William Smith - Father of English Geology

William Smith was a civil engineer, geologist and a pioneer in the science of stratigraphy.  He drew up the first geological map of England and Wales, which was published in 1815.

William Smith was born in Churchill, Oxfordshire on 23rd March 1769. In 1787 he became assistant to the land surveyor Edward Webb in Stow-on-the-Wold.  In 1791 Webb sent him to survey the land belonging to Lady Elizabeth Jones around Stowey near Bishop Sutton.  He lodged at Rugbourne Farm in High Littleton and from 1798-1810 he lived at Tucking Mill between Midford and Monkton Combe.  He carried out underground surveys of coal mines in the area, which set him thinking about rock strata.  In 1793 he was asked to survey routes for the proposed Somerset Coal Canal.  In 1794 he was sent on a fact finding tour of the canals and mines in the Midlands and the north of England and used his site visits to further his knowledge of rock strata.

Work on the Somerset Coal Canal began in July 1795 and the excavations enabled William Smith to study the local strata.  In 1799 he began to draw up maps and cross-sections of the local strata.  After a disagreement over the construction of a caisson at Combe Hay, he was dismissed from his job as engineer with the canal company in June 1799.  

William Smith then set himself up as a land surveyor in partnership with Jeremiah Cruse at Trim Bridge in Bath.  He undertook land drainage work around Bath and Wiltshire.  From 1801-1812 he travelled all over the country for work as a land & mineral surveyor and land drainer. At the same time he collected more information about rock strata. In 1803 opened an office in London and from 1805 he displayed his fossil collection there.  

In 1812 the London-based map maker John Cary offered to publish Smith's geological map.  The first edition was published in 1815 and updated editions were published until 1819.  Sales of Smith's map dropped when a rival map was published by the Geological Society in 1820.  Smith was in financial difficulty from 1819 and spent 10 weeks in a debtors' prison.  He was forced to sell his fossil collection (to the British Museum) and personal library to pay off some of his debts.

In 1820 William Smith moved to Yorkshire and worked as a geologist with his nephew John Phillips.  In 1828 he became land steward to Sir John Johnstone at Hackness in North Yorkshire.  He produced an accurate and detailed geological map of the Hackness estate, which was published in 1832.  In the same year he was given a government pension of £100 a year and the Geological Society presented him with their first Wollaston medal in 'recognition of his being a great and original discoverer in English Geology'.  In 1834 he moved to Scarborough. He died on 28th August 1839 in Northampton while on his way to a British Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Birmingham and was buried at St Peter's Church in Northampton.

In 1888 a plaque was erected at Tucking Mill stating that William Smith had lived there.  When the mill was demolished in 1927, the plaque was mislaid.  It was rediscovered in 1932 and re-erected outside Tucking Mill Cottage by the Geological Society and the Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution.  However it is now believed that he actually lived in Tucking Mill House, which is 100 metres further east.

In 2006 Sustrans commissioned the sculptor Jerry Ortmans to make a sculpture to commemorate William Smith's achievements.   His work, Stone Column, is on display on the Colliers Way to the east of the village of Wellow.  The layers are (from the top to the bottom) Chalk, Forest Marble (two blocks), Great Oolite, Inferior Oolite, Blue Lias, White Lias (two blocks), and Pennant Stone.

Plaque outside Tucking Mill Cottage

Tucking Mill Cottage

William Smith Memorial in Churchill, Oxfordshire

St Andrew's Church, Old Cleeve

St Andrew's Church in Old Cleeve is a little gem and contains a great many interesting features.  There has been a church on the same site since 1066, but the current building dates from c1425-1533.

The apostle St Andrew and his brother Simon Peter were both fishermen.  This is why the altar frontal and the pulpit fall were both decorated with fish when I visited, although they do vary with the time of year.  The altar frontals and pulpit falls were all designed and made by parishioners.

The font and its cover date from the 15th century.  It is the only medieval font cover in West Somerset. The tiles around the base of the font were probably made by the monks of Cleeve Abbey.  The paschal candlestick located next to the font was made locally and donated to the church in the 1990s.

The decorative poor box is dated 1634.  The ancient wooden chest, which is made out of a hollowed tree trunk, has 3 locks on it: one for the rector and one for each of the churchwardens.

The carved bench ends were made by a parish Guild of Woodcarvers in the early 20th century, apart from one which was made by a local artist in 1981.  The nave roof has some fine medieval carved bosses.

The brass eagle lectern was given to the church in 1911 by Count Hochberg, who lived at Croydon Hall. The chandelier in the chancel was made by Thomas Bayley of Bridgwater in 1770.

There is a canopied tomb dated c1420.  It is thought to be the tomb of Sir John Golafre, who was Knight of the King's Chamber to King Richard II.  He was married to Philippa Mohun, who was heiress of Dunster.  Sir John's feet are resting on a cat, which has a rat under one of its paws.

Old Cleeve Parochial Church Council commissioned a new stained glass window to mark the Millennium.  It was designed and made by local artist Frankie Pollak.  It features an eclipse of the sun, ammonites, the churchyard pink sweet pea and the nets and fish of St Andrew.

The east window was made by Sir Ninian Comper in 1951 and was given in memory of members of the Lysaght family of Chapel Cleeve.  The west window was donated by the Vibart family, who lived locally, in memory of several members of their family who died in the Cawnpore Massacre in India in 1857.  The window was restored in 2021.

In 1974 Rachel Reckitt and Jim Horrobin were commissioned to make a tower screen for St Andrew's Church.  Four fibre-glass panels were painted with the patron saints of the churches in the same benefice.  Three large angels are arranged above the screen.

The church currently has a ring of 8 bells.  There were originally 3 bells.  In 1885 the metal from the 3 bells was used to make 6 bells and 2 more bells were added in 1924.  The 8 bells were retuned and rehung in 1994.

The floor of the porch is coated in pebbles with a heart shape in white pebbles.  It is dated 1614.

The original churchyard cross was defaced by the Puritans in the 17th century.  It was restored in 1909.  The lychgate was made in 1892.  There are 4 early 17th century chest tombs in the churchyard.

The roof and tower of the church were restored in the late 20th century and a gargoyle of Hugh Allen, one of the previous rectors, was added to the battlements at this point.

St Andrew's Church

Churchyard Cross

Heart pebble mosaic dated 1614

Chancel, east window and chandelier

Fish themed altar frontal

Poor Box

Ancient Chest

Pulpit

Canopied Tomb

Cat with rat under its paw

Eagle Lectern

Font and Paschal Candlestick

Medieval tiles

Screen designed and made by Rachel Reckitt

Bench End

Bench End

Bird Bench End

Dragon Bench End

Bench end with bishop's mitre and staff

Millennium stained glass window

Lychgate