Off the Beaten Track in Somerset: January 2024

The first commercial brickyards were set up in Bridgwater at the end of the 17th century. Local clay was used. The clay at Chilton Trinity was particularly good for making tiles. By 1850 there were 16 brickyards along both sides of the River Parrett and the brick and tile industry was the biggest employer in the town. The largest companies were Sealys, Colthurst & Symons, Barham Brothers and John Browne/Somerset Trading Company.

James Brydges, the 1st Duke of Chandos (1673-1744), acquired the manor and lordship of Bridgwater in 1721. From 1721 until c1735 he attempted unsuccessfully to establish Bridgwater as a major industrial centre. One of his ventures was a glassworks and a 33 metre high kiln or cone was built for it in 1725 from locally made bricks. Bottles and window glass were produced. However, it only functioned as a glass kiln until 1734. It was then converted to a pottery kiln and used to fire bricks and tiles. It continued to be used as a pottery kiln until 1939. The top part of the cone was demolished in 1943 but the lower section is still in situ at the junction of Northgate and Valetta Place and can be visited at any time.

In 1820 it was discovered that silt from the River Parrett in Bridgwater could be used to make scouring bricks. These became known as Bath Bricks because after firing they were turned a similar colour to Bath stone. Bath Bricks were patented by John Browne in 1827 and at its height millions of them were produced each year by 10 different Bridgwater companies and exported around the world. They were gradually replaced in the early 20th century by kitchen scourers like Vim.

Alfred Garratt Barham started up a cement company in Bridgwater in 1858. He was joined shortly after by his brother Francis Forster and the company became known as Barham Brothers. At first they made cement, hydraulic lime and plaster of Paris. They later made clay products for the building trade: mainly bricks, tiles, ornamental gable ends and chimney pots. Barham Brothers closed down in 1965.

Somerset Brick and Tile Museum is located in East Quay, Bridgwater. It is free to visit but is currently only open on Tuesdays. You can see the inside and outside of Barham Brothers last remaining kiln, which is now a scheduled ancient monument. The rest of the museum is in a former plain tile drying shed.

Brick and Tile Museum

Poster showing Barham Brothers wares

Plan of the Barham Brothers site in Bridgwater

Workers at the entrance to the kiln

Inside the kiln

Remains of Chandos Glass Cone

Chandos Glass Cone

Most of the surviving medieval bench ends in Somerset churches date from the 15th and 16th centuries. During this period seating was provided in churches: previously the congregations had stood for the duration of the services. Each church commissioned the carving of its own bench ends. The majority of bench ends were made of oak.

Very little is known about the people who carved bench ends in Somerset in the 15th and 16th centuries. The names of only two carvers are known: Simon Warman/Werman and Glosse. Simon Warman's name or initials appear on bench ends in several churches in the Taunton area. He was probably responsible for carving bench ends in the churches in East Quantoxhead, Monksilver, Bicknoller, Cothelstone, Bishop's Hull, Broomfield & Bishops Lydeard. Glosse is referred to in Stogursey's church records for 1524/5.

Bench ends can have poppyhead or horizontal tops. The bench end carvers may not have been the people who made and fitted the seats. Money from the wool trade probably paid for many of the carved bench ends.

There are 7 main types of carved bench ends:

Symbols
Birds
Pelicans
Green Men
Quadrupeds
People
Plants

Symbols are usually either associated with the church or depictions of contemporary trades and crafts.

Church symbols, which appear on bench ends include

Signs of the passion (e.g. a cockerel)
IHS (these are the 1st three letters of the name Jesus in Greek) or IHC (I & H are the 1st and 2nd letters of Jesus in Greek and C stands for Christus in Latin)
The rosary
Star of David
Sacred Heart
Holy water aspersorium and sprinkler
Mitre and crosier

Symbols of trades and crafts include:

Windmills
Farm equipment
Weaving and clothmaking equipment
Ships - wool trading vessels
Woodworking tools

Birds which appear on Somerset bench ends include those depicted as pests (e.g. doves or pigeons eating grapes), doves with olive twigs returning to Noah's ark or representing the holy spirit, storks, spoonbills, game birds and numerous unidentified birds sitting in trees.

