the back on the south side.

The sheela na gig at St Martin's Church at Fiddington near Nether Stowey is found on the south wall of the church to the right of the door.

The carving on a corbel at St Andrew's Church in Clevedon may or may not be a sheela na gig.  It is located to the right of the main entrance.

St Martin's Church, Fiddington

St Mary's Church, Stoke-sub-Hamdon - the sheela na gig is on the right of the photo

 

Stoke-sub- Hamdon's other sheela na gig

 

 

St Andrew's Church, Clevedon

Burnham-on-Sea's Three Lighthouses

Burnham-on-Sea has had three lighthouses in the past. 

The story goes that c1750 the wife of a Burnham fisherman placed a candle in a window to guide her husband home.  After the death of her husband in a boating accident she continued to do this and was later paid to do so.  After her death a light was placed on top of the tower of St Andrew's Church with the permission of the Curate, the Reverend David Davies.  He offered to build a lighthouse if the local fishermen would pay for its upkeep.  The 4 storey Round Tower Lighthouse was built attached to his house and adjacent to the churchyard in around 1800.  In 1813 Rev Davies successfully applied to Trinity House for a grant and permission to levy dues on passing ships.  He was granted a lease for 100 years but Trinity House purchased it back from him in 1829.

In 1832 Trinity House built the High Lighthouse on the landward side of the sand dunes on Berrow Road.  At the same time the height of the original lighthouse was reduced by 2 storeys and a parapet was added to avoid confusion with the new lighthouse.  The High Lighthouse was built of brick and is 30 metres high. It is known locally as the Pillar Lighthouse.

However it was soon realised that the light was too low to be seen at certain states of the tide (the Bristol Channel has the second highest tidal range in the world).  Therefore the Low Lighthouse was built on the beach due west of the High Lighthouse to complement it in 1834.  It was constructed of teak on legs of oak to raise it above the level of the high tide.

The High Lighthouse was decommissioned in 1969 and sold off as a private dwelling, although the red vertical stripe painted down the seaward side of the tower still acts as a daymark.  The Low Lighthouse was decommissioned at the same time but was brought back into use as a navigation light in 1993.

Burnham's First Lighthouse from St Andrew's Churchyard

Burnham's High Lighthouse

 

Red Stripe on Burnham's High Lighthouse

Back of Burnham's Low Lighthouse

Burnham's Low Lighthouse from the back

Front of the Low Lighthouse at low tide

Low Lighthouse on the Beach

Low Lighthouse

 

 

Tithe Barns

From the 8th century onwards in England a tenth of every farmer's produce had to be given to the local church to pay for its upkeep and the wages of the rector.  This was known as a tithe.  Tithe barns were constructed in the Middle Ages to store the collected grain and hay. Many were owned by and located close to monasteries or their granges (outlying estates).  They were often large timber framed aisled barns with stone walls.  Somerset has a surprisingly large number of surviving tithe barns. However not all the barns that have survived and are today called tithe barns, were actually originally used to store tithes. Some of them were the barns of large estates, which also needed big barns to store their grain. 

The barns in Somerset, which are known as tithe barns include:

• Glastonbury - originally part of Glastonbury Abbey and now part of the Somerset Rural Life Museum
• West Pennard - originally a grange of Glastonbury Abbey and now owned by the National Trust
• Mells
• Bishop's Barn, Wells
• Dunster
• Pilton - originally a grange of Glastonbury Abbey
• West Camel - on a private farm
• Doulting - on a private farm.  Originally a grange of Glastonbury Abbey
• Fitzhead
• Abbey Barn at Preston, Yeovil
• Stoke-sub-Hamdon Priory
• Slough Court, Stoke St Gregory - on a private farm

Many of the surviving barns have now found other uses as village halls, museums, or wedding venues.

At Haselbury Mill between Crewkerne and the village of Haselbury Plucknett, a new "tithe barn" was constructed in a traditional style in 2008 to be used as a wedding venue.

Glastonbury - Rural Life Museum

 West Pennard Court Barn

 Mells

Bishops Barn, Wells

 Dunster

 Pilton

 Pilton

West Camel
 

 West Camel

Doulting

Yeovil

 

Stoke-sub-Hamdon Priory

Haselbury Mill's new "Tithe Barn"

There was a wedding in progress when we walked past it on the River Parrett Trail on Good Friday 2015.

 

Slough Court, Stoke St Gregory

This is the only view you can get of the tithe barn from the public footpath.

 

Fitzhead

 

Fitzhead

 

Priory Barn, Taunton

This barn is the only surviving building of Taunton's Augustinian Priory, which was founded c1120 .  The barn was probably built in the late 15th or early 16th century but may have incorporated earlier materials.

Replica tithe barn at The Newt in Somerset near Castle Cary