Pelicans are symbols of piety and the eucharist. Pelicans are often depicted on bench ends feeding their own young with their own blood having plucked their own breasts. It is possible that pelicans were still living on the Somerset levels during the medieval period. However this may not be the case, as they aren't depicted with webbed feet, which implies that the carvers had never seen live pelicans.

Green Men are images of human faces associated with foliage. They may have their origins in ancient mythology. Alternatively their origins may lie with "wild-men" who lived in the woods on the fringes of society in the Middle Ages, for example Robin Hood. Or they could come from an innate part of the human psyche where the Green Man symbolises the realisation and acceptance that humanity and the world are inseparable.

There are three main types of Green Men:

Those who have faces formed of leaves
Those with faces where foliage comes out of the face, usually the mouth but occasionally the nose, ears or eyes. This is the most common type in medieval carvings in England
Those whose face is set amongst the foliage.

Quadrupeds depicted on Somerset bench ends include real animals such as foxes, rabbits, stags, lions, horses, dogs, cats, badgers, lambs and cows and mythical creatures such as dragons and unicorns.

People on bench ends are usually either ecclesiastical (saints, angels, bishops, choristers, deacons etc) or local tradesmen (millers, woodcutters, archers, ale drinkers, clothiers, packhorse drivers, nightwatchmen, wrestlers etc).

Plants are the most common decorations on bench ends, either as the main feature or as infill on panels with a different main design.

Ship, Bishops Lydeard

Pelican feeding its young, Bishops Lydeard

Sacred Heart, Bishops Lydeard

Anno Domini 1534, Crowcombe

There is an unusual trilogy of bench ends in St Michael's Church, Brent Knoll. They depict the downfall and execution of a fox dressed as a bishop. The fox may represent one of the Abbots of Glastonbury, but it is more likely that it represents Richard Fox, who was Bishop of Bath and Wells from 1492 to 1495. In 1519 he bought land in South and East Brent. He was disliked by the Abbot of Glastonbury and a man named John Fitzjames.

In the first scene the fox is dressed in vestments and is wearing a mitre and carrying a crozier. There are birds, including an owl and a cockerel around the edges and at the top. At the bottom of the main picture there are some animal heads. In the bottom panel 2 monkeys are shown roasting a boar on a spit over a fire.

In the top panel of the 2nd scene the fox has been stripped of his vestments and has cuffs around his hind legs. Various birds are depicted and there is a monkey (or it maybe a lion), which may be reading charges against the fox from a scroll. In the bottom panel the box has his legs in stocks and the monkey/lion is holding a halberd.

In the 3rd scene the fox is executed by hanging. The hanging is being carried out by 5 geese. Two hounds are underneath awaiting the body. A green man is depicted at the top of the bench, just under the poppyhead top.

Brent Knoll

Fox clothed as a bishop

Brent Knoll

Manacled fox

Brent Knoll

The fox is hanged by geese

Two men arguing, North Cadbury

Church and village, North Cadbury

Bearded man, North Cadbury

Unicorn, North Cadbury

West Bagborough

Two mythical creatures at the top with flowers and foliage below, West Bagborough

Feathers, West Bagborough

East Quantoxhead

Luttrell coat of arms, centaur, unicorn, alpha & omega symbols

Stars of David, East Quantoxhead

Man, Nettlecombe

Wheat and vines on poppyead top, Kingston St Mary

Oxen and yoke with foliage and fruit below, Kingston St Mary

Rosary, Kingston St Mary

Hare below a goose, Kingston St Mary

Vase of flowers, Kingston St Mary

Weaver's shuttle below foliage, Kingston St Mary

Bench end dated 1522, Kingston St Mary

Ship, Milverton

Holy water aspersorium and sprinkler, Milverton

Man drinking ale, Milverton

Official Ship's Badge of HMS Finisterre, Milverton

A mythical seahorse is depicted on the badge, which was approved in 1945. HMS Finisterre was completed in 1945 and scrapped in 1967. I don't know what the connection is with Milverton.